The relevant portion starts at the 6:00 minute mark.
Here is the a transcript if you can’t bare to watch:
Pat Robertson: “When these disasters strike, we are there to help the people. And you know… Christy… something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they [Haitians] were under the heel of the French and uh you know, Napoleon the third or whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil and they said we will serve you if you get us free from the French. True story. So the devil said ‘okay, it’s a deal’. And they kicked the French out, you know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, but ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. That island of Hispanola is one island, cut down the middle, on one side is Haiti and on the other is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have a great turning to God.
Whew. I need a shower. What is with Pat Robertson and always saying victims deserved their tragedies. Whether it be hurricanes, terrorist attacks like 9/11 or earthquakes, the victims are somehow the perpetrator, according to the oh so Christian Pat Robertson.
Now, I am not even going to touch Pat Robertson’s fictional recounting of the Haitian Revolution. You can read the truth of what happened if you want, and needless to say, the Devil was not involved, and he surely was not quoted about any deal making. But the religious demographic is of importance:
Haiti is a largely Christian country, with Roman Catholicism professed by 80% of Haitians. Protestants make up about 16% of the population. Haitian Vodou, a New World Afro-diasporic faith unique to the country, is practiced by an undetermined percentage of the population. Religious practice often spans Haiti and its diaspora as those who have migrated interact through religion with family in Haiti.
Haiti is 80% Roman Catholic. I wonder if Pat Robertson is a bigot towards Catholics. Perhaps like his brethren at the Westboro Baptist Church. Evangelical Protestantism does have a history of not liking us Catholics all that much. Perhaps that is why Robertson thinks the Haitians made a pact with the Devil. Or perhaps he thinks all Haitians practice Haitian Vodou, which would be a stereotypical and bigoted way to look at Haiti. Regardless, according to Pat Robertson, victims deserve their fate always, for surely they did something to deserve. And that way of thinking is identical to those who think women deserved to be raped.