Once again, the White House has had to publicly condemn the remarks of television evangelist Pat Robertson after the religious extremists made inflammatory comments regarding the medical condition of Ariel Sharon. (CNN: Robertson suggests God smote Sharon).
Robertson made his ridiculous remarks on the 700 Club, saying, "He [Sharon] was dividing God's land, and I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations or the United States of America.' God says, 'This land belongs to me, and you'd better leave it alone.'"
This is the third in a recent string of embarrassing comments made by the aging evangelist. Earlier, he had suggested that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez should be assassinated. That prompted a series of statements from the White House distancing themselves from Robertson's public pronouncements. Following a series of hurricanes that plagued the East Coast, Robertson then claimed that towns should not turn to God if they had rejected Intelligent Design since God would refuse to hear their prayers.
Robertson is increasingly an embarrassment for conservative Republicans, and if nothing else, he provides constant ammunition for those that would portray all conservatives as religious "wing nuts". The fact is, Robertson does not speak for the Republican Party, he does not speak for the Bush Administration, and he has no more political sway among conservatives than does Phil Donahue among the Democrats. Even to members of the Religious Right - and I consider myself to be a very conservative Christian - Pat Robertson is nothing more than a vocal crackpot with a TV show. The folks taking this guy seriously are the same ones reporting Elvis sightings in the local supermarket.
I find it hard to believe that the 700 Club has much in the way of ratings, but it apparently has enough to keep it on ABC Family, TBN, and FamilyNet. I look forward to the day this crackpot is taken off the air for good. What he preaches has very little to do with Christianity and his message certainly does not represent the views of the Christian majority in the US. He's very good at selectively quoting the Bible - typically out of context - but he has no concept whatsoever as to the message being revealed in that same Bible. The man is an embarrassment for Christians everywhere. He's an embarrassment for the United States. Someone sound the gong and get this crackpot off the air. His 15 minutes are up.
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