Posted on 01/11/2006 10:59:55 AM PST by Esther Ruth
Courage under fire Pat Robertson isn’t playing some pernicious political game
By Stan Goodenough
January 11th, 2006
“Instructive” is a good word for describing the reaction to Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) President Pat Robertson’s remarks about the stroke that incapacitated Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week.
Certainly it took immense courage of conviction for an influential man like the former candidate for the American presidency to say something he knew would enrage many people and put ammunition into the hands of his avowed enemies, and to nonetheless say it because he believes it is true, and because his conscience directs him to do so.
He had something of a trial run a few months ago when he came out in support of the idea that the USA assassinate Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.
But when Robertson expressed his views about Sharon just that this past week, hell itself seemed to unleash its fury against him.
Speaking on his flagship program, “The 700 Club,” Robertson said that God had removed Sharon from power because of the prime minister’s expressed determination to redraw Israel’s borders and give away great chunks of the nation’s historic homeland.
Sharon had been dividing God’s land, Robertson said. “And I would say woe unto any Prime Minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says ‘this land belongs to me. You’d better leave it alone.’”
Interestingly, godless people often judge the motives of God-fearing men and women in a negative light; presuming that they revel in the suffering or discomfort of those who do not believe.
Thus, while nothing in Robertson’s demeanor, expression or tone of voice suggested that he felt anything but compassion and concern for Sharon, his words triggered a tsunami of outrage that has yet to subside.
A columnist in The Jerusalem Post (January 11, 2006) declared that Robertson had been “gloating over Sharon’s collapse.”
The same edition of the Post labeled Robertson a “PM Basher” and reported that the Israeli Tourism Ministry had, in reaction to the comments, cancelled a multi-million dollar joint tourism project for which CBN was to be one of the chief fundraisers.
CBS News described Robertson’s remarks as “stinging.”
The self-styled People for the American Way – a group that denies the Christian origins of the United States and champions that country’s surrender to secularism – lashed out at Robertson’s “insensitivity and arrogance.”
Ynetnews’ “Christian” Arab commentator Ray Hanania called Robertson an “American racist,” a “demagogue” who was “worse than Islamic extremists.”
Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention told the Los Angeles Times he was “appalled that Pat Robertson would make such statements. …The arrogance of the statement shocks me almost as much as the insensitivity of it.”
The executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Reverend Barry Lynn, accused Robertson of “making callous political points while a man is struggling for his life.”
The Anti Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman said Robertson’s remarks were “un-Christian and a perversion of religion.”
Even the White House was embarrassed, calling Robertson’s statements: “wholly inappropriate and offensive” and saying they “really don't have a place in this or any other debate.”
We strongly differ with the Bush administration on that one. How the Almighty feels about the international effort to steal Israel’s land has a very definite place in the debate. It’s a major topic in His Word.
A friend of mine says that, to know what is important to God, just look at where the devil is directing his attacks; to know what Satan fears and loathes, identify the focal point of his hatred and rage.
All this anger is being aimed at Robertson for one primary reason: He told the truth (and yes, he told it in love), and the truth hurt.
Robertson’s words were not an attack on Sharon. He was not kicking an already injured man. He was not wishing for the prime minister’s death or saying the stroke “served him right.”
The Christian broadcaster was alerting any future Israeli leader, and any American leader too, to the divinely-ordained consequences of dividing up the land of Israel.
And he was expressing the conviction held by many Christians, as well as by many Jews in Israel.
But what about the timing of Robertson’s remarks?
Among those who agree that God did intervene to stop Sharon from implementing his policies, some have opined that Robertson should not have spoken out so soon after the stroke. For a variety of reasons they would have preferred it if he had perhaps waited for a little while before saying anything.
One wonders how successful Moses would have been in winning freedom for his people if he had waited for injured bodies and raw emotions to heal before appealing yet again to Pharaoh to let his people go.
Had Moses waited respectfully for the mourning and burial of Egypt’s first born to be over before demanding the Israelites’ release, they would never have been set free. As it was, within hours of burying his own son, Pharaoh was in hot, vengeful pursuit of the just-emancipated slaves.
Sometimes it is important and most effective to strike while the iron is still hot.
Putting a hand to the division of the Land of Israel is not some irrelevant political action that could be forgotten or re-addressed in a few weeks or months.
It is a potentially deadly business that demands a quick and forthright response.
Why deadly? Because those committed to creating “two states for two people” out of the Jewish people’s patrimony are actively (and in some cases it can be strongly argued, purposefully) pushing the nation of Israel down the road to destruction.
Whether being driven by US President George W. Bush or Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, ancient and recent history solidly attest to the fact that this vision endangers the very existence of Israel’s Jews, who themselves comprise the remnant of those who, within living memory, were mass-murdered on the European continent.
God will not sit still while this continues. He is furious with the nations, and has resolved to deal with those who so threaten His own.
Every good citizen of God’s Kingdom should proclaim this truth from the rooftops, echoing Robertson when he said:
“Woe to any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America.”
Thanks to the wide reach of CBN, and the incensed response to what Robertson said, this warning has now been proclaimed around the globe.
Whoever wants to hear it will hear it. None who reject it will be able to say: “We were not warned; we did not know.”
May God honor Pat Robertson, who has kept his vow never to turn his back on Israel or to abandon her.
Identifying the diplomatic process that means to establish an enemy Arab state on Israel’s land, he spoke out of love for the Jewish people and out of concern for their wellbeing.
To have done anything less would have been a betrayal of his beliefs. Any true friend of Israel’s should see this, applaud it, and emulate it.
http://watch.org/index.html?mcat=4
Under "Expossing Error" - there is much information here.
You are quite correct. I just can't keep my Kims straight, it appears. :)
You're a moving target.
so Pat used some of God's words and some of his own. That's different from your original statement.
You're better then Robertson.
You know which passages of the Bible God meant for you to take seriously (and interpret your way) and when he was just joking (and meant for you to ignore).
I am not arguing that good is not rewarded and evil punished on the scale of eternity. I am arguing that Robertson's claim that a specific health problem of Mr. Sharon was God's punishment for one of his policies is remarkably naive.
If you believe that we are all punished or rewarded by God in this life, you are forced to confront the indisputable fact that evil men often seem to thrive. Most religious leaders got around this awkward fact thousands of years ago by moving the reward/punishment to the next life, where nobody could actually check up on whether these expectations were fulfilled.
Pure spin.
Nothing can change the fact that Robertson made a stupid comment. Even those who agree with him should be smart enough to see how poorly timed it was, and that it was in poor taste (to say the least).
The sad part is that Pat Robertson has managed to make ALL Christians look bad, not just himself.
ALL scripture is to be taken seriously...there's no doubt about that.
But the New Testament makes it clear that God's chosen expanded beyond Israel with Christ's coming.
An earlier poster on this forum said it was heresy to suggest that those redeemed by Christ were now the chosen.
That's what kind twisted doctrines you get when you interpret the prophets only in the light of current events.
There, fixed it.
What if it's not reward or punishment.
What if it a sign that says enough of what you are doing.
So one get a minor stroke and miraculously walks away from it unharmed.
But doesn't get the message. And continues in the same path.
So he needs a stronger message.
I would, especially if the President of Iran was in his 70s, overweight and out of shape. Robertson is a moron to think he can make such a statement and not get called on it.
Why don't you consider the New Testament to be full of flowery poetic language not all to be taken seriously?
At the end you can believe what you like, just appreciate that it carries no consistency.
Of course. Many times.
Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears
Yes, much is metaphor including this passage. These are not literal plowshares or pruning hooks. These are Metaphors.
Again, all scripture is to be taken seriously.
And the New Testament also contains poetic language.
I think Robertson went too far, to judging Sharon. All he needed to say was that God was preventing his nation from being sold out, whether maliciously or mistakenly. A more pragmatic call on the situation would have been sufficient, and wouldn't have roiled the waters so.
But moderation often seems not to be an especially strong point of American evangelicals. May God bless them.
Paul
You reveal yourself to be a biblical illiterate.
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