The recent earthquake in Haiti which devastated the capital Port-au-Prince has sent shockwaves across the globe. In an era of instant communication, the horrific pictures of the carnage afflicted on Haiti has been emotional for many who have witnessed it. Some say hundreds of people are dead or injured, others say hundreds of thousands. Only time will tell the extent of the injuries and damage to humans and property. The devastation has been enough to force many to ask, why Haiti. This is a country which has had to endure perennial suffering whether manmade or acts of God.
BU is heartened by the global response to the cry for help by Haiti. In the past similar humanitarian relief efforts have been hampered by corruption in the distribution efforts of aid. We hope that those responsible in administering the relief efforts in Haiti will do what is right.
Now is an opportunity for the Caricom region to respond as a region to what is required to effectively help Haiti. It is good we have a few regional Prime Ministers flying into Haiti to see and hear for themselves what is required to support the humanitarian effort. Is this a PR exercise done to satisfy our obligations to a regional member? Time will tell!
Already the catastrophe in Haiti has revealed how religion can expose the ignorance of some people. It has been reported that Pat Robertson who is an American Christian televangelist has blamed Haiti’s pact with Satan as the cause for its suffering. We are flabbergasted that a man of such influence and suggested intellect would be driven to spout such bovine excrement.
On behalf of the BU household we hope and pray that those behind the relief effort will be able to mobilize quickly and to do what is required to relieve the suffering to those who are alive and to bring dignity to those who have died so tragically.
Haiti I am Sorry – David Rudder
618 responses to “Haiti We Are Sorry”
what more can we say that haven’t been said. What more can we do that we are
not doing . When all is said and done my
wish is that haiti would have survived and go on to build a better future for its people
@BAFBFP
Goodnite
BAFBP:
You have been calle4d to your duty to reasonableness and fairness. (I am sure you would not have wanted to be falsely accused of mass murder on shoddy evidence and speculation. Think about that.)
G’day
D
Onlookers:
I must make the sad observation that far too much commentary above is about venting hostility and spreadign spiteful slanders, not addressing he needs of our sister Caribbean nation.
That is telling a sad lot about us as the educated classes of our region, and the further fact that at least one more thread has gone down the same vein in recent days — it does not even acknowledge the fact that there are two sides to the “pact” story, or that the view by Mr Robertson is understandable given even the self-understanding of many Haitians (including he Voodoo practitioners who for many years kept the Bois Caiman site as their own until a march of prayer by Christians in the teeth of official pressure in 1997 confronted the spirits and their devotees with prayer; continuing a prayer vigil to this day) — says even more.
We can and should do a lot better than this.
G’day
D
Fellow Caribbeans:
Now, let us look a bit at the theology of nationhood, from Acts 17, sot hat we can come to a balanced view on Haiti’s birth, and on nationhood under God in the Caribbean.
A good place to begin is with the comparison of the (traditional) Boukman prayer and Paul’s discussion withthe educated elites of Athens in AD 50, as Ac 17 records:
Now, there are some key resonances with:
1 –> It is worth pausing to see the Word Study Dictionary on the pivotal concept, kairos:
2 –> At decisive times, God the Creator, Loving Father, Lord, Saviour and Just Judge intervenes in the affairs of men to create nations, and also and set moments of pivotal decision before the nations; thus stirring us to grope — however blindly and ignorantly — for him.
3 –> And so in 1791, we see crises among the nations of C18: the American revolution had just shaken the world, and revolution-attempts in Ireland, Poland and France were set off in its train. Stirrings from that French revolution were in turn now bubbling in what would be come Haiti, among both the slave-owning plantocracy and the slaves.
4 –> Plainly, a civilisation-level kairos.
(One that created modern representational democracy [largely influenced by Biblical roots, though that is too often now censored out of our histories] and led to the ending of slavery among other things.)
[ . . . ]
5 –> In this midst of this ferment, with intrigues aplenty behind the scenes, we see the slaves of Haiti coming to their own consciousness of nationhood, and aspiring for liberty under God as they understood him; however partially and with whatever inevitable flaws.
6 –> So also, now, we see the Boukman prayer appealing to: “The god who created the earth; who created the sun that gives us light.The god who holds up the ocean; who makes the thunder roar. Our God who has ears to hear. You who are hidden in the clouds; who watch us from where you are.”
7 –> Clearly, this is an appeal to the ears of The Most High God, the Creator and Just Judge.
8 –> Now comes the appeal for justice, highlighting the gross inconsistency in the European thought and behaviour of the time: “You see all that the white has made us suffer. The white man’s god asks him to commit crimes. But the god within us wants to do good. Our god, who is so good, so just, He orders us to revenge our wrongs.” [Of course, in fairness, the massacres of innocents that followed during the uprising can hardly be called acts of justice by the rebelling slaves. Just so, are we ever flawed in our works, however noble our aspirations.]
9 –> He then calls the people to follow the God of liberation.
10 –> So, whatever the vodunistic elements of sacrifices and possession states and talismans [and the subsequent attempt by the magicians to turn this into a national identification with the lua spirits], we find a clear groping towards The Most High God in this, at the foundation of the Haitian nation.
11 –> Now, amidst this, we also find the evident, animistic commingling of appeals to the spirits and powers, and to magic. This, the magicians of course have seized upon to try to make the Haitian national identity one bound up with the luas. And so here we find the power of Paul’s use of that statue to the unknown god:
12 –> So, through prophetic, intellectual, cultural and spiritual leadership — that speaks in the name of and with the authentic voice of God — , the Apostle proclaims the fuller truth that the men of Athens — pagans, not even animists! — groped blindly for.
13 –> Thus, he opens the door to a fuller understanding of God and his redemptive, rescuing, transforming, holy, loving — and just — ways.
14 –> In capping off that proclamation, he calls all nations to the duty to the truth and the right via repentance and redemption:
15 –> And so, in our own regional kairos set up by the devastating natural disaster that so tellingly has exposed the horrendous implications of shoddy construction; we hear the call to move on from ignorance to truth, from sinful folly to the right, from blind groping to the full light of the gospel.
16 –> All, anchored by the resurrection witnessed by 500+ men who stood invincibly on the truth they knew firsthand.
17 –> And with the answering testimony of millions across 20 centuries and thousands in our own region — including among ever so many of Haitis’s hymn-singing survivors — that we have come to know and meet the true Most High, loving Creator and redeemer God in the [very Middle Eastern] face of JESUS.
18 –> So, we the people of the Caribbean now face the import and impact of truth we know or should know.
____________
So, now, Caribbean, which way will we go at this moment of kairos?
The decision — with all its consequences and opportunities — is ours.
May God grant us wisdom to be repentant and seek renewal, revival and reformation through Christ.
G’day
D
Right & Wrong:
I have a vehicle. It has wheels, bearings and axils. In order to get along, when the wheel turns the bearings roll and the axils stand the stress.
As the wheels roll friction causes it to wear and the balls in the bearings wear too, as the stress on the wheel weakens the axils.
Tell me what happens when you set the wheels, bearings and axils to revenge their wrongs?
Well, the wheels decide to put on some metal brads that will dig up the road when it turns. The balls decide to “lock up” the casing or “seize it” and the axils seek to disconnect from the bearings.
What then do we have? You just ain’t going nowhere. Right or wrong?
Footnote: it would help to read up on Moral (vs. mechanical) Government.
Further to Halsall’s point, disagreeing with the allegation of some that this could have been man made.
The energy in a Mag 7 quake is equivalent to 1000, yes one thousand, Hiroshima bombs.
If an entity was capable of directing, with certainty, that much energy in one place, then surely we have nothing to fear from asteroids and the like?
That said, even IF and that is a huge IF, an entity could manage such energy release, do you really think it would be with certainty????
There is no way any scientist, even IF he could release it, would do it, unless he/she were mad.
Too much risk.
Think about it.
Really.
BUT, if you want to get ‘conspiratorial’.
Supposing then a mad scientist COULD do it, deliberately set it off, to threaten the large countries, that if he or his group were not paid, then he would do the same in a wealthy western city?
Now that is a Bond story.
….. and if those forces cannot be controlled, why on earth would an entity/country release them on its own front step?
Parts of Florida were on tsunami watch …….
… and as is well known, most of Florida is at sea level …… give or take a few feet.
Crusoe:
Have you any clear, sound cluster of evidence and argument that to moral certainty (beyond reasonable doubt for an ordinary unbiased man of sound mind and conscience), demonstrates [1] motive, [2] means, and [3] opportunity to commit [4] mass murder by triggering of targetted earthquakes?
If you so, why not summarise your indictment for the International War Crimes Tribunal?
If not, are you not irresponsibly enabling vicious slanders?
G’day
D
PS: And, as both Mr Halshall and I have pointed out, there is no evidence that we have means that could secretly trigger such a quake. letting off a nuke weapon would be very visible to all, and would at once indict the source [the isotope patterns are characteristic]. As to imagined electromagnetic devices, there is no good evidence of systems of anything like the required power levels, nor is there a credible coupling mechanism.
If one considers that a smaller force at the weakest point can be used to set off a large motion, then the plot thickens. LOL!
Crusoe
It is my clear understanding from your post that you dispute the assertion that the earthquake was man made. I dare say you think such claims are farcical.
Onlookers,
Cf my remarks here, and Mr Halshall’s here.
Drumbeat repetition of unsubstantiated, ill-warranted and loaded assertions ad nauseum does not magically transform irresponsible falsehood into truth.
But, if they are not corrected, they may poison minds with statements that those who make is know or should know are false, damaging and unsubstantiated so they should have checked facts first (and should have held peace had they done so).
In short, we are unfortunately seeing big lie propaganda tactics [Mr Chavez’s remarks were plainly without grounds — and obsergve how he simply announced what would require serious proof — noticve this was not formal announcement of an Indictment before the Int’l War Crimes Tribunal, much less conviction . . . ], being propagated by people who are plainly irresponsible in what hey put up in public.
Sad really.
(But not now unexpected. Even more sadly.)
Surely, we can do better than this in a time when we should be focussed on the good we can do to help our Caribbean Brothers and Sisters in Haiti.
D
Crusoe:
My apology.
Anonymous, thanks for the redirection to a closer reading.
D
Anon,
Yes, you have it right. Your clear understanding indicates that your mind is able to process clearly.
Unfortunately, ‘Dictionary’ with all of his proclaimed ‘knowledge’ and thousand word dissertations, is unable to read and understand a short few paragraphs.
At what point of my post did I say that it was man made?
Dictionary, lay off the brandy, please.
I did however, include the words IF, because nothing is ever certain and I vouch for no one.
Put down the megaphone…back away…..
Dic….
‘If not, are you not irresponsibly enabling vicious slanders?’
No, I do not spread vicious slanders.
Do you take medication for psychosis?
Just a question, of course.
@Crusoe…
Priceless!!!……..ROFLMAO!!
Critical thinking 101!!
OMG!!
This is priceless……such irony!
@Dict…….”In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”
Only a god of fanatical christians doesn’t know its mind. Once this god overlooked such ignorance, but now it doesn’t. What made it change it mind? Or is this only the workings of a christian god?
“May God grant us wisdom to be repentant and seek renewal, revival and reformation through Christ.”
This right here is the problem. This christianity is what is kicking the arse of Black People. Black people NEED to BURN every CHURCH that pushes them toward the god of the white man, the god of their enslaver. And the only ‘sin’ the HAITIANS like all other BLACKS have committed was to be beaten into submission to the point where we have given up on the BLACK MIND SCIENCE. The same science that whitey was so AFRAID of, the same SCIENCE that defeated Napolean and his army of frenchbeast.
We call on the wrong GOD! Today catholicism is strangling them.
This christian god is the god that keeps BLACK people on their knees.
And finally Dictionary does not know, therefore in the pages of the Dictionary it does not exist.
And I have applied the same yard stick to your Iesus since the only isotope pattern and characteristic leads back to one place…therefore your Iesus does NOT exist. Now ain’t that the BIGGEST conspiracy of all? No credible coupling mechanism..like whose his real daddy?
@Chris H……….your argument in itself is Reductio ad absurdum!
Crusoe
I made an honest misreading for which once it was pointed out I immediately corrected myself and apologised.
We agree on the matter in the main, so let the record reflect that.
D
Haiti ,I am sorry…..But you will have to stay on the back burner while we in this forum decide who among us is the most clever,and who is adept at finding information on Google of Wiki.
Hopi (and ilk):
Do you realise that — after over a week — you have not made a single positive proposal or contribution in this thread?
Does that not shock and shame you?
Is this not sadly revealing of the attitudinal wellsprings within?
Surely, you can do better.
Why not start here — which largely builds on comments in the above [and which has been passed on to contacts in relevant agencies as a starter . . . ], and then see what positive you can put on the table for helping our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
Beyond that, on the latest wave of rhetoric you have put up, I note:
1 –> I cited Paul, in Athens, at a moment when liberating truth decisively came to the Athenians and transformed Western Civilisation.
(You seem to have conveniently overlooked your inability to cogently address the principle that God deals with us fairly, based on the light we have, sending light to liberate us from demonic bondage if we will listen.)
2 –> You also forget the force of the evidence that God has brought to our attention, through the historically well founded resurrection of Jesus witnessed by 500+ witnesses and resulting in a stream of transforming spiritual power unleashed through meeting God in the liberating [and very Middle Eastern] face of Christ.
3 –> So, this is something that we Caribbean people know, or should know. For many, many thousands all around us have the transforming flow of gospel blessing in their lives. (And BTW, a great many Haitians are in that number, as even the hymn singing that the international news was forced to broadcast demonstrates. Just think: what would be your response in the face of calamitous loss? Why? What does it imply?)
4 –> In that context the sort of vitriolic dismissive rhetoric above simply reflects resentful ingratitude to the grace, light and truth of God, leading to slanderous false declarations that by their intensity reveal plainly to all who are but willing to look and heed, their root source.
5 –> I will not dignify your calls to arson against churches — and motivating insistence on a slander about a “White man’s god” [BTW, ironically, Acts 16 – 17 document how the gospel first came to “White man country” and with what results; whilst it had reached Africa decades before (Just ask the Egyptians and the Ethiopians), having started in Asia . . . ] with anything more than pointing out how they plainly — and ever so sadly — reflect a murderous hatred.
6 –> May God grant you, Hopi, the liberating grace to repent of such venom.
7 –> And as for the futile, ill-informed and selectively hyperskeptical attempt to dismiss the historicity of Jesus, I call the onlooker’s attention to the brief discussions here and onward linked information, e.g. here, where a real expert speaks. (I need not call H’s attention to these again, as she has long since refused to reckon with the weight of the relevant evidence, even in the face of direct substantiation in previous threads.)
__________
Now, can we get back to doing something positive regarding our suffering brothers and sisters in Haiti?
For shame!
G’day
D
Dictionary // January 23, 2010 at 11:52 AM
Hopi (and ilk):
Do you realise that — after over a week — you have not made a single positive proposal or contribution in this thread?
Does that not shock and shame you?
Do you know what people have done outside this thread?
Do you know about others’ contributions to charities, text donations, food supplies etc.
What does all this chest beating and dick measuring (no pun intended), do for the immediate relief of the Haitian people?
Can the Haitian people eat this thread or drink the words?
Stupse!!
@Technician: “Can the Haitian people eat this thread or drink the words?
I hear you.
If you (or anyone else) thinks I talk too much, my sincere apologies.
I *try* to limit my “radiation” to only what (I) consider to be important. I try to use “the short form” wherever possible.
IMHO, trying to disprove that humans caused the Haiti earthquake was import because it was distracting from what is *really* important.
@Dictionary…
Along these same lines…
Is there any chance you could “talk” less and “listen” more?
Or must you be parasitic with your knowledge that BU gets a lot of traffic, and so the more links you introduce here the better to those sites you link to?
Absolutely not trying to shut you up…
But more Signal *please*; less Noise….
@ROK: “If one considers that a smaller force at the weakest point can be used to set off a large motion, then the plot thickens. LOL!
Sigh…
ROK, can you *please* not feed the paranoia? It does no one any good!
1. It is *impossible* to determine what is the “weakest point”.
2. Technically, you are correct — it would only take a “small force” to set off a large motion if (and only if) it was already in a critical or supercritical state which would have “gone off” by itself sometime in the near future.
2.1. Maybe you caused it! Did you fart just before the event? (Butterfly effect.) Shame on you!
3. If you don’t know *exactly* where to apply the “small force”, and it is already ready to “go”, then you must apply *lots* of force.
3.1. As documented above, “lots of force” can be detected by everyone watching (and *many* are).
@Chris
LOL!
@ CH….
If you (generally speaking) are going to condemn the detractors of the thread, then you have to also look at the nit picking from the so called “intellectuals” who claim to be “helping” the situation.
These “people” have such huge egos that rather than stay focus, they are easily distracted with this “need” to correct on every comment that is not agreement to their way of thinking.
If you want to be a leader….then lead….by example!!
@Technician…
Thank you (sincerely) for your above.
@HOPI Jan 23, 2010, @ 9:50AM.
“This right here is the problem. This Christianity is what is kicking the arse of Black People. Black People NEED to BURN every CHURCH that pushes them toward the god of the white man, the god of their enslavers.”
I KNOW who YOU ARE! That statement of vicious, murderous/ARSON, INCITEMENT, is on RECORD at BU. I can assure you, it will also be formally lodged with the POLICE and other relevant government bodies.
You ARE an UTTER, SHAMEFUL disgrace to Black People, multitudes of which from across AFRICA, the Caribbean et al countries, HAVE been LIBERATED, not by any white man’s god, BUT, the ONE and ONLY, true and LIVING God, whose testimony across 2000 years in numerous nations, THAT, *JESUS CHRIST* HAS Set them FREE from the paganistic, animistic HELL they were entraped IN, and No HOPI, nor Rah, Pah, Ma of Apis, demons can CHANGE this REALITY.
In Haiti, there ARE thousands upon THOUSANDS of BLACKS, with hands raised in Praise and thanksgiving, to God Almighty, in CHRIST JESUS, for not only Saving their souls, but, also keeping them IN *HIS* peace!
Hopi, YOU ARE from the PIT-OF-HELL! Doing the work of your *father* SATAN!!!
How does Zoe know Hopi’s identity? David any comments?
Anonymous, “How does Zoe know Hopi’s identity? David any comments?”
I DID NOT get Hopi’s identity from David/BU? So don’t implicate David/BU!
We have written it before, here goes again…RELAX ALL!!!
This is disturbing news. Not that I have any concern for Hopi but for the implication that the posters on this blog are somehow monitored and known to others.
@All… While I made a promise to try to talk less, I reserve the right to speak when I feel it is important…
With absolutely no knowledge of what goes on between Zoe and BU.David (I have never met either (to the best of my knowledge); and I don’t want to — for two different reasons).
Zoe’s use of the word “know” is somewhat different than what most consider it to mean.
When Zoe says “I know”, read that to mean that he “believes” or that he “believes he understands”.
Once you understand this, Zoe’s messages become much clearer.
Dictionary.
Fair, okay. Live and let live.
Techinian / Halsall,
Halsall comment is fair, pushing aside ridiculous assertions is important to focus on the reality.
Others,
Maybe we can respect others beliefs, but I would never wish ill on any others persons or structures.
Ill will and negativity comes from hatred and negativity is a seed with a result, as any other.
Positive thinking and intent to create an outcome with peace and careful planning and understanding is the hallmark of any true foundation.
Anything else is a loss.
Best wishes to you all and to the people of Haiti.
@C Halsall, What exactly do YOU ‘know’ about what I *know*, your arrogance, PRIDE, self-importance, EGO, knows no bounds…!!!
You guys don’t see that Zoe is a maniac?
@Chris
That is a good rule. Assign the true meanings to words spoken and if this renders the message absurd, then you assign different meanings that would make sense of the message. LOL!
Zoe reminds me of a man named Bullocks we used to tease. if you shout “Ox bull Ox”, he would cuss and carrying on in the filthiest way for the rest of the day. Tell you where your mother came from. LOL!
& Wunna accusing “whitey” of trying to destabilise the black (?) people!!!
Well, it appears as if you are doing a pretty good job of it yourselves without any help from “whitey” or anyone else!!
Remember there is STRENGHTH in UNITY. This is what I am not seeing in this thread about Haiti!
“lots of force” can be detected by everyone watching (and *many* are).”
Okay Okay Hallsall
I suppose you believe this an appropriate answer to detecting a trigger which should hardly be discernable.. And you say that it is impossible to determine the point where this catalyst (hardly discernable event) should take place. Tell me, do have information on the number of satellites that have been launched into space over say the last ten years that are not communications related and the scientific nature for their deployment? Reasonable people have reason to be speculative… believers just … well believers just do what ever it is that believers do…!
See what I mean ?!?!?
Stuuuuupse!!
@Crusoe..
Point taken.
@Zoe…
I will ask you again, what have YOU (Zoe) done to help the Haitian people?!?
Zoe sounds like an old, shriveled-up, “bajan-white” f*rt!!
Techi Lef Hopi;
Wah Hopi say, Hopi say
Wah Hopi do…. is none of your business
@ BAFBFP….
Think you got it wrong bro!
@Zoe…deary. I think you are in need of some good Tantric Sex? The kind of Sex that brings you closer to the Creator? The kind of Sex that relieves the pressure on the brain. Where’s wifey? Just get a hold of wifey, lock her in a deep embrace..elbows, knees..eyes agazed until you raise your kundalini. And do it on a Sunday.
And while you are in that embrace just repeat Solomon…Wifey, “thy 2 breast are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lillies.”
Zoe you won’t regret it. Try it you would be a changed MAN. You won’t have to waste your time putting my name in de station book.
*************
@BABFP…..Lef Techi alone nah! You and He is one of my favourites!
Wait I assault Techie when I should ah lash Dick…? Sorry man..!
Tell me, do guys like Dick really believe he has a following
I think you should all stop barking, biting and snarling like wild dogs and each send $1000 US to help the poor black brothers and sisters in Haiti.