Right after the Haitian quake, televangelist and all-around asshat Pat Robertson claimed that Haitians were victims of the horrific quake because their ancestors had made a pact with the Devil to secure their freedom.
Word of what Robertson said spread like H1N1 across Facebook. Friend after friend linked and commented about what he said.
What bothered me wasn't so much their condemnation of Robertson but this all-too predictable reaction: When a Christian makes a mistake, an immediate opportunity is seen to pounce and waggle one's irreligious and secularist finger at said Christian—as if this one person were a microcosm of all that is wrong with the Christians and religion at large.
This kind of righteous grandstanding from these folks gets under my skin.
Yet instead of letting it go, I tried to turn the tables a bit by pointing out that Robertson's international relief agency, Operation Blessing, was one of the first on scene in Haiti and that that was something people should consider. Of course, being hot under the collar I was none too subtle in making my "point".
What ensued was a maelstrom of comments from friends who couldn't believe I was offering a defense of Robertson, and one who thought I shouldn't "go there."
Oops. Not what I had intended. I tried to elaborate on my point that perhaps if you're going to judge the man then judge the whole man and not just his brainless words.
However, given the context of the situation, this was wrong. I was wrong. There remains no excuse for Robertson's historically nuts, ill-timed, heartless and, worst of all, un-Christian words. My attempt to steer away from that fact was ill advised. For that, I apologize.
And next time I feel so offended by the irreligious and secular condemning Christians for being un-Christian, I'll give my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them to pluck off the hair: I'll hide not my face from torrents of shame and spitting....
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