Don Miller (who I had never heard of until today) had a really insightful response to Pat being offside that I thought was worth sharing.
http://donmilleris.com/2010/01/13/1513/

I wrote today about how Christians lead the way in aide. To me this is a better picture of our faith than statements like Robertson. Unfortunately the press talks more about stuff like this than what the Church is doing.

Oh Pat... you are like the weird uncle we wish nobody would listen to.

I get good chuckles at Pat and his thoughts.

But as I was reading this article something kind of struck me, how many blogs would have been written against the words spoken by Isaiah?

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to lump Pat Robertson and Isaiah and the prophets in the same category, I'm just reminding all of us, that God has used men before to proclaim His wrath.

Just saying.

I in no way support the comments of Pat Robertson, but I think we all need to take a step back and listen to the advice that Pat really needed to hear himself - "Judge not, lest you be judged."

Let's work together to help Haiti rather than focus on the odd comment of a TV preacher.

Whether there may be some divinely ordained cause and effect to this is far beyond our puny understanding.

What's really troubling about PR spewing this silliness in the midst of such incredible suffering is that it does far more harm to the advancement of God's church than it does good.

The last thing those dear folks in Haiti need to hear now is some pompous preacher telling them "see, you got what you deserved."

May the Lord watch over all in Haiti and strengthen the hand of his people who are trying to bring hope in the face of devastation.

@Ratcliffe: I second that. Pat Robertson is to Christianity as Ray Nagin is to New Orleans. They probably mean well, but they're both horrendous gaffe machines.

If the wages of sin is death, we're all in trouble...and in need of a savior.

Romans 14:4
There are ~3 million Haitians without food and water, no place to bury their dead, the food warehouses looted, their government has collapsed, the police have vanished...
Yet the liberal media picks up ONE obscure comment by a Christian Organization and rides it like a donkey. They need to focus their airtime on collecting support for these poor people.
Through all the controversy I was glad to see that CBN was sending millions in medical support and would arrive before our own government pulled up their breeches.
My question is... Did any of the media organizations send a dime in aid? Or did they just capitalize on the frenzy to report the evil these people are enduring?

I like the comment Jeff Goins makes over at his blog: "Let's all get so busy in responding to the Haiti crisis that we don't have the time to sit around and criticize each other."

Brad - this is one of the best responses I've seen to Pat Robertson's comments. esp - "It's one thing for Robertson to wrestle with the sovereignty of God. It's quite another to suggest he knows specifics about how the devil or God operates when it comes to natural disasters." I also appreciate that you acknowledge that Voodou does has have a grip in Haiti. It is dark and seems to be an undercurrent in all of life.

@Alex - We are to judge Pat Robertson. Scripture does in fact demand that the church judge not just each other but especially those who are entrusted with the gospel message. It is those outside the church whom we are not to judge.

You are all delusional! Liberate yourselves, think for yourselves, lose your religion.

Kevin - your comment reminds me of an Eleanor Roosevelt quote I just saw tweeted: "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." Love it.

This is SO right. The fact is that we do need to have this conversation, but national television is not a place to really wrestle with theology. My thoughts on Robertson's comments:
http://www.chrismorton.info/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=1305

@Kevin - I understand that the Bible does give us the freedom to judge one another as believers but clearly a blog post wasn't what the Bible had in mind for a Holy rebuke. If these post were an open letter to Pat himself used as correction for him, I think it would be perfectly expectable. But seeing that we are just talking, one to another ABOUT him,rather than TO him - that leans less towards correction and more towards gossip.

Personally I like to live by Matthew 7:2 -“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Pat screwed up and he’s getting more than enough heat from non-believers. If you were in his shoes, you would appreciate a family of believers that wouldn’t spend hours talking about the mess you had made. Let’s spend less time focusing on man, and more time focusing on God.

While I don't agree with all of Pat's comments we can't ignore the history that has created a hold on this nation. I also think we should be a little more respectful of brothers who have had their hand to the plow longer than we have.

Religion is illusion.

If God wants to destroy Haiti for voodoo or anything else, I'm sure he would be just in doing so. But he would be just as just in destroying the U.S., China, Europe, New Orleans, SanFransisco, Mexico, et al. Heck, we all deserve God's wrath. Isn't that part of the Gospel we preach? To single out one country as getting what it deserves is so out of place. Even the Jews, in the annual passover meal, show sorrow for the destroyed Egyptians from the Exodus. Judgment is a serious thing. We shouldn't treat human suffering so callously or be cavalier about it.