The struggle continues! When the president told us that we were now in a struggle against ideological extremism, he sure wasn't kidding. (See video here in .mov format) Today, we will look at Christian fundamentalist and former presidential candidate, Pat Robertson.
Is Pat Robertson an extremist? You decide.
Back in 1986, Pat Robertson stated the following:
It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into (our) institutions (today) are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have.... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation. -- New York Magazine, August 18, 1986
No that wasn't Adolph Hitler who said that, it was Pat Robertson. Sounds so Christian doesn't it? I wonder if good ole' Pat ever read the Book of Matthew? "Judge not lest ye be judged...thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." (Matthew 7:1, 7:5)
Funny thing about Pat is, he is completely exclusive in his view of Christianity. To him, only a Pentacostal Christian can be considered a true Christian. The rest of the Christians are following 'false religions'.
You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them. -- The 700 Club, January 14, 1991
But not only does Pat gerrymander religion for his own self-interest, but he also ignores the United States Constitution:
There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore. -- Pat Robertson, November 1993
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Nancy
All religion is a scam, and those who posture as religious leaders are the scammers. Anybody who doesn't realize this is an blind, deaf, idiot - or a scammer bent on covering himself.
2 - JR
You left out the quote where he wanted to nuke our nation's capital.
3 - Nancy
Oh, well...that's the only sensible thing Robertson has said, then.
4 - RKC
Thw best thing Pat Robertson could do for Christianity is keep his mouth shut.
5 - Rob
It's frightening to think that people take this guy seriously. In my opinion, he's no better then a Bin Laden. This man preaches a sermon full of hate and bigotry. He wants you to fear what you don't understand, be afraid of anything that is different. Are the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, etc., to be discounted because they were built by non-Christians? The ancient Greeks were not Christian when they created a society based on a democratic government, the same government that influenced the way the USA set up house. Of course, you can't argue with a person like Pat Robertson, because he's always right. Thank God, he was never elected to run your country!
6 - Dave Nalle
I wonder if Pat is aware that termites are the greatest builders in the animal kingdom? It's impressive that he can combine bigotry with total ignorance all at the same time.
Dave
7 - JR
Dave Nalle: It's impressive that he can combine bigotry with total ignorance all at the same time.
When are those two not seen in combination?
8 - copygodd
hey, don't forget these chestnuts...
"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."
"I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."
"It (Planned Parenthood) is teaching kids to fornicate, teaching people to have adultery, every kind of bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism... everything that the Bible condemns."
9 - Eyeless in Gaza
This is an eye-opening and shocking piece of commentary. It is a terrible oversight on the part of our government that we have not pursued Mr. Robertson more vigorously in our recent war on terror or, as it is now called, "the struggle against ideological extremism." The sooner that Robertson is apprehended, the safer our country will be.
One thing, however, you did not mention the number of deaths that Pat Robertson and his wretched 700 Club are responsible for. I can only think that quite a few 700 Clubbers have acted on his hateful rhetoric and strapped bombs to their back for the purpose of killing innocent civilians. Do you have the statistics on this at your fingertips? I imagine that, if he is "no better than a Bin Laden" as an above post claims, the number of murders for which Robertson is responsible must number in the thousands.
I await your data.
10 - Duane
You're right Eyeless. Bob was exaggerating. Bob is way off base. Pat Robertson should be respected. He is an exemplary Christian. He is a beautiful spirit, humble and charitable. The breadth and depth of his intellect is staggering. And yet he is modest. He exudes love for all Mankind. His good works are myriad. He walks with the Lord.
11 - The Bulldog Manifesto
Eyeless,
If I'm not mistaken, Pat Robertson is a huge supporter of George W. Bush. More than that, he has used his television show and his fabricated air of respectability as a tool to advocate and support the blood spilled by W. and his Neocon cronies.
And if you havent heard, our government has killed over 90,000 civilians in Iraq. I dont think the fact that those 90,000 people were killed by uniformed military men makes any difference. Killing civilians is killing civilians, regardless of how they are killed.
12 - copygodd
don't forget, in 1985 pat claimed his prayers kept hurricane gloria from hitting his headquarters.
of course, gloria's diverted course eventually caused her to hit long island and boston, causing $320 million in damage.
13 - Dave Nalle
>>Dave Nalle: It's impressive that he can combine bigotry with total ignorance all at the same time.
When are those two not seen in combination?<<
Bigotry is certainly a sign of ignorance, but not all ignorant people are bigoted. To have both qualities shows the purity of the Robertson essence.
Of course, he's a former Democrat, so he was brought up in an atmosphere of ignorance and self-delusion.
Dave
14 - Eyeless In Gaza
"Killing civilians is killing civilians, regardless of how they are killed."
So, you see no difference then between the German civilians killed in the 1943 bombing of Hamburg and, say, civilians killed by the night stalker? Or those killed by jihadist sociopaths who decided to hijack planes and run them into very tall buildings housing thousands of unsuspecting workers within? Lovely.
By the way, I know many other people who have used their energy and influence to support the war in Iraq. Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan come to mind, as well as a number of conservative commentators and observers, etc. Should we include them in your "struggle against ideological extremism," since they are obviously no better than the fanatics who rigorously preach the destruction of all who do not conform to their narrow, feudal ideology and show little hesitation in murderously carrying out their words?
15 - The Bulldog Manifesto
Eyeless,
Your logical reasoning skills really need some work. I expressed many reasons why Pat Robertson is an extremist. None of them included his support of the War. I do not consider that an extremist view, at least not presently. I merely mentioned his support of the war in controversion of your negative pregnant logic.
You initially implied that an extremist could only be somebody who "strapped a bomb to their back" or somebody who lead people to strap bombs to their backs. Its that type of bankrupt logic which seems to get you Neocons in trouble.
How come conversations with guys like you always turn out something like this:
Joe Liberal Says: "Bush lied, and took us to war when there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction"
John Right Winger says: "Oh, so you think Saddam was a good guy"
Sometimes I wonder if you guys simply are missing a logical reasoning gene. I was stating many reasons why Pat Robertson was an extremist. You ignored those reasons, and without realizing it, used your own completely subjective definition of extremism (only a person who "straps bombs"...) to judge Pat Robertson. Then, taking your skewed logic further, you then tried to extrapolate your premise to others, Andrew Sullivan and Hitchens.
Perhaps a Princeton Review course prepping you for the LSAT would be helpful. I'm not kidding.
16 - Sensum Fidelium
George W. Bush is the Man of Sin, the Beast of Apocalypse, and the very Antichrist
here
17 - Alan
Yes. Bush's Antichrist status is obvious.
here
18 - Phillip Winn
Pat Robertson has moderated many of his views in recent years, which coincidentally are the same years in which he has mostly shut up.
Amazingly, despite the moderation, he's still wrong on almost everything. Just less violently and offensively so. :-)
19 - John Wesley
Pray for Bush's conversion!!!
here
20 - Eric Olsen
to Islam?