The Rev. Al Sharpton visited Chicago churches Sunday to talk about helping the thousands of earthquake victims in Haiti. He also called comments made by Christian TV evangelist Pat Robertson that Haitians made a deal with the devil and were being punished by God "repulsive."
Last week, Robertson said during his show, The 700 Club, that Haitians had been cursed after they "swore a pact to the devil" in the late 1700s in order to gain freedom from French colonial authorities. His comments sparked a firestorm from the religious community, including Sharpton.
"To bring this kind of negative and wicked spirit into a scene where we are watching children's dead bodies stacked up is abominable to me," Sharpton told the congregation at Christ Universal Temple on the South Side."This kind of foolishness, while people are laying in the rubble in Haiti fighting for their lives, shows a contempt some people have for the human condition."
Rescues continued in the capital of Port-au-Prince Sunday, almost five days after an 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated the island. Nearly 30 international teams of rescuers are still looking for survivors.
The United Nations estimates 100,000 to 150,000 people have died in the capital city alone.
