God, Satan, and Haiti

[Gelin*]

<B>God, Satan, and the birth of Haiti</B>
Jean Gelin, gelinjr@yahoo.fr, October 2005

...It’s hard to know where the idea of a divine curse on Haiti following the purported satanic pact actually originated, whether from foreign missionaries or from local church leaders. In his book <I>Ripe Now - A Haitian congregation responds to the Great Commission</I>(4), Haitian pastor Frantz Lacombe identified a ‘dependence mentality’ in the leadership of the Haitian church, which resulted from the way the Christian faith was brought to the country, historically and through various denominations. Apparently, this unfortunate manner of thinking, which tends to emulate the worldview and culture of North American and European Christian missionaries, has permeated the general philosophy of the Haitian church on many levels, including church planting, church management, music and even missionary activities.


In that context, I would not be surprised if the satanic pact idea (followed by the divine curse message) was put together first by foreign missionaries and later on picked up by local leaders. On the other hand, it is equally possible that some Haitian church leaders developed the idea on their own using a theological framework borrowed from those same missionaries who subsequently propagated the message around the world. Either way, because of this message, Haiti has been portrayed as the country born out of Satan’s benevolence and goodwill toward mankind. Shouldn’t such a fantastic idea be tested for its historic validity and theological soundness? I invite you to take with me a closer and possibly different look at the available records...

More: http://www.blackandchristian.com/academy/index.shtml

[staff*]

Thanks for the link, Gelin! Could all parts of your article be reproduced here? Feel free to post the series here, or I can do so for the membership. Let me know.

[Gelin*]

Guy:

I submitted the whole article to that website a long time ago. It could not be posted in September, and as it appears now that it's too long to be posted in just one piece. They have the whole text already and I don't know if it's ok for me to go ahead and post it here before they do so themselves. I guess I'll have to wait and see how they break it down to manage their own resources.

gelin

[Gelin*]

Here are the links to the other parts of the article:

<B>God, Satan, and the birth of Haiti - Part 2</B>

The second difficulty of that position lies in the fact that God is above all as the God and creator of all. What do I mean? The Bible contains many instances where God was involved with or answered the sincere prayers of people who were not partakers of His existing covenant but nevertheless acknowledged His existence, power and character. The supremacy and sovereignty of God is a central and undeniable truth in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. To deny this fact would be to lean toward what I call tribal theology, usually conceived or expressed in terms like these: if you are not a registered member of our church and if you do not serve and worship God the way we do, God cannot and will not answer your prayers. Those who operate under that skewed theological umbrella fail dramatically to understa
nd that the God who said, <I>“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)</I> never once said, <I>“I shall answer no other prayers but yours”</I>. David was absolutely right about God when he cried: <I>“O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come” (Psalms 65:2)</I>. For those of us who believe in God we know that we belong to Him, but God Himself does not exclusively belong to us or to anybody for that matter since He created us all. As much as we are totally dependent upon God the Father for our very existence, God in contrast is totally independent of His creation, and He transcends us all.

More: http://www.blackandchristian.com/articl ... 1-05.shtml

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<B>God, Satan, and the birth of Haiti - Part 3</B>

While efforts were being made by many for international recognition and acceptance, Haiti opened its door to protestant missionaries from England and the United States shortly after 1804. These missionaries started preaching in many parts of t
he country, building churches, schools, clinics, and hospitals – works they still do today to the benefice of the Haitian population. But one event worth recalling is how Haiti, despite all its difficulties, made room for Jews who were fleeing Germany’s persecution and the upcoming holocaust in Europe. This hospitality offered to the Jews in their time of need could be seen as yet another fundamental difference of priorities between Saint-Domingue and Haiti, considering that under the ‘Code Noir’ published in 1685 the presence of Jews was not tolerated in the French colonies. The Jewish families that found a safe haven in Haiti around World War II formed a small and prosperous community that still exists in the country today.

More: http://www.blackandchristian.com/articl ... 2-05.shtml