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I Denounce Pat Robertson

By: Loren Heal (Diary)  |  January 13th, 2010 at 03:23 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Before, After.

Imagine for a moment that were the White House.

Imagine that all of the hospitals in Washington, DC were destroyed by an earthquake.

Imagine, just for a bit, that the earthquake had killed tens of thousands of your countrymen.

Now imagine learning that someone went on television and said this:

I don’t know if the Haiti earthquake is the act of a vengeful God to show the idolotrous heathens his power, or whether their Satanism is the exact problem, or what.

But I do know that now is not the time to discuss it.

Now is the time, as Jon of Exurban League says,

In addition to your prayers, if at all possible, give ’til it hurts, then keep giving until it starts feeling good again.

A good place to start is withFranklin Graham (w/t @Mary Katherine Ham).

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COMMENTS

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  • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/blog/loren_heal Socrates

    Missed the wreath tip to Mary Katherine Hamm, and misspelled Jon’s name.

    • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/blog/loren_heal Socrates

      Thanks, Becker.

      • Vladimir
        • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/blog/loren_heal Socrates

          I went to junior high with a kid named Hamm, and so I always do that.

          Thanks.

  • mbecker908

    I fixed it for you.

    Click on “Create New Diary”

    Click on “Manage”

    Click on the diary name you want to edit, edit the diary and when you’re done click “Save”.

    OK, so “I” didn’t fix it for you. :-)

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      I put the fix into source control today, tested it, and the next time we deploy from the trunk, you will find published diaries immutable.

      I know, I know, some of you can be trusted with it, regulars and such. And maybe we’ll go back and add a Trusted User status, but for now we don’t have one yet.

      • mbecker908

        When you implement the new code would please please please put a warning on the page that published diaries can’t be edited.

        Thanks.

        • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

          On it.

          Though you and I both know how often people ignore that warning ALREADY posted, but if it’s there then there are no excuses.

          • mbecker908

            pretty well. It seems to me that the main offenders are now advertising bots.

            Perhaps this one should be viewed as a “Reminder” as opposed to a “warming”. :-)

  • http://hammerofreality.blogspot.com NickLevi86

    Figured the world had bid him fare well into senility when he suggested we assassinate Chavez.

    He’s done good work(Regent University is a solid place), but got quite drunk of the influence he used to have. One conservative leader who needs to retire with what little dignity he has left.

    • mbecker908

      was an excellent idea.

      • http://hammerofreality.blogspot.com NickLevi86

        Yes, it still is. Making a public statement about it like he did, not so much.

      • Darin_H

        A good public hanging is.

    • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/blog/loren_heal Socrates

      It’s that I wanted to go on offense.

    • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

      Don’t you?

    • aesthete
  • Aaron Gardner

    He was on his network, on his show, expressing his Christian beliefs. It’s not like he was on a news or political analysis show. He was on a televangelism show. His purpose is not politics.

    Also he did call for charitable giving for the victims of the earthquake.

    • http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/blog/loren_heal Socrates

      “You brought this on yourselves, now here is some gruel” is a completely different vibe than “Are you hungry? Here, this is all we have.”

      • Aaron Gardner

        If you believe that Haiti was cursed because they made a pact with Satan, and your mission is to bring others to Jesus, then I don’t see a problem with bringing up the “reasons” for their collective suffering over the decades.

        Like I alluded to above, politically this type of stuff is nuclear, but spiritually it is rather boiler plate.

      • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

        I know there are a lot of Christians who believe that their faith’s Great Commission matters much more than vibes and feelings.

        This really isn’t a political matter except tangentially in that the guy once was an also-ran in a primary one time.

        • mschmitt

          … as a Christian, how this man can presume to judge the sins of an entire nation, find its character wanting, and assign the force of God’s divine wrath upon it as a punishment for the crimes which he has perceived in them.

          In my view, his role as an evangelist certainly gives him some license to preach and spread Gospel to the people of the world as he sees fit; however I fail to see how it gives him any authorities whatsoever to project (implicitly or otherwise) mystical powers of any sort in the name of the Lord.

          What he does on that television show strikes me as vanity of the worst sort.

          • Aaron Gardner

            Goose, gander and all that.

          • mschmitt

            … shoot, I didn’t even technically denounce him. I did, however, question what authority from God lets one ascribe any motive you like to a natural event as God’s Will as interpreted by you (that kind of information might be worth earthly treasures of some sort); then I said I didn’t think the Great Commission gives anyone that kind of authority; and then I stated that it ‘strikes me’ that statements of the form “Gosh darned you” are fairly similar in meaning and effect to statements of the form “Gosh darn you”.

            I didn’t claim that Robertson is wrong, is committing any sin, or even that God would strike him down for them — so don’t stir my pot, man! :P

          • Aaron Gardner

            You judged him to be guilty of vanity of the worst sort.

            Also you did a mighty fine job of twisting Robertson’s words. Maybe you should read that verse about bearing false witness.

            And if you don’t want your pot stirred, don’t jump on Robertson for espousing his religious views.

          • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

            The idea that the whole country was in on some Satanic c ult is just weird.

          • Aaron Gardner

            As far as his idea that all of Haiti is paying for a pact that previous generations made, there is Biblical backing for that line of thinking.

            What Mschmitt doesn’t get is that Robertson wasn’t talking about a vengeful God taking out his wrath on Haiti, rather he was speaking about a a nation that rejected the protection of the Lord and now is afflicted by the evil of Satan.

            Acting like Robertson was saying that God was punishing these people is about as correct as saying John McCain is really a conservative.

  • aesthete

    I have a mixed opinion concerning Pat Robertson: Regent University has moved up in the university rankings from being one of the worst in the country, to its evolution into a viable and academically rigorous institution, and I applaud Pat for his support of the university. OTOH, he has made some statements that I greatly disagree with, and that I found to be in poor taste. Personally, I don’t see this as one of those statements: while I would greatly disagree with anyone who thinks that the devastation that has occurred in Haiti resemble’s “God’s will” in any way, and while I don’t generally agree with the collective judgement folks, Pat’s statement was less a condemnation of Haiti, and more of an informational anecdote than anything else, IMO.

    At any rate, I’d rather have a thousand Pats, who make statements to the effect of “country X is screwed up because of Y”, but still give to help end the suffering, than liberals who rail on the Pats for making said statements, say something to the effect of, “guys, problem Z isn’t your fault, it’s country/group/catastrophe A’s fault”, and then do nothing practical to alleviate the problem.

    • Aaron Gardner
      • aesthete

        It was hastily written, so I’m just glad that it was legible :)

    • http://twitter/CherylAnnCA Cheryl

      considering the way they were carrying on at Twitter, like he gave some sort of fire/brimstone statement with spit and fire coming out of his mouth at the same time. I say we give him a break.

      How he speaks is similar to the way I remember ministers when I was growing up, like anything else I guess sermonizing has got to be all politicaly correct.