Circuit Writer

This is my latest column for The Tahlequah Christian for the week of January 24-30.

We’ve all watched and listened in horror to the unbelievable destruction in Haiti. Granting that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake is a devastating force, we should all be asking the question as to why the estimated death toll has skyrocketed to over 100,000 dead with countless other injuries. The greatest tragedy in Haiti has not been the earthquake itself, but the absolute lack of basic government services to support the population and insure safe living conditions for the people. This is a byproduct of rampant political instability in the country, an irony considering that it is one of the oldest republics in the Americas, gaining its independence in 1804 (that’s just 21 years after our recognized independence in 1783), and we seem to believe that democracy is the answer to any country’s political woes.

This political instability finds its source in the oppressive policies of the developed nations of the world. In order to finally gain recognition as an independent nation, Haiti had to pay “reparations” to France for the property it “stole” when it won its war of independence. Estimated at roughly $21 billion in today’s dollars, this debt wasn’t paid off until the middle of the 20 century. th To make matters worse, the U.S. refused to recognize the nation of Haiti until the end of our own Civil War, because it was a republic founded by a slave revolt. For sixty years we led an economic boycott against Haiti, effectively crippling its economy as it paid up to 80% of government revenues to France in order to service its ridiculous debt. This double whammy of debt and neglect kept Haiti from educating its people, building a safe and effective infrastructure, and developing its economy, all of which would have decreased the death toll and expedited recovery efforts.

This Sunday I preached on Paul’s image of all believers as the body of Christ – we are many members that form one body. If we truly believe this to be the case, we have to ask why we have allowed this part of our body in Haiti to be abandoned and destroyed. And if we honestly believe that they are part of the one body in which we share, we have to do more than simply write checks to aid in the recovery. It’s time to make amends for our 200 year history of being poor neighbors to Haiti by writing our congressmen and asking them to support debt forgiveness on U.S. loans made to this country. And it’s also time to ask forgiveness for our part as a nation in helping make this disaster the terrible tragedy it has become.

Jesus never promised us that the Christian walk would be an easy one.

Clint