Off With His Head!
The whole Pat Robertson fatwa thing left me scratching my head. This guy, who has "counseled" what, five/six different presidents, is being treated like a doddering old fool. I've read several articles which adopted a bemused tone. He's old and not to be taken seriously? Riiight.Last I checked, this man functioned as the human link between God and the faithful for millions.His interpretation of the bible and the will of God is deemed the only way for huge chunks of American Christians. He certainly has more that a passing acquaintance with the Holy Bible.
Look, I took one minute, went to the On-line Parallel Bible (on the sidebar) and performed a simple search.
I can assure you I am completely clear on the results.
Deuteronomy 5:17 "You shall not murder.
Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder.
Romans 13:9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder,"
James 2:11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery, said also, thou shalt not kill"...
Matthew 19:18 He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder...
Matthew 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, you shall not murder...
Exodus 23:7 "Keep far from a false charge, and don't kill...
Pat Robertson's speeches and writing both created and nurtured the Dominionist movement in this country. The man wants a theocracy. He's been stirring a dangerous pot for 25 years. I'm considerably past bemused.
Is Pat Robertson a whack job? Probably. (Heh. Whack job. Whack. Chavez. I slay myself. I'll be here all week.)
Does the fact (that he's nuts) diminish the amount of influence he wields over gullible people?
Not one whit.
Too bad the fourth estate is still bought and paid for. The price for Robertson's folly unchecked will be steep. He's not only a dangerous political animal, but he is so far gone from the teachings of Jesus Christ, and so hell bent to change the political and theological landscape of America, that I truly fear for the health and freedom of religion in this country. If he succeeds, we'll be operating under a theocratic hierarchy that will effectively end our constitution based government and the tolerance for all religions it provides. If he's crushed and the Dominion sent packing, I fear the repercussions against religion will effectively quash the good with the bad.
Jesus had some pretty good ideas about lots of stuff. The stuff Robertson spews has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus.
posted by Jet @ 2:39 PM
10 Comments:
I deleted the first comment because it was spam. I welcome all points of view, but I will delete spam or anything pointlessly vulgar. So much for the housekeeping!
Hey Jet,
You can click on the function to use code words to approve posts and that should take care of spam and it's free in blogger. I just did it earlier this week and its easy to change that setting.
On your post - I am wondering, why is it that God or Jesus Christ doesn't take care of folks like this or are they put on this planet to test us and our faith?
Wind, each person arrives at this answer at their own pace. For me, it is a requirement of the exercise of free will. God has a hands off attitude on our actions strictly due to free will. Micro management of individuals who chose to hurt others through their choices and actions is not part of what God wants. Free will provides the opportunity to seek and learn of God and hopefully to decide to live a life that is full of choices that further the betterment of humanity over choices that simply better the lot of yourself.
Other people can hurt us through their choices. We can improve the lives of others through ours. The test, of the purity of conviction and belief in doing right regardless of gain, gives us the best of self in this life. That may not be enough for some, but it works for me.
That's a good point you make. They claim "ahh, nobody listens to that old codger any more" and yet he has millions of devoted followers. He's definitely a lunatic and I hope more people will start seeing this.
Jet, where ya been?! We missed you.
I agree that the codger label is highly dangerous because PR (and I don't mean public relations) will be let off the hook. In effect, he'll be able to communicate with his huge audience without wider repercussions. Very bad.
I wrote about this non-Christianity Christianity not long ago too. Quite a puzzlement, because it seems to completely disregard the teachings of JC.
Nice to have you back Jet-
This is the peril of organized religion, something I wrote about not long ago. When so-called "men of God" promote one of the very prohibitions of their faith as a great idea this should ring a bell for all of those who listen to him. Unfortunately, organized religion does not promote free thought all that well, nor does it invite questioning of the leadership.
Hence the infallibility of the Pope and his protestant mirrors, like Pat.
The lunatic fringe has always distorted the message of religion, primarily for power and control. Pat is obviously no different, and neither are those who would follow his every word as gospel.
Tom, I just hope he not only trots out a few more faux paus to thoroughly discredit himself, but that the light sheds on more of the dominion crap he's written. He publishes for his movement, but very little is leaked. What's made the light of day is raving starkers. None of this would sway the faithful, but it might jar the complacent.
Thanks, Bro. I've missed my blog buds too. I started a new job two weeks ago, finally returning to full time work after mommy tracking for six years while my kids were little. It's been an adjustment for everybody, but we're all getting the hang of the new routine.
I read that post of yours; you're not the only one uncomfortable with the change in the face of American Christianity. I actually edited my post prior to publishing to remove a self reference calling myself an American Christian. I'm uncomfortable with that moniker these days.
Ken, glad to be back! ;-D
Organized Religion has always left me feeling the message is massaged. God is about choice. Choosing to believe, choosing self sacrifice, choosing humility, acceptance, love, and tolerance of all people. Not easy, and it's not simple.
Organized religion is the human contrivance. Often it is about power and control. I find very little about man's inventiveness regarding religion to fulfill the base need to seek God.
He sees us as individuals. That's how I intend to search.
So very good to read you again.
You make an excellent point regarding the corporate media response to Robert's inflammatory broadcast (s).
"Chuckle, chuckle, hum hmmm...We won't bother with him."
Meanwhile he continues with his dangerous messages of violence to his hard core faithful.
As the political tables begin to turn in America, as more and more people begin to awaken to the reality that is being created, the committed rightists and neo-con faithful, will become more nervous and more dangerous.
I believe that Robertson and his ilk have another role to play in this political coup that has taken place in Washington.
As the pro-peace and anti-Bush, anti-corporate government, tide rises, I fully expect to see The right wing Televangelists intentionally provoking violent opposition in much the same way that the SA, Hitler's Brown Shits were used in Germany.
A non-government militia that was in effect, in reality, Hitler's para-military force that he took no responsibility for, as Chancellor.
The government was not responsible when the SA crushed, with violence, every one, every group, every newspaper, that opposed the National Socialist agenda.
Robertson's threats against a democratically elected head of state must be seen in the same light as a fatwa pronounced by an extremist Muslim Iman.
So much for the war on extremism, eh?
I agree, Tracey. More and more people seem to be turning from churches, but not from spirituality. It's an interesting trend.
Thomas, those degrees of spearation from accountability are pretty scary. Well, if you're on the receiving end, at least.
It's outrageous that we're just supposed to say, Ho hum there goes Pat Robertson again! He's a "spiritual leader" for many thousands of mind-controlled evangelicals, and I believe they are heeding his call, slowly and surely.
I agree about Spirituality vs. Religion. The two can be found together but are not necessarily synonymous. I attend church for the community involvement, but I don't adher to the aspects of the religion that I don't agree with. I have free will.
I believe in the end we are all individually responsible for our lives, and not that we'll only receive grace if we're part of a certain entity.
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