Haiti

I try hard to avoid political commentary in this blog, because I want people to enjoy the comic strip without thinking about whether they agree or disagree with my opinions. But I won't shy away from commenting on televangelist Pat Robertson's recent assertion that Haitians themselves were to blame for the earthquake that hit Haiti recently. Their crime? "Practicing voodoo."

First of all, I don't care if they blows bubbles and call them angels. I'm not pompous enough to declare that my vision of religion is the only one, or better than someone else's. Secondly, I don't believe God punishes people with earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes because they've been bad. And third, I wouldn't dream of kicking a nation of poor, struggling people when they're down.

These kinds of comments will just discourage some of his followers from donating. The Christian thing to do is to take care of your fellow human beings--there's this little thing I heard about called the Golden Rule, which I would suggest is generally held to be true by most religions, and by atheists, agnostics and Pastafarians as well.

I did a week's service a few years ago helping to add a second story onto an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. I saw the poverty there, and, on a day trip to the Dominican/Haiti border, saw the conditions the Haitians live in. We saw one man carrying a load of items on his head the size of a Volkswagen. One child pleaded to shine the shoes of one of my fellow workers, even though they were canvas sneakers.

That was on our last day there. The next day, we were stopped on our way to the airport by soldiers. The countryside is crawling with them the day after the one day of the week on which Haitians are allowed to cross the border and trade, sell their wares and make purchases in the DR, because there's always the worry that Haitians will try to stay in the Dominican. As poor as it it is, the Dominican is still a step up from the poverty and oppression in Haiti.

I see the earthquake as an opportunity for the international community to help make a better place of that part of the world. I guess Pat Robertson sees it as a chance to build his flock at the expense of informed discussion. Blaming people for natural disasters is judging those who do not deserve to be judged.