Christians Against Pat Robertson

Fuck Pat Robertson.

I keep hearing that “he doesn’t represent the Christian faith,” but he does. So does Rick Warren with his bigoted stance against gay rights. So does James Dobson with his views on women needing to be subservient to men. So do Rob Bell and Brian McLaren and Shane Claiborne and other, more progressive Christians you’ve probably never heard of. They all have their own opinions and people who don’t like them all say they don’t represent Christianity.

Even though they all do.

Anyway, some Christians (and conservative commentators) are speaking out against Robertson and it’s nice to hear them doing it. Check out what they’re saying:

…

Christian author Don Miller:

… I’m reminded of a similar comment made in a debate on CNN, in which yet another religious figure blamed the devastation in New Orleans following Katrina on the debauchery that took place in that town. Luckily, or perhaps providentially, Tony Campolo was also on the show and pointed out that the French Quarter was fine, that it was low-income minorities who were devastated, and then asked his fellow guest point blank whether God was angry with low-income minorities. The other guest really didn’t know what to say. Any answer would have painted him a loon.

Regardless, Robertson’s comments further divide people of faith from, well, people of faith. I don’t want to debate the theological ramifications of Robertson’s comments, I only want to point out some perspectives that cause me to no longer be angry with him, and rather, to pity him…

…

“Reformed Pastor” David Fischler:

He has said some amazingly bizarre and ignorant things over the years, and generally we just hope that no one is paying any attention. There are times, however, when I wish someone would yank the microphone out of his hand, gag him, and put him on a plane to one of the uninhabited Solomon Islands. Make him comfortable, but don’t ever, EVER, EVER let him near any form of broadcasting, recording, or writing equipment more sophisticated than a crayon for the rest of his life…

…

Shepard Smith at FOXNews:

…

Campus minister Jonathan Weyer:

… First, Pat, I would ask that you repent of your sin of presuming to know why horrible suffering happens to people. You didn’t say this in your quote, but its obvious you assume that God is punishing the Haitian people for whatever supposed deal they made. How dare you assume to know God’s will in this instance. Here is a clue, you have no freakin idea, so shut your mouth, repent of your sin publicly and stop embarrasing God and your fellow Christians. Then, do us all a favor and get off the air.

…

Julie Clawson at onehandclapping:

… Pat in your twisted rewriting of history you display perfectly the juxtaposition between what Jesus actually said and what you want him to have said. You want to blame tragedy on personal sins. You take an old Haitian MYTH and read it as fact to support your cause…

…

Can you find any more? Feel free to leave links in the comments.

TychaBrahe

More Christians should read from the book of Bokonon. And I quote, “You are a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who claims to know the mind of God.”
Vincent

I’ll say one good thing about Pat Robertson: He made me learn something. I’d never heard the story of the Bois Caiman Ceremony before. It’s an interesting story involving a vodou ceremony held at the beginning of a slave uprising. It did not involve all Haitians but just under 200 slaves. Almost immediately the Christians in America (defending slavery) claimed it was a pact with the devil. Of course Christians of that ilk believe all other religions are devil worship so it’s not surprising.

So in one way it’s an interesting story of how Christians stood up for slavery in the Americas. Thanks, Pat, for letting me know even more how shitty Christianity can be.
ungullible

Pat Robertson does not have an incorrect interpretation of the Bible, he just prefers the vengeful god of the OT over the nicer one from the NT. What he says is no more offensive to me than what fills much of the OT. I challenge his critics not to criticize Pat, but to explain why their god appears schizophrenic in the first place. At the very least, if not schizophrenic, god has a complete change of heart between the OT & NT, which is a very human (un-god-like) thing to do.
Karen

A great turning to God? They are a predominantly Christian nation. And what makes less sense is that there are countries which are predominantly secular and their God isn’t raining hell-fire down on them. These guys just make no sense.

(Tangent opinion: I know people think Shepherd Smith is a sane voice over at Fox, but I think if the devil were to exist he’d look a lot like Shep…)
littlejohn

Why is anyone surprised by this latest bit of lunacy from Robertson? He has a long record of blaming various natural disasters on human behavior, usually our toleration of gays or abortion.
Even if we give this loon the benefit of the (non-existent) doubt, why would god kill people far too young to have anything to do with Haiti’s independence from France?
If Robertson didn’t have “Rev.” in front of his name, his idiotic blathering would have landed him in some sort of custodial care, preferably with padded walls, years ago. He is clearly, literally, insane.
Trace

That will teach Haitians to make pacts with the Devil… WT*?
jeff

Is Robertson saying that God has been punishing the current people of Haiti because of that 200 year old voodoo ritual or is he saying that the devil is punishing the people of Haiti because they are no longer doing (or not doing enough) voodoo? I’m a little confused with Robertson’s logic. But either way, he is deluded.
BJ Marshall

There is a site called http://fuckpatrobertson.com/ and now half the profits from their t-shirt sales will go to Doctors Without Borders. Awesome. (Full disclosure: I’m not affiliated with that site. I just think the domain name is FTW.)
TPO

How about a round of applaouse for David Fischler:-) He offers sage for Robertson’s handlers but hopfully they will not follow it. It’s better for these beliefs to be out in the open so everyone can see.

I posted on this yesterday at the link below but I really love your angle.

Doctors Without Borders / Haiti / Pat Robertson
Mike

I don’t know what Keith Olbermann’s religious beliefs are, but he really told Robertson and Limbaugh what he thought of them last night. (Not that he hasn’t done that before.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPoWOw8Jm5w
JD

None of them represent the group though, they represent a subgroup, and your article doesn’t really seem to acknowledge that part very well.

One thing that is also true that it’s the bombastic people that get on the airwaves, that’s how they get on media shows, stir up controversy for increased ratings by having some blowhard that only represents the extremes, such as Jerry Falwell, Robertson, etc. You don’t see the moderates so much, because they don’t help ratings.
WK

This brings to mind Exodus 20:4-5:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”

According to the bible, the sole reason for human suffering is because two people ate from the wrong tree six thousand or so years ago, so what Pat’s saying sounds pretty Christian to me.
Jer

None of them represent the group though, they represent a subgroup, and your article doesn’t really seem to acknowledge that part very well.

They actually do represent the group because they present themselves as representative of the group and the moderates and liberals let them get away with it.

You don’t see the moderates so much, because they don’t help ratings.

Feh. I used to believe that but not anymore. You don’t see the moderates so much because they don’t speak out at all period – the best example of a moderate who speaks out is Jim Wallis who does not actually speak out so much as softly whisper “not all of us are like that”. Moderates refuse to stand up and say “NO, this is NOT what Christianity is, these people are NOT CHRISTIANS, and we reject your labeling of them as such”. As moderates I pretty much expect wishy-washy handwringing and non-committal “denunciations” like that. But even when you look at the “extreme” on the opposite side – the liberal Christians – you STILL do not get a full-on rejection of anyone short of Fred Phelps – you get a mealy-mouthed “well, that’s not MY theology” which is no better than what you get from a “moderate”.

Meanwhile these folks on the most extreme side are perfectly willing to denounce anyone and everyone as “non-Christian” and their definition is the one that gets to be in play because of it. They are the face of Christianity to the US – is it any wonder that more folks are checking “None” in polls that ask them about their religious practices these days? And so Rick Warren and Pat Robertson and the other loudmouthed bigoted hateful preachers are the representatives of what it means to be a Christian in America today. If you’re Christian and you don’t like it then you better start speaking up because it’s only been getting worse as far as I can tell for the last 30 years.
Aaron

We are making too much of this. Maybe Robertson is just an ass.
Berlzebub

@ ungullible:
You’re confusing schizophrenia with dissociative identity disorder, but you’re point remains the same.

@ JD:
Isn’t that akin to the “no true Scotsman” fallacy? Everyone represents a subgroup of their particular philosophy. The difference is that Robertson doesn’t receive much criticism from other Christians until he says something this stupid. His views on abortion, homosexuality, and same sex marriage go pretty much unchallenged.

Oh, and what Aaron said.
Aaron

This guy has an apparently well-researched comment on the subject.
http://www.juancole.com/2010/01/pat-robertsons-racist-blaming-of.html

Oh, and what Aaron said.

Heh heh heh.
Casimir

This brings to mind Exodus 20:4-5:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me”

According to the bible, the sole reason for human suffering is because two people ate from the wrong tree six thousand or so years ago, so what Pat’s saying sounds pretty Christian to me.

Ditto ditto ditto.

What I’m more interested in is how many Christians are going to make statements about it all being “part of God’s plan”.
Einmaliger

Believe it or not, even the religious nuts at Rapture Ready disagree with this:

http://rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=123829
Siamang

The continued existence of Pat Robertson is some pretty strong evidence that God doesn’t exist.

It’s also, unfortunately, a very good object lesson in how religious thinking can warp the mind, morality and very soul of human beings.

The fact that Pat Robertson has any living human being willing to point a camera at him shows the utter bankruptcy of the human impulse to build religions.

If there was any truth-seeking ability, or any mechanism for enlightenment or the betterment of the human soul within the cultural phenomenon known as religion, groups like this are the ultimate refutation of that notion.

Maybe this is something well-known to many religious people, and I cannot say that people like Pastor Mike Clawson don’t give me hope that I’m wrong about that blanket statement.

Perhaps it’s true and has always been known to religious people, and they have said this: men have built religions of darkness. There are religions where fear is worshiped in the place of love. Where obedience is worshiped and not compassion. Where power is the goal, and not peace.

I wish I could believe in God, so that I could say this: For God’s sake, pity the people of Haiti, and give all you can. Do not let Pat Robertson or Rush Limbaugh speak for America, Christianity or humanity.

Woe unto us for raising these men up in prosperity and fame. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
Richard P

I kinda like pat.
He makes atheism look good…
Brings out the stupidity of religion.

However, it is important to remember that many people support his ministry, So he does represent a whole lot of bible thumpers that will agree with him.

He is not a subset of the Christians.
The ones that disagree with him are the subset. The few and far between. The rest will nod their heads and silently agree.
Aj

Don Miller,

…espouse an absurd theological idea on television…

Theologically, what we all deserve is death, and Christ paid that for us. We live in the New Testament, not the old. Lets spread God’s unconditional love.

Julie Clawson,

…You take an old Haitian MYTH and read it as fact to support your cause…

So get your history straight, or at least get Jesus straight and use this opportunity to be a light to the world instead of another harbinger of darkness.

Ah, Christians, the gift that keeps on giving. They probably don’t even realize the hypocrisy. Jonathan Weyer wasn’t bad at all, it wouldn’t have been out of place here. I like Shepard Smith’s outbursts, like “we don’t torture”. I think that criticisms that don’t target Robertson’s claims to divine knowledge are toothless, and are the equivalent of saying “you’re Christianity isn’t the same as mine, so you’re wrong”.

When a story is followed by the phrase “true story”, it’s most likely not true at all. Blaming natural events on wrong doing by humans is not uncommon in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and many other religions, especially outside of the West. Making up stories about deals with the devil is quite unusual though, unless you’re a TV show writer. Mostly it’s more general: “women are wearing Western clothes”, “abortions are happening”, “they must have done something in a previous life”.
Susan

As a follower of Christ, I am appalled at Pat Robertson’s actual lack of knowledge about the Bible. We live in a fallen world. Terrible things happen. To say it is God’s judgment upon the victims means you know the mind of God. Logically that would mean that everything bad that happens to us is God’s judgment on us. God grieves over this Haitian tragedy. He loves these people unconditionally and died for them. Pat needs to stop being so self-righteous and judgmental and instead donate to the Haitian people relief fund. Isn’t that what Jesus would do? Sodom’s biggest sin was their lack of care for the poor in light of their prosperity. Unfortunately, this is the biggest problem with Western Christianity, which really is not Christianity at all.
Flah

@Einmaliger: the rr folks started that thread condemning Pat R., but just a couple of pages in you find comments that he was just saying what many people thought. (No, only what your sickened mind thought, dearie.)
brgulker

It’s tragic to me that religious leaders use a tragedy such as this as little more than a segue for their hateful religious agendas.

It’s equally tragic to me to read comments such as this that appear above,

Pat Robertson does not have an incorrect interpretation of the Bible, he just prefers the vengeful god of the OT over the nicer one from the NT. What he says is no more offensive to me than what fills much of the OT. I challenge his critics not to criticize Pat, but to explain why their god appears schizophrenic in the first place. At the very least, if not schizophrenic, god has a complete change of heart between the OT & NT, which is a very human (un-god-like) thing to do.

What happened in Haiti is a horrible, awful tragedy. Period.

It’s not a springboard for any a/religious agenda. The only response that any of us should have, regardless of our persuasion with respect to god’s existence, is love and compassion.

Pat Robertson can take his comments and stick them. Likewise, ungullible can take his challenge and stick it. Now is not the time. Now is not the place.
Wayne Dunlap

Until Tuesday, things seemed to be looking up for Haiti’s 9 million people. The Western world had rallied to the country’s side after the 2008 storms, sending former President Bill Clinton as a U.N. special envoy to Haiti.

“The corner had been turned. It was really getting better. There was a lot of optimism. The Haitians were showing signs of taking responsibility for themselves, and their country, crime had been reduced, the economy was looking like it was going to recover,” said Robert Perito, director of the Haiti Project at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). “So this is a particular tragedy – a whole year’s worth of effort to try to come back from the devastation.”

So, according to what I gleaned from a later article on Haiti, Haiti was turning around reducing its crime and taking responsibility. Wonder what Pat Robertson has to say about that. The people were making every attempt to improve themselves and God punishes them for that? Wasn’t it Robertson who commented, after the creationist school board was fired in the Dover public school for placing creationism as an alternative ‘theory’ to evolution, that they better not call on God for help if there is some sort of tragedy? What a sick pup!
Ron in Houston

The continued existence of Pat Robertson is some pretty strong evidence that God doesn’t exist.

Well, there ya go. Case closed.
Wayne Dunlap

Just viewed the news broadcast of the interview of Pat Robertson’s nonsense statement that Haiti’s troubles are all due to their making a pact with the devil. Pat, you’re playing with yourself. There is no such thing as a devil. Did I hear it correctly that even the news commentator on the right wing Fox network actually stated that Haiti did not need comments like that from Robertson?
Neon Genesis

Here’s a clip of Rachel Maddow’s coverage on Pat Robertson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QszyMLxrQvk
Travis Morgan

How dare Christians not have “faith.” Do theists not cherry-pick what to call divine intervention and what not to? How can other theists give him $hit when his claim is no less justifiable then their claims are of their prayers being answered, miracles occurring, etc… If the earthquake had only of killed a few, theists would be quick to jump on the bandwagin to call that a miracle, and there are those who survived this that attribute their survival to divine intervention, and theists might agree with them. But when something bad happens, they don’t want to agree to it being divine intervention. Where is the ol’ argument, “god works in mysterious ways, and knows what is best for us and this must be best for the haiti people.” now? Yea, I didn’t think so. Because like his claim of this being the result of divine intervention, their claims are just as unsubstantiated and ridiculous. They thank and blame god instead of the doctor for surviving a dangerous surgery or the likes, etc… Now, I am not defending Pat, I am merely pointing out the double-edged sword of theists being able to call out, “it’s a miracle, its a blessing, it’s divine intervention” for practically anything they wish. It shows how silly their claims are.
J B Tait

In the video he sounds so sincere as if he really does have first hand information about the deal he claims the Haitians made. That makes me wonder how Pat Robertson has access to knowledge of who has pacts with the Devil. Could it be he is Hell’s lawyer?

But kudos for giving the Haitian ambassador a platform to correct the sadly lacking History education and the knowledge of the American TV viewers.
God is said to work in mysterious ways. Maybe He hardened Robertson’s heart (as He did the Pharaoh’s in the Olde Days), and infused him with that brain fart for exactly that purpose.

My first thought on hearing of the disaster was similar to Robertson’s, but not at all the way he said it. My thought was: Why does God have to be so mean to the poor, who are commonly His most ardent followers?

Evaluate the results of an “Act of God” (look at the aftermath of the tsunamis, Katrina, earthquakes, etc.) and the wealth distribution under the Free Market system (God will provide for your needs) and it becomes clear that God doesn’t like poor people, so when will the poor people get a clue and return His sentiment in kind?

I am betting Mr Robertson has not made any new converts to Christianity today. I am also betting he has convinced a great many to look more skeptically at their own beliefs. So on the whole, this silliness that looks so much like it could well have been created by The Onion or South Park is more likely to advance the spread of Reason over superstition than to retard it.
Flah

Moderates refuse to stand up and say “NO, this is NOT what Christianity is, these people are NOT CHRISTIANS, and we reject your labeling of them as such”. As moderates I pretty much expect wishy-washy handwringing and non-committal “denunciations” like that.

@Jer: you’re right, we don’t. Not enough or maybe not just not loud enough. Is it that moderates of any kind rarely have the pulpit from which to throw the stones that need to be thrown? Or is it when we do say, “No, Pat’s wrong, that’s not Christianity,” we get it tossed back to us that yes, it most certainly is, and here’s ample proof that Christians are pretty much loud, deluded, destructive, divisive asses? So we’re screwed either way.

I can’t say Pat’s not a Christian any more than I can say you’re not an atheist. It’s not up to me to judge. But I can judge his actions and render a hearty “fuck off, Pat”. And if his words influence people to NOT give to a relief effort, then I must condemn, because contributing to the suffering of others is a very basic evil.
mingfrommongo

Exodus 20, Numbers 14, and Deuteronomy 5 all mention “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation.” It’s been 218 years since the Bois Caiman ceremony; today’s Haitians should be off the hook for that one. And Exodus and Deuteronomy follow up with “mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments.” Haiti is almost entirely Christian. Way to play by your own rules there, Jehovah.
martymankins

I’m of the opinion that none of these people in high up places actually believe what they say. They do it all for press and ratings.

Regardless of that, it still make people like Robertson an asshole.
Nathan

I said something about it. Yesterday. Before it was cool.
Wayne Dunlap

Rachel Modow says “Ladies and gentlemen, behold Pat Robertson, the unintended consequence of the 1st ammendement.”

I luv it!! I couldn’t have said it better.
Wayne Dunlap

If you haven’t done so already, check out Nathan’s blog site. He has some quotes by Jesus which counter what Robertson is saying. It is too bad Nathan cannot send them to him.
http://st-eutychus.com/2010/pat-robertson-is-an-idiot-who-needs-to-read-the-bible/
lonesparrow

Perhaps a “Golden Muzzle” trophy could be awarded…
When I was a christian and I heard stuff like this, I just wanted to hang my head and cry.
muggle

Every time there’s a natural disaster, my heart goes out to the poor people and I hear the calls to give to the Red Cross, etc.

Almost before I have a chance to come to grips for it and as the rest of the world seems as stunned by the disaster as I am, before I have even figured how much I can afford to give, one or other of these nutcakes comes to the airwaves with some bigoted remark like that.

It is a relief to see that he is being villified. That the moderate Christians are speaking out and condemning, not just the secular press. Cudos to them for that.

And, as someone said above, now is not the time to use someone else’s misery to promote either religion or irreligion. Now is the time to make with an outpouring of love and compassion and support, human to human.
Spurs Fan

God grieves over this Haitian tragedy. He loves these people unconditionally and died for them.

Really Susan? Really? If I had the power to stop my child from being killed and I didn’t use that power to prevent it, I would make the argument that I didn’t, in fact, “grieve” over him, did not love him unconditionally, and did not, as evidenced by the fact that I would still be alive, die for him.

If God created everything, including the ability for the earth to contain earthquakes, then God is just as responsible as anyone for the deaths. God fucked up apparently.
Wayne Dunlap

You know what it comes down to? Jesus taught the people to love one another. Robertson just doesn’t get it. Sad!
Pseudonym

Here’s a good suggestion.
Tyler Shepherd

I wrote about xtian apologetic responses for Pat Robertson and his offensive stance as well this week. I was not as appreciative of their willingness to shirk responsibility for that view being of their faith, rather than just Robertson’s gall (which we already knew he had plenty of).

Do you really think it’s healthy or for the actual good that these middle managing faith heads would continue to hide from the extreme views they tolerate in their communities? It seems to me they are chastising him only for going too far, rather than for going in an entirely unacceptable direction.
MikeTheInfidel

God grieves over this Haitian tragedy.

Gosh darn it if the earth’s tectonic plates aren’t more powerful than Yahweh! He would’ve loved to prevent this, but shucks, apparently he’s the exact polar opposite of omnipotent.

If your god is grieving over something that he could’ve prevented, there is something seriously wrong with him. What, is God not outside of time? Did he not know it was coming? Was he utterly incapable of preventing the tragedy?

How can you grieve for the victims of an event you knew was coming? How can you be anything but culpable for their death for not working to prevent it? Was it too much effort?

Either God doesn’t give two shits about Haiti, or he can’t do anything about it, or he doesn’t exist.
Wayne Dunlap

Ok, here something that will blow your mind. I sent my guitar instructor the Utube of Pat Robertson. This was his response:

i saw my student who moved here from Haiti and i mentioned the pat robertson comment.
she said he was right!!! that blew my mind
duhsciple

1. Dick Cheney speaks. He is an American. Therefore, he does represent America. Do you agree with this logic?

2. Doh! God is powerful. God is love. Yet there is this terrible earthquake. Whoops! As a follower of Jesus, I never thought of this problem in logic before. Give me a break!

Should I just give up the “downward mobility servant lifestyle” of caring for those struggling the most? Should I give up because there is no “reward” in coming to the aid of the people of Haiti?

Bottom line. I respect people for the love they show much more than logic and intelligence of political-religious-ideology. Show me the love, and you will win me to your perspective. Otherwise, forget it.
Jeff

Either God doesn’t give two shits about Haiti, or he can’t do anything about it, or he doesn’t exist.

Or God does care about Haiti, He can can do something about it, He does exist, but He caused or allowed the earthquake as a warning to everybody else that saying certain chants over chicken bones is a VERY VERY dangerous and offensive act punishable for generations and generations to come (like original sin).

Lets see… which is more probable?
Wayne Dunlap

Jeff,
That’s easy. It’s the latter. 🙂
duhsciple

What are we doing to respond to this natural disaster tragedy in Haiti?

I get how smart and non-delusional you all are. Now, please demonstrate love for these hurting people.
Wayne Dunlap

duhsciple,
Just because we are having this discussion, doesn’t mean that none of us are doing something about it. I already made a big donation to Clinton’s fund towards the cause. Besides, you are here making a comment as well.
MikeTheInfidel

duhsciple: You do realize these comments don’t take up our entire lives, right?

As for your original #2, “Give me a break” doesn’t get you out of it. Why is God (apparently) constantly letting people get slaughtered just to teach other people lessons? Doesn’t that essentially mean that some people’s entire existence has absolutely no meaning other than to serve as a warning?

How do you know YOU aren’t one of those people? How are you not constantly living in fear that you’ll be horribly killed as a “warning”?
JB Tait

@duhsciple

I suspect we are all doing our best to help this suffering population but in that sentiment of compassion have also posted our comments here, to express our anger with Robertson for essentially saying these people aren’t worthy of our aid because they were justly punished by his God.
Wayne Dunlap

Pat Robertson’s diatribe that Haiti made a pact with the devil was played on the news this evening. The person discussing it, said, “not really”. It seems that before the Haitians rebelled against their slave owners, they did a religious dance to help them to build up the courage to do so.
Wayne Dunlap

Hi Jeff,
Shane Hayes of The Believing Agnostice,
http://www.thebelievingagnostic.blogspot.com/
asked me to let you know that he responded to your last comment in the form of a new posting on his home page. Since this would not show up to you even though you are subscribed, he just wanted me to let you know.
Wayne
Aj

I’ve heard Christians describe the gods of other religions as “the devil in disguise”. Christianity has borrowed symbols, rituals, and ideas from other religions to create “Satanism”. Pagans were often called devil worshippers. Smaller gods called demons by the Church. It wouldn’t be a surprise that Haitians worshipping their gods, praying for freedom, would be described by Christians as making a pact with the Devil. They would actually believe that the gods Haitians prayed to was actually the Devil.
Wayne Dunlap

AJ,
Actually, pagan simply means someone who worships a god different than Yahweh. In the OT, early Jews were Henotheists which means they believed in many gods but had made a pact with yahweh to worship only him. Still, David also worshipped the god of his ancestors. I think that Robertson is suggesting that the Haitians were performing a voodoo ritual.
Hypatia’s Daughter

Why & when did Christianity become so ugly & compassionless, especially in the US? How did it become a belief that victims of natural disasters deserve their fate; the poor are evil; and vicious acts of vengeance (like war & the death penalty) are just?
Robert Elson

Mr. Mehta:
I am both embarrassed and appalled at the arrogance Mr. Robertson displayed two weeks ago. Mr. Robertson is NOT a representative of the “Christian faith” but he IS a representative of the “christian faith. The term “Christian” refers directly to Jesus and His teachings as opposed to the latter term, “christian”, which refers to man’s perversion of Jesus’ teachings. A better perspective of what the “Christian faith” looks like in times of suffering is summarized in the following article. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/blog/19824-jesus-will-let-you-suffer

While there are many people who share Mr. Robertson’s thoughts and views, they do not share the thoughts and views of all Christians and more importantly they share nothing with Jesus.