What do Jake Tapper, Alan Colmes, Rich Shapiro, John Cook and Mike Potemra all have in common? All of them reported that reliable media punching bag, Pat Robertson, blamed the devastating earthquakes in Haiti on a “pact with the Devil.” But did Robertson really do that?
Did the former Republican presidential candidate really state on his national TV program, The 700 Club, “that the earthquakes were the Haitians own fault”?
First, readers can listen to Robertson, then form their own conclusions. The video is below.
At no point do I hear Robertson actually blame the earthquake on “a pact to the Devil.” Whether you agree with Robertson or not about the “why,” he was also correct about the long-time suffering of the Haitian people. And he asks for his viewers to contribute generously to his relief fund.
So, what could have caused so many to get this item so wrong?
One guess: one-part conclusion jumping, one-part deadline pressure, and one-part attitude; in this case, an attitude of Pat Robertson animus. In getting the story wrong, the reporters in question were guilty of the very thing they accused Robertson of doing: taking advantage of a human tragedy to further their own ends.
Robertson quickly released a statement in response to the almost-immediate discharge of vitriol.
On today’s The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti’s history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.
Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath. If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson’s compassion for the people of Haiti is clear. He called for prayer for them.
So what’s the alleged “pact with the Devil” Robertson was referring to?
The story goes that on August 14, 1791, “…a black slave and witch doctor named Boukman led the slaves in a voodoo ritual. They sacrificed a pig and drank its blood to form a pact with the devil, whereby they agreed to serve the spirits of the island for 200 years in exchange for freedom from the French.” According to Jean Gelin, a Haitian-American minister in the Church of God:
The satanic pact allegedly took place at Bois-Caïman near Cap-Haïtien on August 14, 1791 during a meeting organized by several slave leaders, under Boukman’s leadership, before launching what would become Haiti’s Independence War. This brutal period lasted 13 years until the last survivors of the French expeditionary forces, dispatched to Saint-Domingue with the sole purpose to re-establish slavery, were allowed by Dessalines to leave the island and return to Napoleon. Those who made it safely to France wrote and reported about the utmost bravery and supreme courage of Haiti’s indigenous army.
In his essay, God, Satan, and the Birth of Haiti, Gelin goes on to say:
I was born and raised in Haiti, and I am a graduate of the State University in Port-au-Prince. I am also a believer in the Lord Jesus-Christ in accordance with the Bible. In all of my studies of Haitian history, however, I have yet to find a good evidence of even the idea of Satan’s assistance in the Independence War, let alone a satanic pact
Regardless of whom or what you believe, it seems clear that Robertson was giving his take on the miserable existence of the Haitian people–not on some divine-retribution cause of the earthquake.
Not everyone got it wrong. Several reporters accurately separated fact from hype. They included:
* Politico’s Ben Smith, and again here.
* Ryan Smith, CBS News
Among those reporting it wrong were:
* Jake Tapper/ABC News, Pat Robertson Blames Earthquake on Pact Haitians Made with Satan. In addition, the video from ABC News at Tapper’s site is titled, “Robertson: Deal with Devil Caused Quake.”
* Mark Silva/Chicago Tribune’s Swamp: Haiti, humanity and a devil named Pat.
* Rich Schapiro/ NY Daily News, Rev. Pat Robertson says ancient Haitians’ ‘pact with the devil’ caused earthquake.
* John Cook/ Gawker, even though he didn’t tie the deal to the earthquake in his story, still titled his piece: Thousands Dying because Haitian Slaves Swore a Pact with the Devil for their Freedom.
* Alan Colmes/ Liberaland, Pat Robertson: Haiti Earthquake Because Of “Pact To The Devil.
* NRO: Why Pat Robertson Is Wrong.
Which side of the political spectrum one resided seemed to make no difference: the meme that Robertson said the earthquakes were caused by a deal with the Devil was “too good to check.” Most of the blogosphere merely cut and pasted from the reporters above, adding in a sentence or two of their own brand of wit about “whether Robertson was dead,” “on medication,” or deciding on the degree of hate Rev. Pat had exhibited with his callous remark.
Trying to understand how otherwise normally-reasonable people took a tack I–and others who watched this video clip originally — just could not see, I was struck by two thoughts.
The first was a paraphrase of an Alfred Hitchcock quote: “The better the villain, the better the press narrative.” In 2010, no one makes a better press villain than a 79-year-old Evangelical Christian minister who isn’t embarrassed about opining about faith-based beliefs on his national TV show.
The second is this Don Surber quip (about a completely unrelated subject): “Nothing like putting words in people’s mouths and bashing them for ‘saying’ it.” One suspects that for the press, in Pat Robertson’s case, nothing could have been easier.
Then again, you can always blame global warming. Just ask Danny Glover.