When crises hit, many people turn to the Bible… and find many things. While some hear words of comfort, hope and promise, others hear words of condemnation, judgment and blame. The biblically-informed ‘>Pat Robertson blamed the Haitians for making a pact with the devil for which God is now punishing them. Some Haitians themselves see the destruction as evidence of God’s displeasure and desire for them to be more devout, as a recent Washington Post article reports. But Christians and Jews all over the world see in their sacred texts a message of compassion, succor and aid for the Haitians. Countless congregations are gathering funds to help, seeing in this destruction not the devastating hand of a God angry at the Haitians but the call of a passionate God to respond with love. In a rebuttal of Robertson, Jon Stewart (?!) quotes a few such relevant texts. Shoot, the Bible says a lot of things… and so does its God. Meanwhile, basic needs are tremendous and the grief so great.
