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American Family Association Supports Pat Robertson's Haiti "Satan Pact" with Lies
In a move that probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, the American Family Association, which claims over 2.4 million members, has come out in support of Pat Robertson’s “Haiti Satanic Pact” comments, and reinforces a myth as though it were historical fact.
As we know, the AFA and other Christian organizations are quite used to asserting that myths are historical facts . . . myths like the Exodus. However, that myth builds identity and cohesion. The “Haiti Satanic Pact” myth breeds hatred and blame for the victims of a natural disaster . . . not to mention righteous indignation on the part of AFA’s membership.
In a January 15 AFA Blog post, Bryan Fischer expresses his support for Robertson:
Pat Robertson has been pilloried by everyone, Christians included, for making reference to Haiti’s ancient pact with the devil. No one, to my knowledge, has criticized the timing of his comments; rather all have criticized the truthfulness of his comments.
It’s one thing to criticize him for making a true but untimely comment, to suggest that to mention this dark part of Haiti’s past is insensitive and lacking in Christian compassion.
But that’s not what he is being criticized for. He is being criticized for saying something untrue, and that’s a whole different thing.
Robertson did not say that God caused the earthquake. What he said, if people actually listened rather than reacting with hysterical hissy fits, is that Haiti’s grinding poverty is a result of its pact with the devil. “Ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another, desperately poor.”
Actually, Robertson lumped the earthquake in with all Haiti’s misfortune, if Mr. Fischer would care to listen. But he’d rather spout misinformation to justify Pat Robertson:
It is a matter of historical record that Haiti’s independence from France is, in fact, rooted in a pact with the devil made on August 14, 1791 by a group of voodoo priests led by a former slave named Boukman. The pact was made at a place called Bois-Caiman, and the tree under which a black pig was sacrificed in this ceremony is still a shrine in Haiti. Annual voodoo ceremonies are conducted every August 14 on this very site, essentially renewing the covenant with darkness each summer. An iron statue of a pig stands today in Port-au-Prince to commemorate the Boukman contract with the devil.
During the ceremony in 1791, a priestess was possessed by a spirit called Ezili Dantor and it was this spirit who received the offering of the black pig.
Hundreds of slaves drank the pig’s blood and pledged to exterminate all the white Frenchmen on the island, while Boukman asked for Satan’s help in liberating Haiti from their French overlords. In exchange, the voodoo priests offered to dedicate Haiti to Satan for 200 years. The slave rebellion drove the French from Hispaniola and Haiti declared its independence on January 1, 1804.
Mr Fischer provides no footnotes, no references to sources. Quite a remarkable amount of detail, with no source to back it up! We’ve found sources which indicate that there is no reliable evidence whatsoever that there was any “pact with Satan”, and reported on this elsewhere.
Jim Denison of the American Baptist Press adds to the criticism of Robertson’s promotion of myth as fact:
First, no one knows if the alleged Haitian pact with the devil actually happened. Robertson’s history is a bit fuzzy: he claims that this 1791 event occurred during the reign of Napoleon III, who didn’t come to power until 1848. What about the event itself?
Here’s what we know: on August 14, 1791, slaves in the northern part of Haiti gathered to begin a revolt against their French masters. Led by a voodoo priest named Dutty Boukman, this event has been called the Bois Caiman Ceremony. It is widely considered to have been the spark that spawned the revolution that ultimately expelled the French and established the Republic of Haiti in 1804.
Here the story blurs. One tradition claims that Boukman led his slave followers in a voodoo ritual in which they slaughtered a pig and drank its blood. Then they allegedly made their pact with the devil: if he would free their people from the French, they would serve his spirits on the island for the next 200 years. By dedicating their country to Satan, the legend goes, they caused the economic deprivation and natural disasters that have plagued Haiti over the last two centuries.
But, since their supposed pledge to the devil expired in 1991, how could it have caused the January 12 disaster? In April of 2003, then-Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide made voodoo (also called Voudou) an official religion in Haiti; some claim that this act renewed Haiti’s pact with the devil.
There’s another way to tell the story, however. Examine the allegedly Satanic prayer by Boukman at the Bois Caiman Ceremony:
“The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light. The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our god who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are. You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, he orders us to revenge our wrongs. It’s he who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s he who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god, who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts.”
White Europeans saw Boukman’s rejection of “the white man’s god” as a rejection of the God of the Bible. When he prayed to a different god, they claimed that he prayed to the devil. In fighting their slaves’ rebellion, such an interpretation obviously served their cause.
But Boukman never prayed specifically to the devil, or pledged himself and his followers to spirits for 200 years. And there is good reason to doubt whether Boukman even prayed the “prayer” attributed to him. His chant is considered inauthentic by some historians; there is no eyewitness account of it.
So what do we know for sure? There was a ceremony on August 14, 1791 that sparked the rebellion in Haiti. It probably involved the ritual slaughter of a pig and incorporated voodoo traditions. Nothing more can be known with certainty.
Linked from the Associated Baptist Press article, thelouvertureproject.org provides these insights:
The political effects of the French Revolution had been felt in the colony from the moment it began. When the Estates General passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in August of 1789, the slaves had reason to hope that emancipation might soon follow. For two long years they grew more and more restless. A few small, plantation-wide revolts broke out. Then, on August 14, according to Geggus, “a meeting of slave-drivers, coachmen, and other members of the ‘slave elite’ from about 100 plantations took place in Plaine du Nord parish” on the Lenormand de Mézy estate. The slaves decided to rebel. (Geggus, pp. 84-85) The colonists apparently knew about the meeting, but it’s not clear whether they knew that it was anything more than a large social gathering.
This meeting and the Boukman ceremony were separate but related events. Bois Caïman, or “Alligator Wood” is the legendary location of Boukman’s call to arms, but Geggus finds no firm evidence that the place exists.
But, wait a minute, back it up. What was it that our buddy Fischer said?
Annual voodoo ceremonies are conducted every August 14 on this very site, essentially renewing the covenant with darkness each summer. An iron statue of a pig stands today in Port-au-Prince to commemorate the Boukman contract with the devil.
So, annual voodoo ceremonies are conducted every August 14 on a site that doesn’t exist? How does THAT work, exactly?
We reported on the elusive (read: nonexistent) Iron Pig elsewhere. For completeness, historian Gelin’s comments are repeated:
For quite some time now, several articles on the Internet have mentioned the existence of an iron pig statue in Port-au-Prince as a monument to commemorate Haiti’s so-called pact with the devil through Vodou. The statue would be in remembrance of a pig that was killed during the gathering by the African slaves. In an effort to know more about that rumor, I contacted several authors about the exact location of the pig statue that’s incidentally nowhere to be found in the country. Their answer was complete silence, a simple apology, or just the removal of the reference from their texts.
I wonder if Gelin will be contacting Fischer?
Heinl & Heinl's Haitian History
.
Fischer, never one to stop while he’s behind, continues:
On national TV, Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S. openly admitted, while criticizing Robertson, that Haiti did in fact enter in to this pact with the devil. In fact, he adds that America should be grateful for this pact, since the slave revolt that followed the creation of this pact prompted Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Purchase to the United States.
Let’s be precise about what the Ambassador Raymond Joseph said on the Rachel Maddow show. His exact, transcribed words:
I would like to address one thing that I heard tonight, about how the pact with the Devil made it possible for Haiti to suffer the way it has. I would like the whole world to know — America especially — that the independence of Haiti when the slaves rose up against the French and defeated the French army … the U.S. was able to gain the Louisiana Territory for $15 million. That’s three cents an acre. That’s 13 states west of the Mississippi that the Haitian slaves’ revolt in Haiti provided America. Also, the revolt of the rebels in Haiti allowed Latin America to be free. It’s from Haiti that Simon Bolivar left with men, boats, to go deliver Grand Colombia and the rest of South America. So, what pact the Haitians made with the Devil, has helped the United States become what it is.
Video available HERE.
I can see how this could be interpreted as “admitting” that there is truth to a legend, that a ceremony making a pact with the Christian devil (whose existence the participants would not recognize, instead of, say, the god/gods of the African slaves) was held. However, in watching the video, the impression I get is, “You say we entered into this pact; well, if so, that pact made your country what it is today.”
Apparently, the American Family Association didn’t care to hear that interpretation of Joseph’s remarks.
Lying for Jesus. Sadly, an all-too-common pastime of his followers.
Related articles:
- American Family Association Supports Legal Sanctions for Homosexual Behavior
- American Family Association Poll on Gays in Military
- American Humanist Association Supports International Day Against Stoning
- Dick’s Sporting Goods caves to American Family Association bullying
- American Family Association Goes To War With Glee
Mike Daniels is co-editor of Secular News Daily.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry.
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Thank you for your effort in completely debunking this garbage. Pat Robertson makes me wish there was a different thing I could call myself, like “Jesusian,” because he has so tarnished the name of Christian. I will be preaching on Sunday about this evil use of God’s name.
Please don’t make a fool of yourself from the pulpit. You’ve done enough damage already.
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This is the normal tactic of the deluded religious leaders. Make statements based on what you want history to be and say it enough to make people believ it is true.
Regardless of your view of the “Pact with satan”, and regardless of your view of Pat Robinson and/or his recent comments; there is one undisputable fact that can not be ignored. GOD DID ALLOW THE EARTHQUAKES IN HAITI TO HAPPEN (whether he actually caused them or not)as evidenced by the fact that they did, in fact, happen. Duh!!!
If you think that you have a better theory than Robinson as to why GOD allowed this tragedy to happen, let’s here it. Otherwise, your comments are not worth a pile of warm dog crap. Any fool can throw rocks.
Your so called indisputable fact is weak. Since no god, as worshiped by humans, exist how can it be indisputable? Anyone making claims as to who or what caused some natural disaster seems to forget that it is simply a natural disaster and nothing nor no one at this time can prevent the event from happening. All people can do is hope they have their homes safe against any types of natural disasters common to their area.
The fool has said in his heart, “there is no God”. This is directly from the Bible. Case closed.
LOL Because some book written by people several thousands of year ago says something it is the truth. Doesn’t the bible say something about judging others is wrong? There is no evidence that a god like the hateful one in your bible exist your words mean nothing. It is sad that you are so afraid of facts that you hide behind lies. When you finally wake up from this dream life you are living let me know.
Please elaborate on the following:
Why did God allow American Christian missionaries to be killed as their churches in Port-au-Prince collapsed?
Why does God allow babies to be raped by perverts?
Why does God not smite Barack Obama?
Why did God smite primarily poor black Christians in New Orleans, while their gay white neighbors in the French Quarter were unharmed?
Do you have answers for these, since you claim to know the mind of God?
It is not your place (nor mine) to question the will of God. Who the hell do you think you are anyway?
Please site how or where I claimed to know the mind of God. You obviously can not because I obviously did not. Apparently, you are as big a fool as baconsbud, which makes me pity you.
You asked baconsbud to demonstrate that the earthquake was not God’s will, and implied that Haiti deserved it. So, you must believe that when children are raped and murdered, they deserve it because God allowed it. Yes?
When dictators commit genocide, the victims must deserve it, because God allowed it. Yes?
And the Christian missionaries killed in Haiti, they also deserved it. Correct?
Congratulations! You managed to insert two outrageous lies into your first sentence. You’re good. You must be a liberal Democrat politician.
You said:
Implication: Haitians deserved the earthquake, per “god’s judgment”. Therefore, you must also believe that people deserve whatever God allows, correct?
There is no lie here. I stated clearly what you implied with your comment, and then took it to its logical conclusion.
If you can not deal with the bare facts, why even bother to express an opinion? I obviously implied nothing. I did not even state an opinion. You go to great lengths to prove that you are an idiot. You quote my words but fail to point out anything therein to support your extremely strained interpretation.
One of the surest ways to start a fight is to talk about religion and politics …
But … as a practicing Christian, for any one to say hurtful things as did Pat Robertson did—during a time of great anguish … is, well, as medieval and as backwards as any Islamicist proclaiming “death to all infidels!”
What must be said at this moment is that Haiti is in need of spiritual, mental, and physical healing. Not any of the hurtful crap spewing from the mouth of Ayatollah Robertson.
How nice! Just what we need, your “Political Correctness” garbage to save the day!
Gerald do you claim to be a Christian? Are you here to fight for your beliefs or just to fight?
“…Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts.”
~Ephesians 4:18
I totally agree with Angela..
people have free will, babies are murdered because of that, not because of God..
We have destroyed the earth, this incident is a result of that..
God is Love and Peace and Hope, if you fight in His name Gerald, do it with His attributes!
I would like you to tell me how someone has free will when all their actions have been planned beforehand. Think about what you and other christians say when you believe god has a plan and knows all of our actions before we take them. This means that the only reason you are doing anything is because it was set into motion when your god started his plan. That means you have no free will to choice but are nothing more then a computer running a program. Free will means you get to choose one of few to many different things.
Think about how many times you have planned your day and something as small as a red light have forced you to alter those plans and you were unable to complete your plan. If you believe in free will then you can’t believe in some master plan. Do you believe abortions are a part of gods plan? If you say no then that would mean gods plan isn’t set in stone as many christians claim.
We have destroyed the earth? It was still here the last time I checked. There were earthquakes in prehistoric (pre human) times. Duh!! You sound like one of these global warming nuts that are too stupid to realize that we don’t have the ability to destroy the earth – even if we wanted to. Duh!!
So you think that you have free will. I’ll just test that theory with two simple questions.
1 – When do you plan to quit sinning? No matter how much you would like to, you won’t quit until you die.
2 – When do you plan to die?
Shoots your theory all to hell, doesn’t it? Sorry about that.
God is all you said and much more. Your God may have originated in the nursery rhymes, but the God of the BIBLE is also a God of wrath, judgment and justice.
I hate to see dedicated men of God lambasted by so-called Christians that are too ignorant to come in out of the rain.
I have to disagree with you that we don’t have the ability to destroy the world. To actually destroy it implies that it will be just a few million chunks of rocks. If we were to drill thousands of deep wells and slide a few nukes down each of them, it should do enough damage to cause the destruction of this planet.
I do believe global warming is happening and it has the ability to make life worse for all animals on the planet but it won’t destroy anything but plants and animals unable to adapt to the changes.
What many people fail to realize about global warming is that it is about a change in average global temperature of only a few degrees. It doesn’t mean that the entire planet will suddenly become tropical.
The result of that change is a dramatic change in weather patterns and an increase in severity of weather . . . as we are currently seeing on the east coast, with blizzard after blizzard.
Since people are taking local weather as evidence of “no global warming” — “How can there be global warming? Look, it’s snowing!”, let me point out that here in western Oregon, my lilacs started budding out in mid-January, paperwhites have been in full bloom for two weeks, and daffodils are about to pop. All early. This after we had a week of below-freezing temperatures in early December which caused the ground to freeze. Not only did people’s water lines freeze, but some water MAINS in Eugene froze and broke. See, the mains are shallow because the ground doesn’t ever freeze here. EVER.
Changes in weather. Not generalized warming.
Gerald, I’m going to put together an article on God’s Will. It may take until Sunday or Monday to complete; I have a full schedule the next couple of days.
I do hope you’ll come back and have a look when it’s done! You may find it of interest.
To Angelia:
No, I am not hear to fight. I am here merely to share my wisdom with you and those like you, who tragically, have none.
I tracked down an “Iron Pig” siting at Anne Pale’s Haitian website, a website on which Gelin, the historian mentioned in your article, contributes.
A guy named Michael mentioned he used to see the Iron Pig when a child. He says it’s nowhere to be seen now, mentioning that it may have disappeared about 18 years ago, when the ‘Doc’s’ finally lost power.
Gelin commended him for opening his mouth, seeming to infer that many Haitians ‘just don’t like to get involved.’
Michael also mentioned he thought it was a gift from the Italian Embassy. He was obviously drawing on childhood impressions, but offered all these in a helpful spirit.
So, my question is, are you going to acknowledge that there probably was an Iron Pig at one time? I wanted to research it out to be accurate, I hope that is important to you, too.
I don’t think the quake had anything to do with voodoo, but we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater by rewriting history, do we?
I found the link you reference. http://annpale.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1929 from 2004. I’m reviewing and will add an update to the article.
Thanks!
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