Often times, when something bad happens, God gets blamed for it. When something really bad happens, the devil gets blamed. The earthquake in Haiti has been attributed to a curse that resulted from a pact that the people of Haiti made with the Devil in their effort to gain their independence from France. While their is no evidence that such a pact was ever made, the history of Haiti is certainly one marked by tragedy and turmoil. The devil though is undoubtedly given too much credit in the matter.
The devil was not responsible for the nearly complete annihilation of the islands original inhabitants one hundred years or so after Christopher Columbus first landed their in 1492.
The devil did not import and enslave Africans to provide the labor for the islands coffee and sugar plantations
When Haiti won independence from France in 1804, the Devil did not cause the United States to wait until 1862 to recognize Haiti as an independent and sovereign nation. The idea of nation born of a revolution led entirely by African slaves was too much for a still slave-owning America too acknowledge much less figure out how to relate to diplomatically. President Thomas Jefferson argued that it was best to “confine the plague to the island.”
The devil did not demand that the new nation of Haiti make reparations to the tune of 150 million gold francs (roughly 21.7 billion in today’s dollars) this insuring that Haiti would always be a debtor nation.
The list of events and actions that have impacted Haiti’s history not perpetrated by the devil could go on and on. Centuries of exploitation and oppression from other nations and from brutal dictators has caused Haiti to appear to be cursed. The spiritual principle that seems to be tragically at work in the nation of Haiti is that of sowing and reaping. From the first European to the last dictator, the seeds of justice and mercy have found few places to take root in Haiti. Yet, exploitation, corruption and cruelty have sprouted like so many weeds in a wet, hot summer after wet, hot summer.
Today the people of Haiti need blessing not cursing. They need blessing not just for the enduring and surviving of this latest tragedy, they need blessing for the tragedies of centuries that have left them worn, weary and appearing cursed. May God’s grace and mercy be may evident to them by both the deeds and the words of those who profess to know God.
Just Words 