Legal Commentary

Pat Robertson Blames Haiti Earthquake on Pact with the Devil

By Ilya Somin

Pat Robertson recently blamed the Haiti earthquake on a pact with the devil that the Haitians supposedly made in the early 19th century:

Pat Robertson, the evangelical Christian who once suggested God was punishing Americans with Hurricane Katrina, says a ?pact to the devil? brought on the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Officials fear more than 100,000 people have died as a result of Tuesday?s 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti.

Robertson, the host of the ?700 Club,? blamed the tragedy on something that ?happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it.?

The Haitians ?were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever,? Robertson said on his broadcast Wednesday. ?And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ?We will serve you if you will get us free from the French.? True story. And so, the devil said, ?OK, it?s a deal.? ?

Native Haitians defeated French colonists in 1804 and declared independence.

?You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.?

It seems that Robertson has learned nothing from the outcry generated by his 2001 comments endorsing Jerry Falwell?s claim that the 9/11 attacks were a punishment that God inflicted on America because of ?the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, [and] People For the American Way.?

In addition to blaming this tragedy on a wholly fictitious pact with the devil, Robertson also confused Napoleon I (the French ruler the Haitians actually rebelled against in the early 1800s), with his nephew Napoleon III, whose reign didn?t start until 1852.

As a fellow Yale Law School graduate, I?d have to say that the Reverend Robertson isn?t one of our alma mater?s more impressive products.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 13, 2010 (boomark / email).