The Hope of Haiti

Haiti's problem has been the corruption from the top of the culture at the presidential level to the mafia's blood-sucking at the ports to the punks on the street intimidating their neighbors to the men who abuse their children and wives and then eventually abandon them. This is why Haiti has been dysfunctional as a nation and the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

Haiti is a failed state. It can't protect its citizens. It can't provide the basic services of water, sanitation, just courts, fair elections, and free markets where its citizens can live in peace, dignity, and prosperity.

The question is, "Why?". The answer is that Haiti has not had a critical mass of spiritual moral truth to guide it. Haiti is a free-for-all dog-eat-dog society. Foreigners have come in droves to Haiti with compassion for its people. As a rule, Haitians do not show this compassion and self-sacrifice for each other that foreigners show to them. They don't have the same spiritual moral view of humanity.

This is why the humble country doctor, Francois Duvalier, who became president went nuts in office and used his office to rape the country economically. His son Bebe Doc multiplied his sins of raping the country. There was great hope for the humble country priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who became president. But he was defrocked by The Church for his heresies and he turned into a self serving maniac who also raped the country economically for his own power and gain and he armed street thugs to carry out revenge against his political enemies.

Christianity is the hope of Haiti because it can provide the right spiritual moral view of life and humanity and because it is gaining enough influence to create the critical mass for change.

Genesis 1:27-28 provides the core philosophy of life and humanity that can save Haiti. It is the description of how God created people in his image and commanded them to be his regents to do good on the earth. It says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that lives on earth."

The image of God in man is the core moral philosophy about humanity that gave rise to the prosperity of Europe and America and is gaining traction wherever Christianity is gaining a critical mass of influence. The image of God in man is man's high spiritual and intellectual capacity to relate to God at a high level forever. The image of God is unique to humanity. Angels are not even said to have this level of greatness and value.

There are three key consequences of the truth that we are created in God's image:

• All people are created equally. 
• People are created to create.
• God loves everyone. 

The first consequence of human equality is greatly needed in Haiti where racism has been the norm from all groups to all groups. Whites, blacks, mulatoes, and indigenous people have all in the history of Haiti abused and hated the others. Haitian presidents in modern times have tried to harness and incite the racism of the darker blacks who are the majority against the lighter blacks. They have also sought to harness a racism against all foreigners whether they are American, French, British, or whomever. 

The hope of Haiti is a spiritual moral view of human equality. Human equality can only be fostered and protected in a society where the key elements of democracy are in play. Those are fair elections, the rule of law, and a free press. 

The second consequence of human equality is the world view that people are created to create. Christians are creators because they have this view of life. They create churches, schools, hospitals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and good government because they believe they are created in the image of the Great Creator who endows them with the capacity to co-create using their god-given intelligence and the resources of the earth and social cooperation. 

The average Haitian expects Haiti to be made better by the giving of outside foreign sources. The economic mentality of Haiti is to be takers not makers. That mind set can only lead to endless poverty and un-empowerment. Haitian Christians are trying to change that. They want to create churches, schools, hospitals, factories, businesses, new products, new services, and better government by their involvement in it. To become a nation of makers instead of takers, Haiti must establish the core elements of capitalism. They are ownership of property and businesses, freedom from extortion by criminals and the government, moderate taxation and regulation, and courts that protect contracts and ownership rights. Haiti has to get rid of the mafia culture that extorts business and drives prices through the roof. It has to get rid of the mafia style of governance that steals the money of the people and does not use it to create the core infrastructures of water, sewer, garbage collection, honest police, decent streets and fair courts. 

The third consequence is God's love for everyone that is expressed in its fullest form in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Haiti needs full religious freedom. Christianity recognizes that true faith is a personal choice and an act of the will that cannot be and should not be coerced. Therefore Christianity does not seek to impose its beliefs on others by law but it demands the human freedom to exercise its spiritual powers of prayer, preaching and providing for those in need. Then people can decide for themselves. The hope of Haiti is not to make Voodoo illegal. Voodoo will always be part of Haiti's history and there will always be some who practice it. The point is that Christians just need freedom to fully express their faith. When that happens it can grow to become a key influence that shapes society in a spiritual and moral view of humanity that blesses society. No persecution of any religious group should be allowed in Haiti. The only constrains on religion should be when people break laws that are reasonable laws in the name of their religion. No one should be allowed to murder another person or steal their goods or liberty in the name of a religion. 

There is great hope for Haiti because the Christian movement is growing. There are many churches that preach this high moral view of humanity. Many schools are religious schools that teach it. There is a strong Christian influence on the radio in Haiti. Thousands of Christian organizations and thousands of Christian from around the world have come to Haiti to provide food, water, sanitation, education, reconstruction in the name of Jesus Christ and in the name of God who has created us in his image.

The UN and the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like USAID and OXFAM who are in Haiti and who have come to Haiti since the earthquake of January 12, 2010 are important. They are providing key core infrastructures to get Haiti back on her feet, but they are not the hope of Haiti. In time the best thing they can do will be to leave Haiti and the best thing that can happen will be for the Haitian people to rebuild their own society with a strong moral and spiritual view of humanity that promotes human equality with democracy, that promotes human creation of wealth with capitalism, and that promotes human spiritual dignity with religious freedom and protection for all religions, including Christianity. 

If these things will happen, Christianity will flourish in Haiti and it will will strengthen democracy, free market wealth creation, and religious freedom even more. The result will be a virtuous cycle of  growing faith and social development. Haiti could become the jewel of the Caribbean with the right view of life that is inspired by Christian ideals.