Haiti and their Pact with the Debbil

[Pie]

I'll sign. I don't have a soul.

[gvidas]

A Qualified Defense of Pat Robertson, by Robert Taber, a doctoral candidate in Carribbean History at the University of Florida.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/...robertson.html

In essence, he states that Pat Robertson didn't just concoct the 'pact with the devil' statement from whole cloth: that it was a reference to Haiti's formative and entrenched relationship with Voudou, a defining moment of which was the ceremony through which the slave revolt was organized.

[xoxoxoBruce]

He's still a jerkoff.

[Shawnee123]

The best comment posted to that article:

Jon said...
I think people understood that Robertson wasn't *making up* a story about a pact with the devil; rather, he was perpetuating a centuries-old libel against the Haitian people and the religion many of them subscribe to, a libel boosted by the belief that of course black Haitians could not have defeated the white French without Satanic help. Mr. Taber's pointing out that there are conservative Christians *other* than Robertson -- even some in Haiti! -- who believe that Haitian religion is devil-worship hardly provides a "defense," qualified or otherwise, of that characterization. Nor does it explain Robertson's apparent position that his all-benevolent God is prone to indiscriminate, centuries-long, mass murder of people in countries where too many people worship the wrong gods.

Like duh, yeah. We're not stupid, we KNOW he didn't pull the comment out of mid-air. It's still the stupidest thing anyone on earth has said lately, Rush notwithstanding.

(oh i hope there's a hell oh i hope there's a hell oh i hope there's a hell)

[classicman]

The history of Haiti is one of remarkable courage in the face of daunting odds. Fears of spreading slave revolt led the global community to isolate newly independent Haiti. In exchange for recognition of its hard-fought independence, France demanded a war-damage payment of 150 million francs—estimated at $21 billion in 2004 US dollars—that Haiti spent eighty years paying. Post-Castro worries about communism spreading in the Caribbean meant that the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations looked the other way as Jean-Claude Duvalier solidified his iron grip. In 1983, The US Department of Agriculture’s concerns about African swine fever led to the indiscriminate slaughter of the pigs that formed the backbone of Haiti’s rural economy. One need not look to supernatural realms to find the devils plaguing Haiti.

Hopefully, somehow this will be another chapter that describes their courage.

Unfathomable death and destruction. I cannot even watch it on tv anymore.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by gvidas

In essence, he states that Pat Robertson didn't just concoct the 'pact with the devil' statement from whole cloth: that it was a reference to Haiti's formative and entrenched relationship with Voudou, a defining moment of which was the ceremony through which the slave revolt was organized.

That is a bullshit justification. First, the entire notion of Haiti needing to make a pact with the devil is entrenched with racism and religious elitism. Haiti was the only successful slave revolution. And, since Roman Catholicism was brutally forced on the slaves, it is only natural that they would throw that aside and integrate their ancestor's belief's with it, creating Voudou.

But of course, the devil must have been involved to allow a bunch of blacks overthrow their brutal white masters....

I mean....its okay if I say that blacks are an inferior race to whites because it was a popular belief 100 years ago....

[Shawnee123]

Hey... yeah, that's exactly what the comment (following the article) I quoted said!

[piercehawkeye45]

You posted while I was typing my reply.

[xoxoxoBruce]

But today, Haiti still has more Catholics than VouDudes.

[piercehawkeye45]

Many practice the two side by side. I think numbers are unknown though.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

Many practice the two side by side. I think numbers are unknown though.

Ah well, the devil's in the details you see...

[xoxoxoBruce]

[Spexxvet]

If you pray to god to be freed from slavery, and you don't get freed from slavery, you're bound to turn to an alternative.

Originally Posted by Conan

: Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to HELL with you!

And why does everyone seem to accept, without questioning that voodou is evil?

[Sundae]

Because it's not Christianity.
Jebus said, "I am the way, the truth and the light, no-one can come to the Father except through me."

Pay attention!

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

And why does everyone seem to accept, without questioning that voodou is evil?

Because, unlike Pat Robertson, voodou doesn't have an agent and publicist.