An Evangelical Missionary's Honest Perspective on Pat Robertson's Haiti Remarks | Sojourners

An Evangelical Missionary's Honest Perspective on Pat Robertson's Haiti Remarks

When I was a student at Christ for the Nations School of Missions, I learned about the so-called "pact with the devil" that the African slaves of Haiti made to free themselves from the French. Later I learned about the so-called "renewal of the covenant" presumably made by Aristide in 2003 where he officially recognized Voodoo as a state religion. When the earthquake struck Haiti, I knew that it was only a matter of time before a televangelist would say something that the media would pick up and allow themselves yet another opportunity to paint evangelicals in a negative light. While I agree that Pat Robertson's comments were embarrassing and offensive (For the record: I don't think that anyone should ever claim they have divine knowledge as to why a specific natural disaster occurs. Luke 13:2-5 speaks loudly against that), I also think that the reaction of the secular media and some in the progressive faith community has been -- good intentions not withstanding -- condescending.

Perhaps I'm overly sensitive about this. A couple of weeks ago my wife and I visited a peace-oriented church in Albuquerque. After the service I struck up a conversation with a guy that asked me what I do for a living. I told him I'm a missionary that travels the world and that I lived in Africa for a period of time. When I told him about how missionaries view most African traditional religious practices as demonic, the reaction I got was "Um