Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

January 14, 2010

In chapter 13 of the book of Luke Jesus confronts some common assumptions about suffering.

Referring to innocent Galileans slaughtered by Pontius Pilate and Jerusalem residents who died when a tower collapsed, Jesus said: ?[D]o you think that they were worse sinners than all [others]? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.?

In reacting to the horrifying earthquake in Haiti, the Rev. Pat Robertson apparently forgot that passage. He insisted that Haiti?s misfortunes reflect a supposed pact with the Devil made by Haitian rebels during the war for independence from France.

Leaving aside the fact that no such pact occurred, it?s illogical ? and un-Biblical -- to assume that all Haitians ? including faithful, committed Christians ? would be bound by it. Furthermore, the intractable poverty and lack of economic development afflicting that country reflect decades of official corruption and profligacy. Our own country has countenanced exactly the same kind of political misrule, and unless we repent we will likewise perish.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.