Christianity: Inversed

Pat Robertson has done it again. He has used his position as a media mogul to proclaim a perverted and inversed theology that is profoundly sub, if not anti-Christian. A Calvinist once told me, in his defense of the concept of limited atonement (the notion that the Graces of Christ's death on the cross only extend to those predestined to salvation), that "some of us are just born damned." I replied, "if that is the case, then your god is a monster."

Robertson claims Haitians today are suffering Divine punishment as a result of a centuries old "pact" made with the devil made by some leaders trying to shirk French colonial power. This strikes me as odd, given that Evangelicals have worked so hard to divorce human action and free will from salvation and damnation in their tenets of Sola Gratia and Sola Fide. Robertson's idea that human action has somehow led Divine will seems like the ultimate vanity, and profoundly un-Evangelical at that. It seemed especially ironic to me, then, when in Mass today, the priest took great care in his homily to point out that human action is distinct from God's will. He pointed out that we may live a good upstanding life and suffer greatly, contrary to the "Gospel of Health and Wealth" that so many preach (a la Joel Osteen). Or we may live a lowly life of sin and still receive many blessings and graces. But our lives are our own, and only in committing them to Christ through the sacraments do we even stand a chance. If any of us came into this world carrying the spiritual baggage of our predecessors, we'd all surely be sunk before we took our first breath.

Robertson's god sounds a lot like my Calvinist friend's god. Robertson's god sounds like a monster. And God is not a monster; monstrosity defies the very concept of God. So Mr. Robertson, with whom then, are you making your pacts?