Let Us Pray for the Souls of Haiti

The coverage of the earthquake in Haiti reminds me of the Katrina coverage in that a great deal of the information seems, well, dubious. The aftermath of a huge natural disaster is often chaotic, making reliable fact-checking difficult if not impossible. In the wake of Katrina, there were erroneous reports of rapes, murders and cannibalism. I hope that reports of Haitian gangs armed with machetes prove false, as well.

More importantly, I pray that some good can ultimately be drawn from this disaster. The pain that the Haitian people are now experiencing over lost loved ones, homes and more is unimaginable. This pain can spur us and the Haitian people on to achieve great things and life Haiti to new heights. It can be the reason we invest in building safer homes, better roads and hospitals in Haiti. If the Haitian people can find meaning in their suffering through Jesus Christ, then their faith can be deepened and renewed.

If the disaster becomes an opportunity for bitterness, then this earthquake will continue to poison Haiti's future. Already there are reports of Haitian anger at the international response. I tend to discount these stories as Katrina-esque urban legends, but what if they're not? The fact is that the world is helping. Thanks to a 24-hour news cycle and global connectivity, people are aware of Haiti's plight in a way that they never would have been before. Had this disaster happened 100 years ago, it is doubtful that very many would have been aware of the Haitian earthquake.

This strangely familiar response -- we certainly heard it after Katrina -- makes me concerned that we, the United States have exported unhealthy beliefs that will drive people away from Christ and true happiness. We have done this through failed foreign aid programs that have built up dependence rather than individual dignity and community. As Pope Benedict XVI writes on page 33 of Jesus of Nazareth,

The aid offered by the West to developing countries has been purely technically and materially based, and not only has left God out of the picture, but has driven men away from God. And this aid, proudly claiming to "know better," is itself what first turned the "third world" into what we mean today by that term. It has thrust aside indigenous religious, ethical and social structures and filled the resulting vacuum with its technocratic mindset.

If the Haitian people are angry at the slow response of the United States and others; if Haiti devolves into self-immolating violence over finite food and water, then we must at least ponder our own culpability. We must ask ourselves how we can now truly help the people of Haiti rather than undermine their society. We must ask if our military interventions in Haiti have been constructive. If we are to take any interest in our neighbor to the south, we must follow through in a way that will strengthen Haiti, economically, culturally and spiritually.

(Side note: Another, related similarity to Katrina is that this catastrophe has also been an opportunity for assembly-line anti-Americanism. One claim is that America is using this as an opportunity to advance imperialist aims. You see, our immediate response was to send troops and an aircraft carrier. Of course, an aircraft carrier tends to have the sorts of things that you need in a crisis -- like a mobile hospital bay, food and medical supplies. Military personal are also trained to deal with dangerous, unexpected situations. Suffice to say, it is difficult to say what geopolitical objective America could hope to achieve by occupying Haiti, leaving humanitarianism as the only possible motive.)