Candidate for worst human being in the world: Pat Robertson

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Maybe this should be a new ongoing series here at The Reaction. We'll see.

For my initial post on the disaster in Haiti, see here. For J. Thomas Duffy's post on Robertson and Haiti, see here.)

**********

No natural disaster is complete without some insane Christian fundamentalist coming out and saying something unfathomably insane.

(Although, come to think of it, it's all quite fathomable when this happens, given that it happens all the time.)

I've called Pat Robertson a number of things before, including "dangerous idiot" here, here, and here, but I just can't think of the appropriate word or words to use in response to what he said today on his show The 700 Club about the earthquake in Haiti:

The Rev. Pat Robertson, on his CBN broadcast today, offered his own explanation of the earthquake in Haiti:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said. "They were under the heel of the French... and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.'

"True story. And the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal,'" Robertson said. "Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

That's right, Robertson said that the earthquake happened because the Haitians are "cursed" as a result of a long-ago pact with the devil to free themselves from French oppression.

Insane? You betcha, even by the extreme standards of fundamentalist Christianity, even by the standards of Robertson's own insanity, which would seem to include admiration of French (i.e., white European) tyranny and a desire for non-white peoples to be subjected to such godly bondage.

Now, Robertson also said that "right now we're helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable," which is fine, but also, rather disturbingly, that "we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I'm optimistic something good may come."

Sure, over 100,000 people are dead, sure, the country lies in ruins, sure, it's a humanitarian catastrophe, but if those "cursed" Haitians turn to Jesus and accept the Christian yoke, then, hey, it was all for the best, right?

You know what? Fuck you, Pat Robertson, you fucking piece of shit.

You're one of the worst human beings in the world, a shameful embarrassment to humanity, to America, even to Christianity. You're a disgusting, despicable man with disgusting, despicable beliefs.

And you, dear reader, if you believe this nonsense, you're fucking insane as well.

**********

If you want to watch Robertson in action, here's the clip: