[RegulatorCountry]

"Anyone who believes that Christians need to hear from any so called religious leader to form their opinions has not a clue about how we think."

People who believe such things tend to hail from the northeast, where the predominant strain of Christianity is Catholicism. As a result, they presume some sort of hierarchy, kind of like the Vatican. It's an understandable mistake, given their lack of familiarity, but Pat Robertson in no way equates with a bishop or cardinal, let alone the Pope, so his words only carry weight among those evangelicals who choose to give them weight.

[deaconjim]

People who believe such things tend to hail from the northeast, where the predominant strain of Christianity is Catholicism. As a result, they presume some sort of hierarchy, kind of like the Vatican. It's an understandable mistake, given their lack of familiarity, but Pat Robertson in no way equates with a bishop or cardinal, let alone the Pope, so his words only carry weight among those evangelicals who choose to give them weight.

Frankly, I think it's because liberals assume the same thing about Christians that they do about blacks. Specifically, they assume that members of either group are incapable of thinking for themselves and need a 'leader' to tell them what to think.