Haiti Quake

I wish Pat Robertson would stop talking to the press. Inevitably, his statements make Christians look foolish (and not in "the Gospel is foolishness to those perishing" sense)...

"According to some fundamentalist Christians, including Pat Roberston, revolt leaders made a pact with Satan in 1791 to gain independence from France. Haiti won its freedom in 1804.

Robertson said last week that deal brought on the quake.

'You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free,' Robertson was quoted as saying. 'But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.'"

Of course, "mainstream" (aka liberal) Protestants can't do any better:

"'Why do we always have to go here?' said David Burns, pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. 'Can't there be another explanation rather than, "God did this?" Why not, "God does not micromanage the world. God's heart breaks with us and instantaneously moves to comfort, catalyze imagination and compassion, and instill hope."'"

Robertson is actually closer to the mark...

We should be clear - God does micromanage the world. God is in control of everything that happens (or, you could say that He could prevent anything from happening). Anything less means that we cannot rely on God to help us (He is too weak or not paying attention) - that robs us of hope.

But Robertson goes too far. You cannot say "X is because of Y", unless you can show it clearly in the Bible ("death is because of sin"). Are Haitians rebels ("in a pact with Satan")? Sure, we all are. Do bad things happen to sinners? Sure. Are Haitians cursed? Sure, we all are.

Is this earthquake because of any particular sin - we don't know.