I've heard this name <i>Pat Robertson</i> a few times on the 'net. I assume he's in the USA? Can anyone give an audio/video link to his talk where he suggests Haiti's slaves shouldn't have overthrown their French masters <i>as they did</i>?<p>---<p>Oh never mind, found it here <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NCduEhkBM#t=0m48s" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59NCduEhkBM#t=0m48s</a> on a show called The Young Turks (TYT).<p>If you listen to what he says, rather than the commentary, then here is the progression.<p>1) Haitians were under the heel of the French colonialists<p>2) Some Haitians [in 1804] made a deal with the devil for release from slavery<p>3) They were cursed because of that deal<p>4) Bad stuff has happened to Haiti since, including this earthquake<p>Note, he doesn't say it's the Haitians fault - though I'm sure he would say it was the fault in part of whichever small group made the pact in (1) 200 years ago. Nor does he say they shouldn't have revolted; just that they did it wrong. He seems genuinely concerned to me. He rightly notes that DR is a lot better off and they share the island with Haiti. This last point makes the tragedy of Haitian poverty as much about politics as anything else.<p>If you don't believe in the Devil then you can ignore his statement as it will be nonsensical to you. To the TYT guy I'd say that he shouldn't be too shocked - people do "make deals with the Devil". Robertson may also be using it as a metaphor for rejecting the Gospel.<p>Edit: there is actually some evidence to support Robertson's claim, eg[...]<p>Edit2: cut and pasted to my blog, <a href="http://alicious.com/2010/haitian-revolution-devil-pact/" rel="nofollow">http://alicious.com/2010/haitian-revolution-devil-pact/</a> as is OT here.