Ramblings on Haiti

As we all know, Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake last week. The response has been admirable on the part of all who have volunteered and sent money and other forms of aid to the people of Haiti. I think it's tragic when it takes such a horrible event for us to realize the plight of these people who live in extreme poverty.

It didn't take long for us to hear the usual reaction from the far right of the Christian faith in the form of Pat Robertson. Christopher Hitchens nicely phrases my reaction in his book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything:

But religion makes [doomsday] impulses legitimate, and claims the right to officiate at the end of life, just as it hopes to monopolize children at life's beginning. There can be no doubt that the cult of death and the insistence upon portents of the end proceed from a surreptitious desire to see it happen, and to put an end to the anxiety and doubt that always threaten the hold of faith. When the earthquake hits, or the tsunami inundates, or the twin towers ignite, you can see and hear the secret satisfaction of the faithful. Gleefully they strike up: "You see, this is what happens when you don't listen to us!" With an unctuous smile they offer a redemption that is not theirs to bestow and, when questioned, put on the menacing scowl that says, "Oh, so you reject our offer of paradise? Well, in that case we have quite another fate in store for you." Such love! Such care!

It is in the same spirit of disgust and disappointment that I learned today that there is an organization that is choosing to send solar-powered audio Bibles to Haiti. Well that's just great, isn't it? It's not like they need food, water, shelter, or money to rebuild their crippled country.

I understand that Haiti is a deeply religious nation, and that they need a source of hope and inspiration to move forward. I only wish other people could be that source of hope and inspiration. Sure, it has to be someone's fault that Haiti was so poor in the first place, so I can't solely blame a deity (if said deity exists). But where is god when it's time to pick up the pieces?