Robertson's comment out of line

The other day, I was looking for a bookmark and found one on which my aunt Martha had written, "God showed Job that knowing 'who' is far more important than knowing 'why.' God often tells us, 'Trust me, even when you don't get answers.'"

After reading her note, I wonder what she would have thought of Pat Robertson's response to the earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands in Haiti last week.

"They got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. So, the devil said, 'Okay, it's a deal.' So, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another," he said.

True, Robertson never claimed the earthquake was the wrath of God, but he lines it up as the most recent in a long string of tragedies that have befallen Haiti, supposedly because of a pact that may or may not have been made more than 200 years ago.

Martha died in 2007 after a year-long painful battle with pancreatic cancer. She had nursed her husband through cancer until his death six years before that, and was at the bedsides of her parents through their own fatal illnesses. She had been ill much of her adult life with a disorder that affected her balance and sometimes her ability to complete everyday tasks, and learned early on in her marriage that she would never bring children into this world.

Would Robertson assume she had made a pact with the devil, causing illness and hardship?

Hardly.

Martha's faithfulness to Jesus as her savior was obvious to anyone who knew her. She read the Bible every day and prayed several times a day for her family, friends, community and the world. She wrote thoughts, prayers and Proverbs on index cards and kept them in her purse for those moments when she needed to feel closer to God. She shared her love of God with her church through her wonderful gift as a pianist and with her family through cards, letters and regular phone calls.

She was human with human frailties, but her loyalty was never in question.

Job was human, too, and God didn't question his loyalty at all. He even asked Satan twice, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

But why? I noticed in the paragraph before God spoke of Job, He asked Satan where he had been, to which Satan replied, "Roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Maybe he was looking for people to torture. Maybe God knew Job could handle it and wouldn't curse God's name, which he didn't. Maybe God knew Job was a perfect diversion for rebellious Lucifer, and could take the heat off his fellow man for a while.

Who knows? But, as Martha summed it up, it's better to know who is in charge than why bad things happen. For Robertson, seen by many as a leader of the Christian world, to assume to know why the earthquake hit is rather presumptuous. I'm surprised no one has called for his resignation.

Don Imus was fired from his radio show after calling the women on the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed hos," even though he apologized immediately for what he called "an insensitive and ill-conceived remark."

Robertson's staff, on the other hand, only released a statement on his Web site:

"His comments were based on the widely discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed."

I have two problems with that statement. First, Haiti is not the only place in a "horrible state." Wildfires and now heavy storms batter California; war rages on in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, and our own nation battles government corruption and a weak economy. Pinning it all on a folktale about a demonic pact is simplistic and out of line.

My second problem is with the word "allegedly." We use that word a lot in the news industry, especially when the facts of a controversial event are still being hashed out. If after 220 years there was still some debate, I would hope a man of Robertson's standing would keep quiet, or at least do some homework.

If he had, he would have learned that two-thirds of Haiti's population is Catholic and a quarter is Protestant. Still, he calls for "a great turning to God." The majority of them already believe in the same God we and Job do, and they've been praying all along.

(Nicolov, an assistant editor at The News-Item, writes "Don't Get Me Started" for each Friday edition. Contact her at julie_n@newsitem.com)

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