Yesu Mulungi - African Christian Perspectives

Kato Mivule | February 8, 2010

A few weeks ago Pat Robertson caused stir in America when he suggested that the earthquake devastation in Haiti was the result of God's judgment on Haiti because of the sins that the Haitians committed by making a pact with the Devil.

The comments by Pat Robertson were aired (of course snippets of it ) across America's Media networks and debates on a number of Christian blogs ensued. However, what was more troubling is the thinking of some Christians in the West who see every catastrophe as a being caused by God.

Such thinking is very circumstantial and bound by a geographical location. Evangelical Christians who live in the affluent parts of the West such as Pat Robertson have no troubles holding to this “Bible Prophecy View” based mainly from the Old Testament that every catastrophe or natural disaster that hits a city or a people is caused by God...as long as they are safe and secure from the disaster.

Yet amazingly all the “prophetic words” that God caused the natural disasters as a judgment on the sinning nations are only targeted to the vulnerable. Haiti is a very poor nation, one of the poorest in the whole world. Other natural tragedies tend to occur in poor regions like the Tsunami in Indonesia,  and drought and hunger in many parts of Africa.

The question then is why would God in Heaven always target the poor and most vulnerable in the world today and castigate them as sinners? Why in the whole wide world would The Lord be angry at the poor Haitians because of the sins that their great fathers did generations ago? No wonder such folks as Pat Robertson have to turn to the Old Testament to conjure up scriptural support for their obnoxious “prophetic” notions.

Secondly what about the Christians from Haiti who died in the Earthquake? Thousands of Christians perished too and including a number of American Missionaries who had set up camp in Haiti. Were these Christians and American Missionaries on payroll with the Devil?

Why would God be selective in his judgments that He would only judge the poor yet leave some of the greatest sinners in the West unharmed including Christians in the West who seem to be turning their backs on God?

A look at the History of Haiti shows that actually the 'real sinners 'are the rich Western Nations that have had a disastrous relationship and influence in Haiti. This in no way negates the fact the the Haitians have had to deal with their own short coming of rampant corruption and mismanagement. This is not to suggest that foreign powers caused the earthquake, for Haiti sits on a geographic fault line and therefore is prone to earthquakes just as San Francisco or Los Angeles is.

Yet still the question remains unanswered as to why it is always the poor who are chastised as being “sinners” by rich and affluent “Prophets” in the West. I come from poor Uganda and there are many “disasters” that befall the poor everyday. If one lacks bread, then another disaster will be malaria, a child  dying from diarrhea, and people perishing in road accidents due to poor and bad roads...and the list goes on and on. Should we then conclude that all these poor folks who perish because of mismanagement by their rulers are sinners?

Pat Robertson and all who think and speak alike set their own standards of righteousness and actually self righteousness that paint a picture that they are righteous, rich and wealthy, therefore they are pleasing to God and the poor folks from Haiti and third word nations are sinners who must have made pacts with the devil.

There are many things that occur around the world and we have no answers and are not necessarily fulfillment of Bible Prophecy nor the judgments of God. One thing for sure is that Haitians are a poor nation and greatly mismanaged by their own rulers, while western nations with cities on fault lines are well managed and thus well able to deal with natural disasters better. Yet there is a lack of humility by so-called prophets in the West to acknowledge that they don't have all the answers...

The Lord might have used this disaster to test the hearts of Christians and check their response. Many Christians in the West have responded positively and helped the poor Haitians. Others like Par Robertson only see Devils in Haiti and even though he hypocritically responded afterward with his “Operation Blessing” and a statement spinning the meaning of what he had stated earlier...claiming he wanted people to pray for Haiti. If there is a need  for prayers, it is prayers from Christians in Haiti and poor nations, praying for the likes of Pat Robertson to be cured of their imbalances and insanity.

Brethren, watch out that you not be hoodwinked into believing that every death, disaster, catastrophe, and and even poverty is a result of people being sinners and having “signed pacts with the devil”. Such thinking is presumptuous, arrogant, and at best self righteous...and comes out of largely the Prosperity Gospel and Dominionist Movements that see riches and wealth as a blessing from God and those who suffer as cursed. For the Dominionist, any nation that does not walk according to Judeo-Christian  values is cursed and thus faces natural disasters from God...

Rather than condemning a man who is hungry and homeless as a sinner who made a “pact with the devil”, it would be better to first provide him with bread and a blanket to warm himself...I suppose Heaven would be glad with such a response.

There is a lot of ministry these days especially in the West, many people are without jobs due to the Global Economic Crisis, many don't have food to eat, others in Haiti need  clothing and shelter, rise up oh Western Christian and do something...go help your neighbor who lost their job and help them buy a few groceries, send a donation down to Haiti rather than listen to the likes of Pat Robertson. Should we conclude that many Christians who have lost jobs in the west due to the financial Crisis are sinners and are on the Devil's payroll?

Secondly, the deception that Pat Robertson throws out among Christians is that if you are wealthy, rich, and live a life void of troubles and natural disasters, then by the Pat Robertson Logic you must be a Saint as Pat Robertson made the comparison between Haiti and her neighbor The Dominican Republic.

Some Christians, especially in Bible Prophecy Circles engage in lots of presumption and put forward their thoughts as God's thoughts yet this is not true. Many use fear-mongering and take advantage of such happenings like Earthquakes in Haiti to portray themselves as spokesperson of God. Brethren, watch out!

Kato Mivule