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Televangelist’s
call for nuking ridiculous
COMMENTARY
Josh Deitz
There
were a number of bizarre news stories buried beneath Iraq and Arnold
last week. We saw President Bush randomly deciding to step up pressure
on Cuba and the Vatican telling Catholics that condoms don’t
prevent AIDS.
But one man stood heads and tails above this ridiculous field.
For the second time in the last four months, televangelist Pat Robertson
called for a nuclear attack on the State Department. In two interviews
with author Joel Mowbray, Robertson took Mowbray’s criticism
of the State Department as grounds for supporting nuking a branch
of the government and slaughtering thousands of Americans.
Robertson’s comment during the latest interview was, “If
I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom, I think that’s
the answer.” (Foggy Bottom is a neighborhood in Washington,
D.C., where the State Department is based.)
This is the same Pat Robertson who blamed liberals, gays and feminists
for Sept. 11. Never mind the terrorists; let’s crack down on
lesbians. After all, Robertson’s god is apparently willing
to slaughter thousands of innocents to punish America for Bill Clinton.
Whether or not you agree with Robertson, it is impossible to call
his remarks “Christian.” Pat Robertson is to Christians
what Osama bin Laden is to Muslims, an extremist who has used religion
to preach hatred.
The best example of Robertson’s hypocrisy came when Liberian
dictator Charles Taylor was recently forced out after wreaking havoc
in the country for 14 years. Taylor was a fairly typical African
dictator, employing child soldiers, leading massacres of opponents,
smuggling diamonds and stealing money from the national treasury,
among other things.
What is unusual about Charles Taylor is that Pat Robertson was one
of his strongest supporters. Robertson screamed bloody murder when
Taylor was being forced from office. Not surprising since Robertson
has maintained business interests in Liberia and had financial reasons
for wanting Taylor in power.
Did I miss the Gospel of Trump? Did Jesus retract his earlier statements
and put greed above human life? It’s bad enough that Robertson
is a multimillionaire who obviously does far less than he could
to take care of the needy. Why did he feel compelled to use his
money to actively hurt people?
After supporting a foreign dictator indicted for war crimes, and
after calling for a nuclear attack on the government, offenses that
have landed many people in jail, Robertson has seen no consequences.
Is there much of a difference between Robertson and the prisoners
stuck at Guantanamo Bay?
Even if Robertson does not intend to actually nuke the State Department,
his comments were wildly inappropriate. Anyone who has supported
Robertson should give serious thought as to whether a man who jokes
about blowing up the government deserves anything but disdain.
Josh
Deitz is a senior political science major from Atlanta, Georgia.
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