An evangelical pastor in Caradeux, Haiti, convinced many of his parishioners over the weekend to band together and physically stand against a violent gang that was terrorizing their city.
The church members stood their ground against the murderous street thugs and many ended up losing their lives.
A translated video clip from the service shows (Pastor) Marco leading his members in a prayer where they asked God for the anointing of the biblical King David to go up against the gang which is known to regularly challenge local police, according to Haiti Libre.
"May the anointing of David … enter into me… so I can knock Goliath to the ground," Marco declared. "These Goliaths must fall."
Pastor Marcorel Zidor, who goes by Marco, was convinced that it was his and his church's responsibility to stand up against the violent gang, and many lost their lives in this cause.
The parishioners carried sticks and machetes, but the gang was heavily armed and ended up killing at least 7 of the Christians in the crowd, injuring more, and kidnapping others.
The church members, according to reports, were totally fed up with the terrorist tactics of the gangs and the authorities' impotent response, so they sought to take revolutionary action into their own hands, to deliver themselves and their city from oppression.
According to other reports, Pastor Marco, fled on his motorcycle when violence began to erupt.
Not exactly a fearless leader in the spirit of David.
Haitian police have yet to make an official statement on the massacre, but Marie Yolène Gilles of the human rights group Fondasyon Je Klere/Eyes Wide Open Foundation said in a statement to the Miami Herald that the pastor should be prosecuted for advocating violence and endangering his congregants.
"Bringing citizens to arm themselves against each other, provoking violence in pastoral speeches, are criminal acts provided for and punished by the Haitian penal code," Gilles said in a statement. "Three to 15 years in prison is the penalty provided by the law in this matter. It's time to enforce the law. Those who by their speech provoked this massacre and the perpetrators of this massacre must answer for their actions."
I don't know if the pastor should feel morally responsible for the massacre of his sheep, but he led them into what turned out to be a battle and, reportedly, fled, allowing them to be mercilessly slaughtered.
The killers still hold responsibility, but this pastor should feel ashamed if indeed he did flee in cowardice.
Haiti has been a hotbed for violence for a long time now, and it's only heating up. You can understand why Christians would be fed up and want the killings to stop.
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