Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Is Haiti Cursed of God?

IS HAITI CURSED OF GOD?

Immediately following the horrific tragedy that befell Haiti, a well known Christian leader attributed the disaster to a self imposed curse that Haitians assumed when appealing to the devil for assistance in defeating French colonial powers over 200 years ago.  Naturally, this claim caused a public outcry from the White House, the media and most other religious leaders.  In fact, it seems every disaster, from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina to Haiti, leads to theories about God’s judgment upon humanity.  While it’s easy to mock these proclamations, the events themselves raise questions about God’s existence, his goodness, and his intervention in the world. 

Disasters, both natural and man induced, have occurred since the beginning of time, including during the Biblical period.  It’s instructive to see how they were understood by the Biblical prophets.  In the first case, hear Isaiah the prophet describe what may well have been the aftermath of an earthquake:

Your land is a waste; your cities burnt down. Before your eyes,
the yield of your soil is consumed by strangers - a wasteland
like Sodom overthrown. Fair Zion is left like a booth in a
vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city beleaguered.
Had not the Lord of Hosts left us some survivors, we should be
like Sodom, another Gomorrah.  (Is. 1:7-9)

In the second case, the prophet Joel describes the ravages of a locust invasion:

The country is ravaged; the ground must mourn. For the new grain
is ravaged; the new wine is dried up; the new oil has failed. Farmers
are dismayed and vine dressers wail over wheat and barley; for the
crops of the field are lost. The vine has dried up; the fig tree withers,
pomegranate, palm and apple - all the trees of the field are sear. And
joy has dried up among men. (Joel 1:10-12)

In both cases as well as others, the prophets seek to show the fragility of life, the call to repentance and the need to turn to God.  There is an acknowledgment that the particular disaster is a tool God will use for a greater purpose.  Finally, some responsibility is laid on the leaders of the nation, often for injustices against the masses.

Both 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, mentioned above as examples where certain religious leaders suggested God’s hand was behind the events, directly impacted the U.S.  Of course, the events themselves were completely different, the first perpetuated by an enemy attack, the second, a natural disaster.  Rather than seeing 9/11 as God’s judgment against America, I believed then and now it should be viewed as a wake up call to confront the growing evil in the world, the radicalization of Islam.  Just as many pooh-poohed Adolph Hitler’s aims in the 1930’s with disastrous results, the same is true with the empowerment of Islamic jihadists.  As the English politician Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  9/11 should be viewed as a demonic attack against the goodness of God and mankind.  Did God use the event?  I say yes, and I pray the free world will continue to pay attention to the worst threat since the rise of Nazism. 

With respect to Hurricane Katrina, some suggested the disaster was God’s judgment against a sinful New Orleans.  During the hurricane, I happened to be in Argentina and watched the unfolding drama from foreign news reports.  It was embarrassing for the world’s richest country to appear impotent in response.  Like Haiti, televised images of poor black families crying for help captured the attention of the world.  Unlike Haiti, of course, the US is a rich nation, and the images told a story of an America that most never see.  Rather than the crippling of the “sin industry” in New Orleans, the real victims were poor blacks who could not escape the storm.  Whereas the government’s response at the time was delayed and paltry, many American religious institutions responded with open arms, housing New Orleans residents in other cities and ultimately sending thousands of workers into the city for renovation.  On the one hand I felt the storm was an expose of America’s rampant materialism and the consequent ignoring of the poor.  On the other, America’s religious and other communities showed amazing generosity and self-sacrifice in turning the city and its inhabitants around.  While there are still vestiges of the hurricane’s destruction, today New Orleans is smaller, wealthier and more secure. 

That leads us to Haiti.  Haiti’s history is highlighted by it being primarily the descendants of slaves, i.e., Africans captured, relocated and enslaved by first the Spanish and then the French.  Haiti’s independence was won by a slave revolt in the early 19th century in the alleged infamous pact with the devil.  More accurately, the leader of the slave revolt, Toussaint l’Ouverture, referred to the African gods’ call for freedom in a speech to stir the masses to revolt.  Like most nations in Latin America and the Carribean, Haiti has been plagued with unstable and often dictatorial governments.  In addition, Haiti was saddled by enormous debt to the French, who imposed massive reparations for “French property” destroyed during the revolt against French rule.  The debt was finally paid off in 1947, leaving Haiti mired in poverty, deforested out of desperation for fuel, and subjected to home grown dictators.  Today, it is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere by far, one of the most corrupt in the world and its restrictions on economic liberty one of the strictest.  Because of these factors, an earthquake comparable to the one in Northern California in 1989 that resulted in 63 deaths will in the case of Haiti likely result in hundreds of thousands of casualties.

Similar to Joseph’s remarks to his brothers telling them that God used their intended evil for good, ironically, in the long run, this terrible tragedy may turn things around for this country.  Billions of dollars of aid will pour in, not only to heal, feed, clothe and house the wounded and homeless, but also to rebuild infrastructure that hopefully will be erected on firmer foundations.  Whereas the colonial powers, especially the French, despoiled the country, now many of these same nations will contribute far more money for restoration.  Not only should we all contribute to this effort, but we must pray that God will raise up leaders of integrity in that nation to lift it out of its challenged past and transform it into a modern nation. 

Following the prophet Joel’s vivid description of the locust invasion, he calls upon the people to turn to the Lord, “for He is gracious and compassionate.”  He follows with these poignant observations: “Then the Lord was roused on behalf of his land, and had compassion upon his people. In response to his people, the Lord declared, ‘I will grant you the new grain, the new wine and the new oil, and you shall have them in abundance.  Nevermore will I let you be a mockery among the nations.’” (Joel 2:18-19)  We pray the same for Haiti and her people.