The media wildfire that spread after Pat Robertson alleged that Haiti had made a pact with the devil has faded somewhat from the public’s mind, but the need for serious analysis regarding the proper space to discuss the relationship between religion and the media media has not.
On The 700 Club on January 13, Reverend Pat Robertson made a shocking comment regarding the recent tragedy in Haiti. “[The Haitians] were under the heel of the French… and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. True story… Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another, desperately poor.”
Many members of the media and religious groups have reacted very strongly to his assertion; in fact, his comments sparked a great deal of thoughtful commentary and debate, most notably accrued in the Washington Post’s On Faith.
Robertson’s comments, as Linda Keenan of the Huffington Post writes, encourages others to ask age-old questions: How can we reconcile an all-knowing, just and loving God when unexplainable tragedies happen? Is human suffering a result of divine punishment?
Though this fruitful debate is the silver lining of this incident, it is problematic that such a reductive comment initiated the conversation. Robertson did not address this question head-on; he disregarded its complexities, and his theological references are mere soundbites – making a spectacle of real theological issues that are worthy of contemplation or thoughtful discussion.
Further proof of Robertson’s callousness is that he disregarded history. To attribute the earthquake in Haiti to an archaic legend about a pact with the devil does not take into account the destructiveness of colonialism and resulting lack of adequate institutions in the country.
Although Robertson is certainly not a journalist, he is a fixture in mainstream media. Many other members of the media have not been regularly addressing religion until an offensive display such as this occurs. Comments like these damage the way that people view religion, whether it is informing their own beliefs, or trivializing the beliefs of others. Perhaps this can be an opportunity for the media to engage more with the reality of religion.
Tags: Haiti, Linda Keenan, Reverend Pat Robertson, Washington Post On Faith
