Haitians react to televangelist Pat Robertson's 'devil pact' remarks

[JBird]

Originally Posted by SoylentOrange

Here's a funny letter from the opinion page of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:



Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

Ha ha ha ha! That was too funny. Thank you for sharing this; it made my night

[qzar9999]

Originally Posted by SoylentOrange

Here's a funny letter from the opinion page of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:



Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

Terrific.

[Lat]

Originally Posted by SoylentOrange

Here's a funny letter from the opinion page of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:



Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth -- glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox -- that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it -- I'm just saying: Not how I roll. You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings -- just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

Haha. Nice.

[KeiichiRX7]

Originally Posted by Lat

...

you made yourself crystal clear, i was just drawing analogs and mapping holes, so that those who do use them feel as foolish as they rightfully should

[reverendo]

Originally Posted by Rachel Bronwyn

There's no question Pat Robertson is one of those assholes who would do and say horrible things regardless of their beliefs. He's not an example of a lovely human being who is blinded by faith, resulting in goofy conclusions.

His beliefs are sincere though and consistent with the Bible. The "No true Scotsman" argument won't fly. The Bible is self-contradictory. One can't adhere to it without contradicting certain parts. You can chose to emphasise the importance of the Jesus bits and condemn Pat Robertson's interpretation as un-christian. Others will condemn your interpretation as demonic, however, because you desregard so much of the Old Testement, the book that predicts the arrival of Jesus. The divine word of the very god who is/the father of Jesus.

No interpretation of the Bible is more legitimate or christian than Pat Robertson's. All interpretations are influenced by personal biases. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad for every christian I hear denounce the words of Pat Robertson and am relieved to see the number of christians who chose to make their faith one of peace. The "No true Scotsman" fallacy won't fly with me though because it's so blatantly hypocritical. If you're right, when you die you'll be in a position where god can reveal to you the truths of the Bible that our species can't agree upon. In the meantime, I recall Jesus saying something about not being judgemental.

And please, cut the strawman bullshit. It's inaccurate and doesn't permit fruitful discussion.

Technically you could call him a bad christian because he betrays christian ethics with his statements. The old testament is in the bible, but its better left for the jews to interpret it and the christians the new one.

[Sephie]

Originally Posted by reverendo

Technically you could call him a bad christian because he betrays christian ethics with his statements. The old testament is in the bible, but its better left for the jews to interpret it and the christians the new one.

You would still be doing the no true Scotsman fallacy. Furthermore there are some messed up stuff in the new testament. Furtherfurthermore you also have contradictions in the new testament that make it impossible to follow.

[Rachel Bronwyn]

Originally Posted by reverendo

Technically you could call him a bad christian because he betrays christian ethics with his statements.

And, in doing so, you'd be betraying christian ethics yourself such as not judging others.

There are many, many passages in the Bible that jive perfectly with the verbal diarrhoea Pat Robertson spews.

The old testament is in the bible, but its better left for the jews to interpret it and the christians the new one.

In your opinion.

Jesus was a jew. His teachings were based on the Old Testement. His followers were jewish. They referred to the Old Testement as their holy book. Jesus endorses it in the New Testement. He is supposed to be (the son of) the jewish god. Logically, the two cannot be separated. Jews and christians refer to identicle texts. Where their beliefs diverge is the New Testement. The Old Testement, however, is no less a christian text.

No one gets to decide what makes a good christian as that is defined by their god, who hasn't provided a clear description. It has supposedly provided two texts, both self contradictory, from which followers are supposed to define morals. It's absurd to say, from such garbled texts, anyone can determine exactly what the message the author was trying to portray is.

[reverendo]

I?m not a christian myself, I?m buddhist. As far as I know christianism isn?t about interpreting the book with wild relativistic techniques, its about following an ethical code and preaching a fervorous faith having said book as a reference.

[KeiichiRX7]

What wild relativistic interpretation are you refering to? Pray tell.