Russia’s Pat Robertson

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I apparently agrees with U.S. preacher Pat Robertson that Haitians brought the earthquake on themselves:

Kirill, speaking during a weekend visit to Kazakhstan, said the Haitian people bore responsibility for the calamity because they had turned away from God, the Ferghana.ru news agency reported late Monday.

"Haiti is a country of poverty and crime, famine, drugs and corruption, where people have lost their moral face," Kirill was quoted as saying.

He compared Haiti with the Dominican Republic, which are located on the same Caribbean island.

"I’ve visited the island divided between two countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. One of them is developing, while the other is affected by crimes, economic recession and political unrest. That part of the island was shattered by the earthquake," he said.

The patriarch also compared Haiti with Kazakhstan, noting that Kazakhstan has not experienced any earthquakes recently despite its seismological position, the news report said.

I suppose it’s possible from the quotes that Kiril was just making a David Brooks-ish argument about Haiti’s "culture of failure" making them more vulnerable to the damage rather than their sinful ways actually causing the quake, but the comparison to Kazakhstan really doesn’t make much sense in that context. 

Guess Kirill’s not a Jon Stewart fan.