By now lots of folks have seen or heard about Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti (something about Haitians pact with the devil being the reason for this devastating earthquake). The important thing to recognise about those comments is that they don't represent the all of Christian thinking any more than my comment here represents the totality of Christian response. Some will use Pat Robertson's comment as an excuse to beat up on the Christian faith. How many books currently on the market written by atheists use these kinds of extreme view to justify their arguments for atheism?
Here are the Christian responses I'm seeing. I'm seeing Christians trying to contact loved one's who were in Haiti helping to built up the country when the earthquake struck. I'm seeing Christians now forming work groups to make more hygiene kits, because the ones they made this summer are now being used in Haiti and more are needed immediately. I'm reading the letters of Christians who are telling their brothers and sisters in faith not to be discouraged because all of the hard work building facilities has been undone, but rather to realize that the most important part of the work was the relationships that were built. It is that history of compassionate relationship that will give hope to those Haitian people in the difficult days ahead.
In my mind these are just a few of the Christian responses I'm seeing. They are a world apart from Pat Robertson's view. The Christian community I'm part of, was in Haiti, is in Haiti, and will be in Haiti with an even stronger commitment just as soon as such support is appropriate.
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