I choose to refrain from politics in this blog as much as possible, because it is so polarizing. Music is what unites most of us, and faith in Christ unites many of us even deeper. I follow lots of people on twitter, including some other media outlets, etc. Many of these people, of course, probably differ in political opinion from myself. I read one such tweet (from a media person I happen to like) the other day. It quoted Pat Robertson saying that Haiti had made a pact with the devil. Then it was followed by the sharp jab: “Thanks for always being there with a helping hand” (or something like that).
My thoughts are two-fold:
One, criticism is good. Not everyone sees everything from the same angle. It helps us to hear differing viewpoints on things. It helps us grow. Multiple voices and opinions (in the forms of committees) can make things slow down in terms of decisions, of course; but in the arena of public opinion, sometimes a negative criticism like this can be helpful. What this person is probably sensing, which I can agree on, is the timing and context of such a statement. I did not hear what Pat Robertson said, but he invariably talked about the country of Haiti and how some rather dark religious practices take place there (like voodoo, witchcraft, Siteria, etc). The inference is that God has pronounced judgment or withheld protection from a country that would openly serve other gods. While this could possibly be true, it might not be the case. If it is not the case, then the damage to the reputation of God and His people could be large. Picking on someone when they’re down or casting blame on the victims due to their lifestyle choices can certainly come off as uncaring. There are times where blaming a victim (an alcohol abuser, for instance) can be tough but loving truth that should be communicated, heard and acted upon.
I’m not too proud of some of the religious leaders that have gone on record shortly after some recent disasters and suggested that God was doing this as part of a judgment. I happen to take these sorts of things seriously, so if it were up to me I’d make darn sure that God was saying such and such before I opened my mouth and stated it as such. The harsh standards over biblical prophets was a sobering, cautious and good thing in terms of not playing around with God’s Word. (You know, the whole false prophets will be stoned to death sort of punishment)…
CBN’s Operation Blessing International has a relief team on the ground in Haiti.
Bill Horan, president and chief operating officer of the charity aid organization, says relief supplies are on the way to the devastated nation.
“We actually have a container, an Operation Blessing container, sitting at the port in Port-Au-Prince,” he told CBN News on Wednesday. “It was waiting to clear customs with $2 million worth of medicines that we were giving to Partners in Health.”
“Also, we have a four-wheel drive land cruiser that we were going to use for our company vehicle that has a winch on the front of it and armor-plating underneath it,” he continued. “It’s specially jacked up real high, so we can go through all the big potholes and so forth that are there anyway. But now, I’m not quite sure how we’re going to get around, but we’re on the job.”
Secondly, I think to myself, ‘You know what? I bet Pat Robertson and his organization have donated large sums of money immediately to relief aid. I bet the man himself has given funds personally. Since the journalist who made this 140-character statement did not mention any fact-checking in his indictment that Pat Robertson was only giving criticism as his “helping hand” gesture, I’ll see what I can dig up with a google search…
I would call that “lending a helping hand” and doing something practical (as opposed to just sitting there and casting judgement). So, while the statement Pat Robertson made (which might’ve been expected and “listened for” by critics) might be ill-timed, uncalled for and quite unwise; the overall criticism that Robertson is doing nothing to help out doesn’t hold a lot of water for me.
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