US preacher's insensitive comment draws flak; White House calls it 'utterly stupid'
US preacher's insensitive comment draws flak; White House calls it 'utterly stupid'US evangelical preacher Pat Robertson has laid the blame for the devastating earthquake on the Haitians themselves, saying the country "swore a pact to the devil" to escape French rule in the 18th century.
"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," Robertson (80) said yesterday on his Christian Broadcasting Network show, The 700 Club.
Haitians were originally "under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil," said the former US presidential candidate.
"They said, 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the French'. True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal'. Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other."
Robertson contrasted Haiti with the neighbouring Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic "is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts etc," he said.
u00a0
"Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have . . . a great turning to God and out of this tragedy. I'm optimistic good may come."
Ruled for centuries by the Spanish and then the French, Haiti gained independence in 1804 through a slave-led revolution, creating the first country governed by African descendants in the Americas.
The Haitian uprising is regarded as one of history's few successful slave revolts.
White House reactsWhite House spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected those comments at his daily press briefing, hours after Obama told Haitians that they would not be forsaken or forgotten.
"It never ceases to amaze, that in times of amazing human suffering, somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid," Gibbs said. "But it, like clockwork, happens with some regularity."
| Pat's Howlers |
|
Robertson has a history of making provocative comments, often in the wake of calamity.
He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Robertson linked the storm to abortion.
He called on the US to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. |
