Was Pat Robertson right? Are the Haitians cursed?



Tuesday night Pat Robertson, an American evangelist and pastor, said on his CBN news show that the Haitian people are cursed by God and that is why the earthquake fell upon them. (image source). He said,

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it," he said. "They were under the heel of the French ... and they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you'll get us free from the French.' "True story. And the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal,'" Robertson said. "Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."

People are soundly ridiculing Robertson for his stand, many because they say God would never "curse" a nation, others because they say there is no proof of this so-called pact. Of those in the second group, they point to an article written by Jean R. Gelin called "God, Satan, and the Birth of Haiti" in which he mentions (briefly), a couple who had done "extensive research" on the Haitian revolution that deals with several aspects of Haiti’s "painful history" including the "Bois-Caïman meeting" in 1791. In researching this pact notion, the "Bois Caiman meeting" came up again and again, along with a central character named Dutty Boukman. It is a meeting at which the participants decided to revolt and usurp the French in 1791. It is the meeting at which Robertson said the Haitians 'got together' and made their pact.

Dr. Gelin is a licensed minister of the Church of God and serves as an assistant pastor for a Haitian-American church in the United States. In his article, he defends a certain practice that was said to be in evidence at the Bois Caiman ceremony: "Now, someone could readily ask a legitimate question about the significance of the blood shared by the participants during that unprecedented meeting. The drinking of animal blood could be easily understood in the context of a simple cultural phenomenon. Warm animal blood was routinely used as a source of strength in many ancient cultures. Even today, animal blood is consumed in many parts of Haiti, generally fried or transformed in some other way, but without any spiritual or religious connotation."

He is being a little disingenuous here. It is readily discovered that drinking blood at a voodoo ceremony is the act in which the agreement to the action takes place. It even has a name, "drinking vodun."

The blood drinking was central as was the rayer (te action being agreed to). In the Encyclopedia of African Religion, "The Bois Caiman ceremony is said to have provided the spiritual energy necessary to overcome ..." But what kind of spiritual energy?

Dr. Gelin's article promotes Boukman as a Christian earnestly appealing to God for release from slavery under the French. He cites his source material as RD and NG Heinl in their book "Written in Blood - the story of the Haitian people." The book quotes Boukman's prayer: (note, blanc means 'white')
“Good Lord who hath made the sun that shines upon us, that riseth from the sea, who maketh the storm to roar; and governeth the thunders, The Lord is hidden in the heavens, and there He watcheth over us. The Lord seeth what the blancs have done. Their god commandeth crimes, ours giveth blessings upon us. The Good Lord hath ordained vengeance. He will give strength to our arms and courage to our hearts. He shall sustain us. Cast down the image of the god of the blancs, because he maketh the tears to flow from our eyes. Hearken unto Liberty that speaketh now in all your hearts.”

"Cast down the image of the God of the whites." Hmmm. Dutty was a runaway slave coach driver and a houngan. In Haiti, a houngan or mambo is considered a person of possible high power and status who acquire much money. John Connor, who wrote "Children of Guinea: Voodoo, the 1793 Revolution and after" has a different version of the Bois Caiman ceremony. Dutty led the ceremony which also included the practitioner of voudo arts and priestess Cecile Fatiman. She sang songs of Africa invoking Ougan, god of fire, iron, and war. The participants sacrificed a black pig and drank its warm blood in order to bind themselves together in revolt. The prayer that is quoted at this point is much similar to but in fact quite different from Gelin's transcription:

"The God of the white people demands of them crimes; our god asks for good deeds. But this god who is so good demands vengeance! He will direct our hands, he will aid us. Cast away the image of the God of the whites who thirst for our tears, and listen to the voice of liberty that peaks to all of our hearts."

One week later came the Night of Fire, in which 25% of all plantations burned. The flames could be seen as far away as the Bahamas. The war cry "Vengeance! Vengeance! was heard throughout the island and an impaled white child was carried as a battle standard. Though quickly found and beheaded by the French, Haitians honored Boukman by admitting him into the pantheon of loa (Vodou spirits).

Encyclopedia of African religion records the event thus: "According to some accounts, a great storm arose over those gathered and a mambo or priestess appeared and danced with a blade held high over her head. In this rendition of the ritual, it was she who actually slaughtered the black pig for sacrifice. Blood from the animal, and some say from humans as well, was given in a drink to the attendees to seal their fates in loyalty to the cause of liberation of Sainte-Domingue. The mambo who is said to have been in charge of this vital part of the ritual was Cecile Fatiman, wife of Jean-Louis Pierrot, a man who eventually became president of the small island from 1845-1846.

The white God was cast away and the other god sought. Pig blood was drunk to seal the deal. Well, Robertson was right. This is a pact with the devil.

Now: Would God curse a nation? Yes. He has and He would.
  • 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD,'Utterly curse its inhabitants; Because they did not come to the help of the LORD, To the help of the LORD against the warriors.' Judges 5:23
  • "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!" Malachi 3:9
  • 'Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book;" Deuteronomy 29:27
  • "So the LORD was no longer able to endure it, because of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day." Jeremiah 44:22
  • "Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him." Daniel 9:11
It is not "insensitive" to say that the Haitians are cursed. It is likely the truth. They "threw down the God of the Whites" and took up the other god, "our god" who will direct their hands. Doing that has consequences, as we saw from the bible verses above. God always judges sin, and no person or nation is especially cursed nor especially absolved from its consequences. The Haitians can pray to God and appeal to change their circumstances. "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22:30) The Lord cares for prayer so much that He searched for one man, one, who would pray. The LORD would have held off destroying the land if only one prayed. That is how much He loves us. We can pray for the Haitians, and we should. The Haitians can pray too, to renounce voodoo and accept the God of all nations, peoples, tongues, and tribes. Until then, we groan under the weight of sin. All of us.

Comments

  1. Interesting. I think you are on to something here. So is Pat.

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  2. Thank you...

    The only disagreement I have with Mr Robertson saying that Haiti may be cursed is the finality with which he said it. The end times are a time when God is showing His increasingly visible involvement in the world, and its purpose is to alert the human race to imminent judgment. If Haiti IS cursed, then it is an opportunity to show that God is bigger than satan, and that He has the power and delight to respond to changed hearts. Don't say they are cursed and leave it at that...tell the Good News, that Jesus is waiting for a repentant sinner and that eternity for a lost soul can begin through an earthquake

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  3. I agree with you and Pat, but I don't necessarily think saying that the day after a catastrophic earthquake is the way to point it out. Why wasn't he saying it before...and to them?

    Kim

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  4. I agree Kim that the timing should have bee better. I liked Al Mohler's response here:
    http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/14/does-god-hate-haiti

    I thought it was sensitive and compassionate yet got the Good News across very well

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  5. God is acting now because the world is coming to an end and the His judgement is upon the nations that forgot God. God is angry with the wicked.
    He allowed plenty of time so the nations could find and acknowledge his only Son but instead they keep ignoring God and turned to devil. What do you expect? Human mercy will never be greater than God`s so dont say when is good to point out the reason comments were left at that is the significance of the event not as act of mercy but of judgement.Why some Christians are trying to be more mercifull than God?

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  6. I don't think it's Christians trying to be more merciful than God, I think it's Christians being cautious not to speak for God when He Himself has not spoken.

    I do believe it is part of the end time judgments because it is the end time and because He said He would use earthquakes. But in the Old Testament when God smote a city or made a nation fall, He said what He was doing. He told the people. In Haiti's case, we simply don't know. So saying with finality that "Haiti is being judged" in my opinion is presumptuous because we would be saying we know the mind of God.

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  7. We dont live in Old Testament times and the time is running out fast. With all the time people already had there is no need for telling or explainations to people who despise white God and drink blood in their prayer meetings... Disguisting!How about New Orleans? Was that a great mystery? Not to me!

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  8. Anonymous I agree. It's not a mystery. But even though we are not living in OT times, it is still the same God. Consider this:

    God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7

    The prophet we should be listening to now is Jesus:
    "God's Final Word in His Son" God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. Hebr 1:1-2

    So what did Jesus say? The One whom God appointed for us to listen, gave us the signs of the end of the age (Mt 24:7, earthquakes in diverse places)

    But I think it is presumptuous to point to certain specific events and say "God is judging Haiti" or "God is judging China" or "God is judging Italy". It's a fine line, I know, but Jesus told the disciples that the earthquakes are a sign. He didn't say they are a judgment. How do I know? He did not appoint us to wrath. "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thess 5:9

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  9. You are trying to dominate this comment space with being hung up on OT. It would be nice to agree to disagree! I thought this space is to express different opinons not argue them. I have no doubt in my mind that God IS judging the nations that ignore him!If anyone wants to call me presumptuous-be my guest. And most certainly earthquakes are acts of wrath not mercy! You can tell the weather from looking at the skies but cannot see the signs of times?

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  10. It's a conversation. You came to my blog home to share your thoughts and I am doing the same. It's give and take. You missed the fact that I said I agree with you about the end times and earthquakes. :)

    Yes I am hung up on the OT. I am hung up on God and His word, all of it. I love my God and I believe Him when He says "ALL scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16

    I also believe the last prophet, Jesus, when God told Him to tell us that the end times would contain earthquakes that would be signs. Acts of judgment will occur in the Tribulation but since we are not raptured out yet, and since He said "we are not appointed to suffer wrath" it seems clear that we are under His signs, not His judgments (yet). That is how I interpret what the bible says. Obviously you interpret it differently, though I haven't had the benefit of reading your scriptural proof texts that led you to your conclusions.

    Do you have such texts? Did I miss something in my interpretation of Amos, Matthew and Thessalonians? Lead me to your verses and I will certainly pray and ponder.

    As always, I appreciate all comments and that you read the piece. Come here anytime.

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  11. I dont love God any less than you,nor believe his word any less than you do.Of course i am not talking of judgement day. I just think God already have a brief idea of what nations have become and although we are not in great judgement day yet He is able to judge or send calamities to wicked countries who offend Him every day.You didnt miss anything I just think Gods judgement machinery is already at work with second coming getting very close! Do you think that God does not know what nations got up to? I also feel that some countries will not change nor turn to Christ-real name Yeshua,meaning Jahwe saves,so even the judgement day is not here yet,God already know the stubborn nations are condemned and cursed. Thank you for your comments.Progress right?

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  12. thank you anonymous, I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

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  13. Romans 8:28

    Above all God is merciful and even such painful things are bent on drawing people close to Him.

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  14. Yet another quake, speaks volumes

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  15. This is bogus. The poverty and disasters in Haiti has nothing to do with a "pact with the devil". What has caused Haiti's despair has been Western imperialism and all the interventions Haiti suffered by the American military.

    Please watch these videos to learn the truth:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z6o77X0v-Y

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtGPmsqLGko

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  16. American imperialism? Hmmm, not the Spaniards who for hundreds of years exploited the island for its gold, mined chiefly by local Amerindians directed by the Spanish occupiers? With those refusing to work in the mines were killed or sold into slavery? Or not the French bringing enslaved Africans to the island and reaped enormous profits from sugar plantations for hundreds of years?

    Or responsibility is surely not the Haitians themselves, with their the 32 Haitian-led coups? Or certainly not the Duvalier family, they had nothing to do with Haiti's descent into madness and chaos.

    It therefore must be the US, who occupied the island for 19 years and even though scholars agree that Haiti was in much better shape after the occupation than before, it must be all America's fault.

    I don't agree with your premise, it is shaky at best, and history and logic does not support it.

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  17. I am sick and tired of the stupid comments the "evangelical
    Christians" like Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, Kenneth Copeland,
    et al continuously spew out. These "damned preachers for profit" make me ill inside. But I forgot, the Black people of the earth are cursed because of their skin color. Whitey is so much more compassionate than the savage Black people; after all, God made the White man in His Image, or so some of them think! Maybe these Clowns should look up Acts 17:26 and see what God (Bondye) has to say about the races of the world.

    And to Elizabeth Prata above: YES American Imperialism is alive and well on this earth! In case you have not heard,
    "we is empire building all across the globe now!" But after all we is saving these savages from themselves! Gotta go,
    I've had enough!

    Louisiana Creole (Kreyol Lwizyan)

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    1. I think that after this week it has become evident that the United States of America cannot build a telephone booth, let alone an empire.

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  18. Madanm Prata,

    With all due respect, please look up where American soldiers
    are ALL over the world. The reason for this is we are fighting
    all these wars because of the international bankers (banksters).
    This country may not be capable of making anything, because
    it has outsourced everything overseas (thank you Federal Reserve
    System), but we can obviously export soldiers (human lives) to
    die for profits, and profits only!

    Adye,

    Kreyol Lwizyan

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