The Haitian Earthquake and Disaster's Golden Opportunists

Well, it's happened again. People who had nothing to begin with find the nothing they did have snatched away from them by the huge hand of calamity. By now, everyone in the world has learned of the disastrous 7.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered near Port au Prince, the capital of Haiti, on Tuesday 12, 2010. (Haiti is one of the poorest country in the world ranking 149th on the Human Development Index of 182 countries.) The International Red Cross, which is sending money, supplies and staff to Haiti to support relief efforts, estimates that, as of this post over 100, 000 people are feared dead and 3 million are affected as homes, hotels and hospitals have been reduced to rubble. We are once again deluged by images of the dead strewn out among the rubble and of survivors desperately trying to dig themselves out from amidst the ruins.

And Lord where will it end?

Yet, as certain as it is that these kinds of disasters will occur, it is also a certainty that these catastrophes always bring out an outpouring of sympathy and support from all quarters. Starting with the U.S, President Obama set has committed the U.S. government to a massive rescue and relief operation in Haiti and ordered the rapid mobilization of military and diplomatic assistance to help. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has declared that the UN would immediately release $10m (£6.15m) from its emergency response fund to assist Haiti. The European Union is also pledging assistance and financial aid towards rescue and recovery operations. In every quarter, in nearly all corners of the world, common everyday people are demonstrating the better part of human nature.

Then there are the others.

Oh Lord where will they end?

There are people who seem to almost gleefully wait for crises such as these. I'm not referring to looters like those who jumped at the opportunity to victimize their fellow man during Hurricane Katrina and who inevitable will during this crisis. Nor am I referring to the charity scam artist who, if there is a Hell, deserve to an especially horrific place there. Rather, I am referring to the evangelical response to these kinds of disasters. Must the victims of such disasters suffer a scolding from the men and women who should be giving the victims comfort and support? Must we be chastised by men and women who should be reassuring us that God has not forgotten these victims.

Specifically, I am referring to preacher Pat Robertson who, on his Christian Broadcasting Network show "The 700 Club, " has levied blame for the devastating earthquake in Haiti on the Haitians themselves saying that the country, "swore a pact to the devil" at its creation. See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5TE99sAbwM. (Robertson also suggested in 2006 that the stroke then-Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon suffered was divine retribution for ceding land to the Palestinians.) Robertson is not alone in his condemnation of the dead and dying of Haiti. This type of thinking is common with evangelist in this country. Other examples include:

"…this act of God destroyed a wicked city. From "Girls Gone Wild" to "Southern Decadence, " New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. From the devastation may a city full of righteousness emerge."

~Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America - a Christian evangelistic group based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania - response to Hurricane Katrina.

"I hope that God strikes Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy. You know, and I hope it happens today."

~ Pastor Steven Anderson.

"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals"

~Rev. Jerry Falwell

I believe that evangelist secretly wish for, and sometimes pray for, the death of people who are unfettered by the same sanctimonious sense of rightness that they are. "My God would not let people prosper or even live who do not believe and worship the way I claim to, " they seem to be saying. I can't help but think that evangelist don't just love God - or profess to - but that they hate mankind. This is what they are saying when they say that gays brought about the scourge of Aids by their attraction to others of the same sex; that Haitians sealed their fate when they allegedly made a pact with the Devil and that the residents of New Orleans were doomed because they lived in a "city of sin."

Now I do not rail against all men of faith. My best friend is a deacon. My sister is a minster. There is also the fact that many of the efforts to help the survivors of the Haitian earthquake are and have been faith-driven. I just wish that some people would realize that people need comfort and support most when they are suffering the ravages of Aids or are digging themselves out from beneath tons of cement more than they need to be told that God is seeking vengeance upon them. That's my sermon. Now this:

To help, people can make donations to the International Response Fund at www.redcross.org or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767). The public can also help by texting "Haiti" to 90999 to send a $10 donation to the Red Cross. Funds will go to support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.