When I heard that Pat Robertson attributed the earthquake in Haiti to a curse because they swore a pack with the devil, I was, mildly stated, frustrated. I wondered, on what basis could he make such a statement. In his broadcast he based his opinion upon the following:

1. Haiti is a poor country, while the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola, is prosperous.
2. Voodoo is practiced in Haiti.
3. In Haitian mythology, the leader Boukman called out to help from a god to free them from “the white man.”

First, I believe, like C. S. Lewis, that there is such a thing as true myth, which he defines as myth given by God, and in particular, “the story of Christ.” Lewis went on to say that human made myth contains elements of truth and error. The only way Robertson can know if the Haitian myth is actually true and his interpretation of the events is correct, is if he is the devil. Yet, let us suppose for a moment that the Haitian myth is recent enough to actually be true history, I think Robertson did not actually read, or at least did not understand the myth. Here is what Boukman is to have prayed:

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. 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. It’s He who will direct our arms and bring us the victory. It’s He who will assist us. We all should throw away the image of the white men’s god who is so pitiless. Listen to the voice for liberty that speaks in all our hearts. 1

That does not read like a prayer to the devil to me, but a prayer to the god of creation. The difficulty comes in that Boukman makes a distinction between the god of creation and “the white man’s god,” which they claimed was the God of the Bible. What I see here is an indictment of French slavery as hypocrisy and sin in the face of the God of Creation, who loves justice and freedom. From Boukman’s perspective, it is the French who have been serving the devil, or at the very least a wrong image of god. It is not much different than when slaves in the United States identified with Israel and saw God as the freer of slaves, which was different from how their white slave owners interpreted the Bible.
If Robertson had used this myth properly he might have enlisted more support for the Haitians instead of anger at his words.

Further reading on this subject can be found in the writings of Jean R. Gelin, Ph.D., in the 2005 article God, Satan, and the Birth of Haiti.