Who Made Pat Robertson God?

I believe that the most effective enemy to a cause is someone who claims to be a leader or spokesperson of that cause while committing abominable acts. Such a person can do far greater harm than anyone who is openly opposed to that cause. As an evangelical Christian, I am particularly sensitive to people who are regarded as leaders of evangelical Christianity. A case in point is Pat Robertson, who has joined Jerry Falwell in my personal list of the most damaging people towards Christian outreach in the U.S. (Fortunately Falwell is no longer around.)

Robertson is now in the news because he has stated that the earthquake in Haiti is the result of a pact that was made with the Devil by the ancestors of the Haitians. This is one of the most horrible natural disasters in modern history, with potentially hundreds of thousands of people in unimaginable suffering. It seems to me that the gospel of Jesus is based on compassion, not condemnation. Christians have not been called by God to judge and condemn others. Robertson seems to think that God has assigned him to condemn suffering people rather than call on Christians to help in this horrible crisis in Haiti.

I cannot blame people who think Christians (especially evangelicals) are uppity self-righteous judgmental bigots, even though that is the opposite of the truth. There are numerous evangelical churches and parachurch organizations (such as World Vision) who are mobilizing evangelicals to help in the Haitian crisis. A friend of a friend of mine is in Haiti right now. But I do blame Pat Robertson (and others like Jerry Falwell, and so forth).

Unquestionably I am with millions of evangelicals who apologize to all people for the insensitive statements of this man. Please do not think that he represents the sentiments of evangelical Christianity.