If God exists, he's really got it in for Haiti.
--by Pooja Bhatia, Haitian journalist, writing in the Times.
George Packer's article in the New Yorker quotes a number of Haitians, many of whom understood the earthquake as god's retribution. It wasn't just Haitians that interpreted the earthquake that way. It was the view of Pat Robertson and others.
It's a common view, not merely by those with little education, but also those who supposedly are literate. Many still view tragedy as retribution. There's no such thing as undeserved suffering to those of that ilk.
Thankfully, Obama's response was the opposite: "Rather than claiming to know the mind of God, he vowed that America would not forsake Haiti, because its tragedy reminds us of 'our common humanity.'"
From the times of Jonathan Edwards, the notion of divine retribution has been a singular thread in American history. It shows up not only in religious beliefs but also in popular American proverbs about the good work of suffering.