# "Pact with the devil" column **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 19, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566 "2010-01-19T16:06:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/1 "2010-01-19T16:06:26Z")
Excellent piece, **Jillgat**. Seems to me to be a good summary of past events. I really enjoyed it. (Wish Pat could read it!) [link](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2918/whats-this-pact-with-the-devil-that-pat-robertson-says-caused-haitis-woes) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/2 "2010-01-19T16:06:52Z")
Agreed. Nicely done. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/3 "2010-01-19T16:09:26Z")
Also agreed. The final paragraph is a gem. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/4 "2010-01-19T16:37:09Z")
Great report and very timely. Well done JillGat. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/5 "2010-01-19T16:43:57Z")
Thanks. I felt there were a few important points that weren’t being made in mainstream media coverage of this knucklehead’s comments. Was glad to get my say on the Straight Dope, where it would get more readers. Plus I haven’t done a SD staff report in about six years or so… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/6 "2010-01-19T17:19:51Z")
Great, great piece, **JillGat**. Your name doesn’t currently appear on the SD homepage, though - in italics under the article title is “A Straight Dope Staff Report by” with nothing after that. Other current related threads that may be of interest: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=548308&highlight=dominican+republic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=548308&highlight=dominican+republic) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547656&highlight=dominican+republic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=547656&highlight=dominican+republic) ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/7 "2010-01-19T17:48:34Z")
Add my belated congratulations on a job well done, ma’am. Fine use of Diamond along with the rest of your research. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/8 "2010-01-19T18:27:15Z")
> [@](#): > > How Pat Robertson got so chummy with the devil is a subject I’m not getting into. Oh, maybe because Pat Robertson’s “Christianity” is nothing but devil worship with the serial numbers filed off… As to his confusion over Napoleon III, he’s probably conflated Haitians with Mexicans, what with all “those people” looking so much alike… As to _The Central Liberal Truth_, the book appears to be essentially about the interrelationship of culture, prosperity, education, and politics. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/9 "2010-01-19T18:39:41Z")
Er, aren’t deals with the devil supposed to be beneficial during your earthly existence, with the downside only showing up post-mortem? Looks like the Hatians got seriously screwed… ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/10 "2010-01-19T19:08:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Great, great piece, **JillGat**. Your name doesn’t currently appear on the SD homepage, though - in italics under the article title is “A Straight Dope Staff Report by” with nothing after that. A bit of miscoding, fixed. Check it now. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/11 "2010-01-19T19:17:20Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > As to his confusion over Napoleon III, he’s probably conflated Haitians with Mexicans, what with all “those people” looking so much alike… > . You’re giving this dude way too much credit, sir. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/12 "2010-01-19T20:13:37Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Er, aren’t deals with the devil supposed to be beneficial during your earthly existence, with the downside only showing up post-mortem? Well, yeah, that’s what he wants you to think. See “Bedazzled” (1967) and the occasional episode of The Twilight Zone. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/13 "2010-01-19T21:13:53Z")
Or _The Screwtape Letters_, for that matter. The idea is to leave the prey with _nothing_. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/14 "2010-01-19T21:28:21Z")
Now that we have a clear report of what whacko Pat Robertson says, how about what on the bizarre statements from loony Morgan Freeman that the failed climate summit at Copenhagen was responsible for tectonic plate movements? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/15 "2010-01-19T22:52:10Z")
You mean Danny Glover, not Morgan Freeman – and I’m not at all sure that he actually said that. It’s a telephone interview full of “umms” and “y’knows”, and I’m not convinced that he is actually claiming anything more than a million people do every day when they invoke “Murphy’s Law”. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/16 "2010-01-19T22:53:24Z")
After establishing that Morgan Freeman actually said that, please show that he has as much influence in climatology and geology as Pat Robertson has in religion and politics. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/17 "2010-01-19T23:04:48Z")
> [@](#): > > JillGat JillGat is offline > Charter Member Are you gonna get your title changed (back)? ---
**Author:** ![RDFozz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RDFozz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RDFozz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/18 "2010-01-20T03:17:16Z")
While not trying to support Pat Robertson directly: As a monotheistic religion, Christianity (and I would tend to assume Judaism and Islam, but as I’m not Jewish or Muslim, I won’t speak for them) proceeds from the base assumption that there is only one god (hence, our referring to him as “God”). While Christianity allows for the existence of spiritual forces other than God, it presumes that they are lesser forces (fallen angels) that may present difficulty to humans, but not to God himself. So, it’s not so much “Our god is better than your crappy god” as “God is real, your ‘god’ is at best made up, at worst a devil who’s ‘crap’ by comparison to the ‘real deal.’” And (just to clarify) no, I don’t think that this is punishment for some 200+ year old “satanic pact”, and I certainly understand that (assuming said pact has any basis in reality) the people making such a pact would presumably not have believed they were dealing with Satan in any way, shape, or form. Nor do I hold with some of the other claims I believe Mr. Robertson has made (I think he said that 9/11 was a punishment on America from God for not following him; in terms of New Testament work, God generally is more interested in working at the level of the individual than at the level of earthly political entities). RD Francis ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/19 "2010-01-20T03:39:45Z")
It was not Morgan Freeman; it was Danny Glover who made statements about the international response to Haiti’s plight and something about global warming. Here’s the audio of what he said, which is not really clear to me. [http://www.freedomslighthouse.com/2010/01/far-left-actor-danny-glover-says.html](http://www.freedomslighthouse.com/2010/01/far-left-actor-danny-glover-says.html) Sounds like Glover’s just speaking off the cuff. I don’t know that it’s comparable to what Robertson said, what Robertson has said in the past and what he continues to represent. If Hollywood actors can raise a lot of funds for disaster relief, more power to them. Other than that, their opinions and statements are likely to be as half-baked as anybody else’s. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Baldy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gary\_Baldy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Baldy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566/20 "2010-01-20T05:23:35Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > Sounds like Glover’s just speaking off the cuff. I don’t know that it’s comparable to what Robertson said, what Robertson has said in the past and what he continues to represent. > If Hollywood actors can raise a lot of funds for disaster relief, more power to them. Other than that, their opinions and statements are likely to be as half-baked as anybody else’s. Have you heard some of Glover’s past statements? They’re as wacky as Robertson’s statements. And if you’re giving Glover and other Hollywood actors a free pass because they raise alot of funds for disaster relief, why wouldn’t Robertson get the same pass since his charities have done alot of good throughout the world over the decades? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pact-with-the-devil-column/525566.md?page=2)