In addition to Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission and Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, we can now add Wiley Drake to the list of those siding with Pat Robertson in the wake of his Haiti "swore a pact to the Devil" comments:
Evangelist broadcaster Pat Robertson attracted criticism last week when he said that Haiti was “cursed” because it made “a pact with the devil.” But that hasn’t stopped Buena Park Pastor Wiley Drake, a Southern Baptist, from saying he shares Robertson’s view.
“I don’t know that God brought that earthquake or not,” Drake said. However, the misfortunes of the country - including its extreme poverty, ongoing political turmoil and frequent natural disasters - could be repercussions of the alleged deal with Satan, he said.
...
“They said, ‘If you’ll help us, we’ll dedicated ourselves and our government to Satan,’” said Drake ... While the devil pact was set to expire in 2004, then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide approved Voodoo as an officially recognized religion, renewing the deal, according to Drake associate David Fox, a missionary in Haiti. However, the subsequent ouster of Aristide prevented that renewal from taking effect, Fox says.
I asked Drake how the current devastation could be attributed to an expired pact:
“The pact may not be there, but the results of it may be,” he said.
In related new, Raw Story catches Dr. Wesley Stafford, president and CEO of Compassion International, telling Focus on the Family that "Satan has had absolutely free reign" over Haiti, so much so that "you can literally feel the evil in it"::
Dr. Wesley Stafford, president and CEO of Compassion International, told Focus on the Family that Haiti was a disaster before the earthquake ever struck.
Haiti ... has been a disaster in almost every way long before this ever struck. And it is a nation, between you and me, I guess, that Satan has had absolutely free reign in that nation. And while the missionary effort and the church effort has been enormous, this is a nation that you can literally feel the evil in it.
But then as the church lives out its faith, having come through this deep, deep valley, my great prayer is that there will be a great wave of healing and change in the nation of Haiti ... that could only come about through an interruption like this and only happen through the glory of God.
