An Open Mouth

Pat Robertson, one of the most public of Christians, has a tendency to believe that he speaks for God. That’s always a dangerous proposition.

His latest outburst concerns the grave condition of Israel’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, who suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday and remains in an induced coma after several operations to halt brain bleeding. Mr. Robertson had this to say about Prime Minister Sharon’s condition:

"The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, 'divide my land.' God considers this land to be his.

"You read the Bible, he says, 'This is my land.' And for any prime minister of Israel who decides he's going carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No. This is mine.'"

Presumably, PM Sharon’s apparent girth and his advanced age had no bearing on his condition. (In a video featuring Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush during Mr. Sharon's most recent visit to the United States, the contrast between the physical condition of the two men was striking--poor Prime Minister Sharon made the very exercise- and health-conscious President Bush look like Mr. Olympia.)

Ditto for the unimaginable stress that is inherent in long being the prime minister of 2006's Israel.

Mr. Robertson might want to watch out for that stray lightening bolt, heart attack, stroke, etc. if God is the type of deity which Mr. Robertson has repeatedly portrayed Him to be. It would seem to me that such a God wouldn’t take too kindly to slander or to driving people away from Him. And that is, most assuredly what Pat Robertson has done over and over again.

(Additionally, Robertson’s words serve to drive a wedge between two of the most natural of allies: Christians and Jews.)

One of the most insidious sins that plague mankind and have had the most long-lasting of bad outcomes is that of pride. Pride causes enmity between individuals, between peoples and between nations. Pride is the catalyst when one group of people attempts to assert its superiority over another. Pride allows a person to hold grudges long past the expire date and prevents that person from moving forward.

And pride lets a person believe that, because he has reputation for speaking for his beliefs and God has blessed him to own a platform for those beliefs, that he is always right and is always an unimpeachable authority in that realm.

The worst thing about people like Pat Robertson is that he has to know that whatever he says will receive the widest of media distribution. He’s got to know that there is always a microphone waiting for him to stand in front of to spout some “Christian theology.” The knowledge of this should make him mindful of his words and the effect that they will have, especially when he quotes Bible scripture. But it’s almost as if he wants to misrepresent what Christians believe. Specific for this case, it’s almost as if he has purposely forgotten other crucial parts of the scripture for the matter of sickness and death; namely, Jesus Christ’s words noting that misfortune falls on the just and the unjust alike. In other words, feces happens to us all.

If that isn’t so, what should Christians make of all of the strokes, heart attacks, untimely deaths in battle, via heinous crime or on accident? What should we make of those who live long, prosper and continuously perpetrate much evil all along the way? One wonders whether Mr. Robertson has forgotten the sin of Adam, which has allowed all of us to be subject to various forms of affliction and, ultimately, death.

I submit that Pat Robertson has long been a “respectable” version of the lunatic Fred Phelps—they both misrepresent what Christianity is and allow their pride of celebrity to spur them on--both men seem to go to absurd and disgusting lengths to get themselves talked about by all forms of the media and by the American man and woman on the street. In Mr. Robertson’s case, however, his Christian Broadcasting Network gives him the means to spread his slander of God to all and sundry. Good thing for him that God isn’t the Strategic Blunderer which Mr. Robertson makes Him out to be.

(Thanks to Charles Johnson and to Lucianne Goldberg)

UPDATE: David Corn:

So God visited a stroke upon Sharon because God is opposed to the Middle East peace process? That's what Robertson is saying. (But if God didn't want progress in the Middle East, why did God let Arafat die? I'm confused.)

Me too, David. It's nice when the Right and the Left can agree on something.

(Thanks to Pajamas Media)

Comments

[Peter]

Not being as good a Christian as Rev. Robertson I am merely praying that Mr. Sharon's family can get some comfort in knowing that the Docs are doing all they can.

[Stan LS]

Sharon stand at 5'7", is somewhere between 250 - 300 lbs, and is 77. I guess G-d has been planning this one for a while.

[Francis]

Talking of msfortune striking both good and bad alike reminds me of this little quip:

The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella:
But chiefly on the just, because
The unjust steals the just's umbrella.

There's probably an analagy somewhere there to do with Robertson's apparent possession of loadsa do$h but I leave it as an exercise for the reader

[Oyster]

Does Mr. Robertson realize that he has just shown himself to have something in common with Iran's new President? The boundaries of his stupidity have just been stretched further than we imagined was possible.

[Timmer]

Robertson stopped amazing me with his ignorance years ago. What baffles me are some of my family members who quote him with some level of authority.

[Billy]

I'm not sure, but I think Pat Robertson is involved in the Christian theme Park proposed on the shores of Galilee. This is likely to be profitable for him, and is possible because Sharon's government carved up a slice of "God's land" to give to Pat. Maybe it's different when he is going to personally profit.

[Ally]

Come on now, folks, what did we learn during 9/11, from none other than Jerry Falwell himself? In the midst of tragedy, televangelists can gleefully point out why God likes straight, white, American, male conservatives, and no one else.

[Mr Bob]

Mr Robertson is being consistent in his Dispensational theology which tends to deify Israel and ignore the fact that God's wrath was taken out on the cross and the only thing that is now unforgivable is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit..otherwise known as rejecting Christ even to your death bed.

[Mr Bob]

He continues to misrepresent God and Christianity..if anything is dangerous behavior worthy of a bolt...that would be it

[Rustmeister]

I've come to the conclusion that the manner of our death is not a reward or punishment for how we've lived, but a test for those left behind.

I hope the people who hold Mr. Sharon close fare well in this.

And, a little prediction to prove my point: Robertson will pass peacefully in his sleep.

[Cythen]

You know, I was waiting for all the clerics and whatnot over there to start ululating and howling that Allah Strikes Again, killing the Zionist Pig or some shit.

Instead, it comes from our corner. Ugh.

[Cythen]

Sorry for the double post, I apologize... yes, I know he's not dead.

[Oran Woody]

Your comments here just highlight why I keep returning to your site. I can always depend on you to expand on an issue without resorting to venom. It's as if I've asked a trusted friend for her opinion and can "take it to the bank."
I especially like your reference "to the most natural of allies: Christians and Jews."
Woody

[shari]

I think this is getting ridiculous. You all think Pat is some kook nutcase, right. Why even listen to what he says then? If he is so inaccurate, and outlandish why even write about him. Just ignore him. He han opinion. People watch him, so what. I dont agree with everything he says, I dont know any two people who agree about everything.

[Marty]

I do notice, once again, the juxtaposition of Christian reaction to a Christian "nut" and Muslim non-reaction to a Muslim "nut." Robertson is quickly condemned while the President of Iran gets no backtalk from those of his faith.

[Anonymous MSgt]

Robertson is regarded as a nut by a few Christians, but his blunt statements should not be passed over. He reflects the sentiment of literally millions of Christians, especially in the South.
He is an experienced player, and he knows he can afford to be blatant.
He, like the core of closet Klansmen he represents, does not care for Jews any more than Adolf Eichmann or David Duke. Israel is merely a game piece to be supported until Armageddon.

[skinner]

Whatever I wanted to comment here and look who I follow
SHEES This guy in my opinion is a total MORON but I wouldnt link him with the KLAN . My question is Why did God hold back the fire and brimstone when some
self proclaimed christians were
stealing HIS land from native
americans . The natives were the ones who acknowledged the land as HIS . They claimed ancestoral rights to inhabit the GREAT SPIRITS lands and because they didnt mark it out and have papers
Manefest destiny stole their land and raped and murdered their people . Didnt PATTY Robison read a history book once in a while between reading { whatever suted him] into the bible . He needs to take the test with those fundamentalists that get weird with rattlesnakes. Laugh him off Hes ridiculous.
with the rattle snakes

[miss reg]

Delurking to partially defend Pat Robertson. He's no klansman. He's no antiSemite. He's a strong Zionist believer. He's always been against the land for peace scheme and he's always used the Bible as his base for his belief of keeping Israel from being divided. I don't agree with everything Pat Robertson says. And he really should think 3 times before he says what he says because he has enemies like the People for the American Way whose behind this hoopla, who seek to deny him his free speech rights.
Frankly, who cares about Pat Robertson when Iran's President, the nuclear power wannabe, is saying that he wants to destroy Israel and forcibly convert the world into an Islamic theocracy!

[skinner]

youre last paragraph , miss reg,
pretty much puts it into a {2006]
perspective . I hate to see these ayatohlla type fanatics, ruin the desires of the young people in Iran to step out of the dark ages and welcome FREEDOM
They are a Majority and as Censored as this country is I know this along with many others
This is a war that has to happen though if we cant stop them and the russians should be shot for selling them delivery missles
This world is nuts and everything points to it getting worse . If we only had ,had, \
Hindsight in WW2 think of the innocent souls that might have had
a chance for life and wouldnt have suffered We cant make the mistake of indecision again and as far as I'm concerned should
Israel strike first THEY ARE JUSTIFIED

[skinner]

When you have palestinians handing out candy and celebrating because Israels leader is gravely Ill THATS YOURE SIGN
Not even considering he was the one that gave up land that was
ancestoraly, Irael , and won back, as a real statement to Israel's commitment to peace.
The palestinians are nothing
but terrorists bent on Israels destruction They dont exist as nothing else The jews are fighting once again for their right to exist . Think about it
How much restraint should any people be forced to endure after a history of prosecution???
Im glad to be an AMERICAN CHRISTIAN that stands up for their
rights Im glad we help protect them and Im sickened by the russians germans and french who sit IDOL F[#K them They're a scurge on humanity and spineles
COWARDS

[Salminio]

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20040108-0

[Laura(southernxyl)]

If it's God's land then no human can give it away.

(All of Earth is God's land.)

[Richard]

I wonder what Pat Robertson would say about the 12 WV coal miners? Pat Robertson does not speak for this Christian, nor do I believe that God punishes us on Earth. We will have plenty of time to pay for our sins.

[skinner]

I agree with richard if HE decides to punish us on Earth
we'll pretty muc know about it.

[Rae]

Did you see that Mr. Robertson's spokesperson claimed that he was "only quoting the Bible?"

It only serves to perpetuate the thought that Christians are uneducated, bigoted fools. So very sad.

Excellent thoughts, Miss Locks. Going to link this one.

[Steve]

I do not know what to think of the Israel of today as it relates to the New Testament or Old Testament. Many Jewish people in Israel are to some degree or another taking some of their feelings of heritage of the land from the (what we call) The Old Testament. I don't think Pat Robertson should be doing that. There is some real questions among Chritsians as to whether that aurgument can be made. These "Christians" are not the Arafat hugging Christains of the National Council of Churches either.

I like the fact that Pat Robertson cares about the situation over there on behalf of the Jewish population. That could be thought of as Christian in itself. But he ought to leave the Biblical material out since there are a lot of questions about that. The situation over there seems really bad for the Jewish population because large amounts of people, trucks, and material are able to cross Israeli land without being checked by Israeli security. This is not good given that there was a breach recently in the border between Gaza and Egypt for weeks that allowed all kinds of terror groups and weapons in.

Pat Robertson does seem to be acting as though he is empathizing closely with the Jewish people of Israel but he needs to act from his own heart and leave the Biblical stuff to God even if the Bible applies at all to today's Israel. Maybe he has the right sympathies but for the wrong reasons and the Jewish people, for him, have been bit players in some fantasy of his own.

I personally do not know what to think of Israel but it got its start a little over a century ago and it was mainly "left" labor party people that originally put it together. Many of them very anti-religious Jews at the time. These people used communes (Kibbutz), and lot and lots of labor on the land. It was fairly uninhabited as of about 1890. It does seem to me that the Arabs do have a childish fetish over this small amount of land that was created in light of the events of World War II. The Arabs have purosely done very little for the Palestinians they claim to care so much for. In fact between the United States tax payer (thru our tax dollars to the UN too) and the Israeli government more has been done for the Palestinians than by anyone else.

The Palestinian problem was not nearly what it is today until the Oslo Accords and the arrival of Yassir Arafat. Then the lives of the Palestinians had a melt down. Prior to that, under Isaeli rule, they had quite a good average yearly income and employment compared to the rest in the Arab world.

[Misha I]

Baldilocks, I agree pretty much completely with your entire post. I can't stand Pat's mindreading shtick either.

Sure, in all fairness, I can certainly see any number of reasons why G-d might be upset with Arik, but I'd still hesitate to pretend speaking for Him. The only one who knows the whys of everything is Him. I've been guilty of suggesting things along the same lines in the past, but I'm no Pat Robertson. I'm just a guy with a blog and I don't expect to be taken all that seriously.

The only thing I can't quite understand in the post is the assertion by David Corn that Arik has been working to advance the Peace Process. In my view, all he did with the Gaza pullout was to reward terrorists and let them know that murdering civilians leads to concessions.

From a purely military standpoint, the consolidation of Eretz Yisroel's lines of defense make sense, but I don't think that retreating in front of an enemy in any way advances the cause of making said enemy realize that he's fighting a losing battle.

[Miguel]

When Pat Robertson was a Republican pre-candidate for POTUS I would have voted for him, but I'm not American. That was in the eighties. I'm a Catholic, but I thought he was just right-on with a lot of issues. But, since then, Robertson has sort of lost it, somewhere down the road. I guess he got too conceited and self-absorbed. And as Baldi says, he should remember all the time that a lot of people are paying attention to what he says. On this issue, apart from what Baldi and the commenters have said here, HE'S TAKING SIDES IN THE DIVIDE BETWEEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE. Settlers vs. disengagers, something all of us non-Jews shouldn't do. If he's really for the Jews, how dare he to take sides? That is the last thing our "elders in the faith" as the Catholic Church calls them, need now-a-days. We should try to help them mend the rift, instead of taking sides, as Robertson is wrongly doing.
My 2 c.

[Dan Thompson]

I find Robertson's assertion to be insane, as there are plenty of earthly reasons why the dangerously overweght is in his current state. What is interesting is the pattern he attempts to bring attention to. Rabin was killed for trying to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, and now Sharon is in the balance. It is far more believable that Sharon may have been poisoned by right wing extremists just as Rabin was killed by a right wing extremist. What did Arafat die of? Does anyone really know? In any case, Robertson believes he is the mouthpiece of God. It is precisely people like Robertson (who wrongly believe they are God's somehow appointed deputies) that have embroiled the Middle East in violence. Whether they be Zionists or Islamic terrorists, they share more in common with Satan than any other diety. Thank God there is a growing voice of reason in Israel. Depsite the outcome of warrior-turned-peacemaker Sharon's coma, Israel will continue to progress. What will Robertson say then? That all of Israel is in danger of being punished with a tsunami? Robertson is an embarassment to the American people. He should be denounced. I'll pray for Sharon, afterall, he is a peacemaker - regardless of his past. That is the Christian thing to do.

[Steve]

I disagree that Rabin was a "peacemaker" because of his involvement in the Oslo Accords, the return of Arafat to Ramallah, and the setting up of the Palestinian Authority.

I also disagree that what has been happening in regards to Gaza in the last 7 months is "peacemaking".

[wayne]

It just goes to prove again that Pat is one of the most effective tools that "Satanists for Christ" ever came up with. Him and that Falwell stench Jerry.

Rat B**tards, both of them. They've got about as good a place toasting in Hell as that bunch of scumbags from Kansas that are going around at the funerals of our soldiers celebrating thier deaths.

[Anonymous MSgt]

There are two major internal weaknesses in the Conservative bloc that our enemies continually use against us.
The first is corruption (Randy Cunningham being a stellar example) where people who spout Conservative lingo are simply using their position to make money while betraying their public trust. If we are to maintain and increase the level of business/state fusion, there must be insistance on professional conduct. Corruption is ideological treason.
The second is the (IMO fairly accurate) perception that the "Christian Taliban" own the Republican party social agenda.
Because of "identity politics" there is a Conservative tendency to support (silence=consent=support) people who are tremendously damaging to our movement. Merely attacking the Left is not enough to sustain Conservative political power. If "unity" means embracing every crook and/or nutter who says they are on our side, that unity will chase away voters.

[Steve]

I've done a lot of reading and I'd have to say it is the "left" that has by far attempted unity by the embracing every crook and nutter. I could give a lot of links but I'll just assume people may at least know something of what I'm saying.

In all seriousness I've never seen much of Pat Robertson nor have I given him much thought. He comments on things more as a private individual with an interest in the country and not so much as a supposed man of God, as the saying goes. I am what would be called a social conservative and those views did not originate and are not dependent on Pat Robertson. They didn't all originate with the Bible either.

I was at one time someone that would have voted democrat but when I saw certain things (thats all I'll say for now) going on I couldn't be a democrat and it never occurred me when I was a democrat (sort of) to be as I found the democratic party behaving.

My views are for what I feel are real and specific reasons. Things that have been all the more re-enforced with what I've been learning.

But I would like to say that being concerned for the people in Israel, given the developments since Oslo, is not something the Taliban should be associated with. There may be other Westerners not thought to be a friend of Pat's politically that may be considered more a friend of such a group, or like-groups. Pat's heart and concern may be in the right place even if his head is not.

There has been behavior from many nominally Christian left groups (in North America, South America, Europe, or Middle East) for some decades, and especially in the last 5 years, that are more troubling than Pat's antics.

I also do not see TBN's Benny Hinn, Paul Crouch, etc., (or Pat's audience) as all that Republican neccassarily. It a little more mixed and complicated than that. That goes for a whole gambit of supposed "Ministers" who are also out in the world politically.

[Expatriate Owl]

We are incapable of really, really REALLY comprehending why G*d does what he does. The stroke may well be a component of G*d's punishment to Sharon for giving away the land. And then again, it may be G*d's punishment to Sharon for allowing himself to grow so fat! Or both. Or neither.

[StinKerr]

It would appear that Robertson will experience the wrath of Israel before the wrath of God.

They're cancelling a $50 million deal he had with them to build a Christian Heritage Center in Israel.

[wayne]

Now if we could only get the Mossad to send Pat and his buddy Jerry back to their daddy Satan...

[revskinbottom]

I warned Patty Robertson years ago That he had foot in mouth desease and it would cost him greatly He said " Im Just a
Mouthpeice " I told him "
" Thank GOD your'e just a mouthpeice cause if you ever get stupid enough to put a horn on the end of it ", " Somebody , or some group of people " , ......
Will snatch it out you're face
and cram it UP yore backside to where it'll be like JONAH , Inside the belly of the whale And all the wailing nashing of the teeth will be coming from youre other end You wont be tooting youre own horn for some time. But he didnt listen ????

[Aidan Maconachy]

As someone who in center-right on most issues, I find the media-grabbing stunts of Pat Robertson both infantile and embarrassing.

I'm not sure what "God" Pat thinks he is in communion with, but it isn't a God who is immediately familiar to me.

A central pillar of Jesus' teaching related to compassion for our fellow man. I personally feel no compassion at all, or even marginal empathy, for the Uber Fuhrer of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez. But then I don't claim to be a minister representing the gospel of Jesus Christ. For Pat to publicly call for Chavez' assassination goes against every tenet of the faith he claims to espouse.

What ticked me off about Robertson's pre-emptive BS, was that it has set in motion a whole series of events none of us need. If there were in fact any covert plans to "deal" with Chavez, they were pretty much outed by Pat's foolhardy comments. Also since he mouthed off we have seen a trainload of celebrities and others going down there to hug the strongman - most recently that lost soul Harry Belafonte who was heard to yell "viva la revolucion" after embracing the military doboy.

Now the latest idiocy about God causing Ariel Sharon's stroke because he divided God's land. Hello Pat! This isn't the Old Testament era and all the philistines have long since retired. God had zero to do with Sharon's stroke, unless he also goes by the name "cholesterol". The man was carrying heavy tonnage and was a candidate for this type of problem.

Pat, ever considered an early retirement?

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