Some time ago I was talking with a nurses aid as we took a break on our shift. The TV was playing Pat Robertson’s 700 Club. “He visited Liberia,” she said.
“I hope you counted the silver after he left,” I replied.

Pat Robertson got his fifteen minutes at the top of the news recently by saying that the people of Haiti got whacked by the Almighty for a deal their ancestors made with the Devil. God seems to be Robertson’s own Divine Luca Brasi. But a little slower.

If God takes centuries to react then Pat Robertson’s descendants had better watch out for stray lightning bolts. Pat Robertson made a deal with the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, who is now on trial for crimes against humanity.

Prosecutors have accused Taylor, who served as Liberia’s president from 1997 to 2003, of ordering his subordinates to murder and mutilate civilians, cut off their limbs, use women and girls as sex slaves, abduct adults and children, and force them to perform labor or become fighters to further his economic and political ambitions in the region. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Charles Taylor may be only mortal, but he was surely the Devil to the people whose lives he destroyed. Liberia deserves justice. There are many Rhode Islanders who suffered Liberia’s civil war, coming here as refugees.

But Robertson, who was also friendly with Congo’s dictator, Sese Seko Mobutu, is fond of the earthly treasure. He trolled Congo for diamonds, Liberia for gold. He does better trolling the elderly, lonely and desperate in America for donations, but can’t resist trying to maximize his take.

Jesus said something about people who were like a beautiful tomb, grand on the outside but nothing but a rotting corpse on the inside. Not naming any names. Just reflecting on the Holy Word.