the pat robertson stuff is of course wacky. but it's also kind of touching. it's one way through this process in which i think we are all engaged at some level: trying to make this kind of shit make sense. it's a challenge, putting it mildly, to any religion that makes the world the product of a benevolent god. one factor in the growing religious skepticism in 18th century europe was a similar disaster in lisbon. the main thrust of many explanations comes back to making the disasters in some sense the product of human agency or choice or evil or greed and so on. then we would be immune to catastrophe if we were good people or if we believed the right things.

now in my view reality is fundamentallly incomprehensible and morally arbitrary. but like anyone else i have a hell of a time facing up. and it strikes me that the robertson thing - which implicitly makes haitian catholicism/voodoo satanism, and supports colonialism, racism etc - is self-serving and ridiculous. but...it is poignant, human, and it exposes our basic dilemma.