FLASH!: PAT SAYS IT'S OK FOR THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO FORCE WOMEN TO HAVE AN ABORTION!!

April 16, 2001 - Robertson Comments on China Abortions

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rev. Pat Robertson, a leader of the national anti-abortion movement, said leaders in China who are forcing women to have abortions are ``doing what they have to do.''

In an interview Monday night on CNN's ``Wolf Blitzer Reports,'' Robertson said the United States should not interfere with China's policy.

``Well, you know, I don't agree with it, but at the same time, they've got 1.2 billion people and they don't know what to do,'' said Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition.

``If every family over there was allowed to have three or four children, the population would be completely unsustainable.''

``So I think that right now they're doing what they have to do. I don't agree with the forced abortion, but I don't think the United States needs to interfere with what they're doing internally in this regard.''

HMMMMMM.  In other words, as long as Pat has a financial interest in doing business with a country, it's ok to force women to kill unborn children, but if his business empire has no interests in a country, then if they have a pro-abortion stance, they are "Godless".  We think that Pat Robertson does not really believe in anything except his own self interest.  Such a shame to have such a hypocrit as head of any religious organization.  He is disgusting!!!

One of Pat Robertson's Biggest Lies

By James Still (2/22/00)

On February 22, 2000, the day of the Michigan state Republican primaries, Christian Coalition Founder Pat Robertson taped a telephone message for a "shadow" campaign in support of Presidential candidate George W. Bush.   The message, which went out on phone banks to thousands of Christian Coalition supporters in Michigan, warned that Bush's rival John McCain was against the First Amendment, that he was pro-labor, and that a McCain victory would destroy the Republican Party. Robertson also called McCain's campaign chairman, former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman ( who is an observant Jew), "a vicious bigot" because Rudman wrote in his 1996 autobiography that the religious right is intolerant. Robertson hoped that his character assassination of Senator McCain would depress voter turnout and swing the closely-contested primary toward Bush, his hand-picked man. But something went wrong. Voter turnout was enormous and McCain carried both Michigan and his home state of Arizona.

Robertson had just enough rope to hang himself. On CNN's Larry King Live, which aired on February 22, Robertson appeared uncomfortable as he defended his telephone message. He tried to "aw-shucks" away from some of the vicious allegations that he had made against McCain while continually going back to an obscure point about Rudman's characterization of Christians as zealots. Robertson said he was "deeply offended" by Rudman's remarks and demanded that McCain apologize publicly for them. When CNN's Jeff Greenfield asked if George W. Bush should not also apologize for speaking at Bob Jones University in South Carolina, a segregationist stronghold that bans interracial dating and whose leaders have called Catholicism a cult, Robertson replied "not really", and said only that Bush is free to speak wherever he wants.

A double standard? Call it Pat Robertson's big lie under the guise of Christian morality. His hysterical telephone message would be comical if it weren't for the deep negative cynicism that it sows. Of course, don't believe for a minute that on the eve of an important presidential primary Robertson was truly offended by something someone wrote way back in 1996. Robertson's mud slinging was an attempt to rescue Bush, his hand-picked man, from his
current campaign malaise. Washington Post's Bob Woodward said it best when he called Robertson's message a "smear tactic" in which the "facts just weren't there." Bill Bennett, religious-right favorite son in the Reagan Administration, admitted that Robertson's phone call was "a problem" and went on to say that Robertson had taken the passage from Rudman's book out of context. In his book, Rudman did indeed write that some members (but
certainly not all) of the religious right were zealots. But he said this in the context of those vocal critics who refused to support Colin Powell because of his pro-choice stance on the abortion issue. Bennett pointed out as much on CNN when he said that Rudman's book was not meant to be a sweeping generalization against all Christians as Robertson pretended. Former Texas Governor Ann Richards was more forthright in her analysis of Robertson's
telephone message. "These people [the Christian Coalition] are zealots," she said. " To them it's either their religion or no religion, their views or no one's views."

Are we seeing the demise of Pat Robertson's influence in America? The Christian Coalition brags incessantly about the millions of voter guides printed every election as well as its huge database of supporters. Robertson's opinion is supposed to carry some weight among those hundreds of thousands in the religious right. Yet, his telephone message clearly backfired and Robertson learned that his race-baiting and red scare tactics didn't work in Michigan
like they did in South Carolina. Kudos goes out to the rank and file Michigan voter who refused to cater to Robertson's sleaze and instead voted on real issues that mattered to them most.

Background & Broadcasting

Is Pat Robertson really as dangerous as some people claim? He is one of the most influential and powerful religious figures in America today. Between his media empire and his control of the Christian Coalition, he can reach more people directly than most elected politicians. His reach and influence are not constrained by US national borders, either. His business dealings involve many countries, and his media broadcasts extend across the world. When one also then takes into account his religious extremism and his mania for conspiracy theories, the possibility that he is dangerous looms large.

In this article, we will examine his religious background and his earliest forays into religious broadcasting.  We will also take a look at the many lies and extremist positions he has adopted over the years.

Anyone who wishes to get a more complete picture of what Pat Robertson does and who he is should find the book The Most Dangerous Man in America? Pat Robertson and the Rise of the Christian Coalition by Robert Boston. Boston is the assistant director of communication for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and an assistant editor of Church and State magazine. He and his organization are very active in monitoring the Religious Right, providing people with a great deal of information not otherwise available. He himself has written extensively about the true motivations underlying their rhetoric. I will be using information from his book extensively here, but I encourage everyone to go directly to the source.

Writing critically about someone as hugely popular as Robertson is no easy task. There are great numbers of people who look up to him and who regard anything tinged with critique as a hateful attack.  We regularly get mail from readers who are incensed that we would have the gall to raise critiques of Christianity in any form.  Although Robertson himself is no longer an ordained minister, people still regard him as a "Man of God."  He and his organization give the appearance of operating under some sort of divine favor, and so any criticism of them can be construed as a criticism of God.  Personally, we won't hesitate to do either when we find that the criticism is deserved.  We've been accused of helping Satan before, and we wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be no exception.

Just Who Is Pat Robertson Anyway?

Pat Robertson was Chairman of the Board of the cable network, "The Family Channel" (TFC), which was founded by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Robertson is the son of a United States senator. He graduated from the Yale University Law School and the New York Theological Seminary, and briefly attended the University of London. He is also Chairman of United States Media Corporation, Chairman of Northstar Entertainment Group, President of the American Center For Law and Justice, President of Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and Chancellor of Regent University (formerly CBN University).

CBN itself ("The 700 Club"--with a viewing audience of 30 million people daily) was established and funded substantially with monies contributed by CBN donors. (Robertson, who piously touts the importance of moral integrity, has yet to answer for the millions that found their way into his pockets in early May of 1992, when he and his son sold public shares in TFC.) Robertson's son, Timothy, is Chief Executive Officer of TFC. In 1992, Pat Robertson received total cash compensation from TFC of more than $371,000, while Timothy Robertson received more than $446,000; both also received substantial stock options. Both have employment agreements extending through 1/5/95, each with guaranteed base salaries of $250,000 per year, plus bonus potentials of another $100,000 per year.

Until the mid-1980s, Robertson was known to his television viewers as a Southern Baptist preacher and Pentecostal who claimed to speak in tongues and publicly divert hurricanes through the power of prayer. When he ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, however, he abruptly resigned his ordination, insisted that he was merely a media executive, and grew testy when anyone referred to him as a televangelist. During his campaign, he was forced to concede that he had exaggerated his educational background, that he had failed the bar exam, and that he had fudged the date of his marriage to conceal the fact that his first child had been conceived out of wedlock. (Reported in the 5/25/92 issue of Christian News .)

What does Pat Robertson believe concerning the inerrancy and inspiring of God's Word? On 6/1/78, Robertson stated on a 700 Club program: "Anything coming through man is contaminated to some extent. Therefore, since the Bible came through man, there must be some errors in it . So, we must never equate the Bible with the perfect Jesus." (Emphasis added.)  (cf. 2 Pe 1:20-21). As late as 1985 he made statements such as: "The Bible is not a science textbook," and "The only thing perfect in the universe is God Himself."

In October 1989 Robertson started the Christian Coalition (CC) to stand against the National Endowment for the Arts and to promote Christian values in the political arena (i.e., "... to give Christians a voice in their government again ... [seeking] to reverse the moral decay that threatens our nation by training Christians for effective political action and getting more Christians involved in influencing public policy"). Robertson has also stated that the Coalition's purpose is to "restore Godly principles and Godly people to all centers of influence, from the school house to the White House." The plan was to contact all churches and train Christians (including "pro-life Catholics") to be effective in the political arena and assist in voter registration. (Quoted from a 9/92 fund raising letter from CC.)

The Christian Coalition recently boasted of more than 400,000 members and supporters, with 872 fully-staffed chapters in all 50 states, a $10 million operating budget, and its own newspaper, The Christian American . It even has several members on the Republican National Committee. (More than 300 delegates at the Republican National Convention in Houston in 1992 were Coalition members.) Robertson set a goal of having a working majority of the Republican Party in the hands of "pro-family" Christians by 1996 or sooner he has almost certainly met that goal.

That the Christian Coalition is a big-time political action organization cannot be questioned. It organized seminars throughout the country to train more than 5,000 evangelicals how to succeed in local politics, particularly by capturing school board seats and influencing local education policies. It has hired Marshall H. Wittman, a former Bush administration official, to be its full-time lobbyist in Washington. As many as 70 "Christian Action Training Schools" are scheduled to be held across the country in 1993, up from 20 in 19922-day workshops at $35 per person to teach activists how to shape public policy, run grass-roots organizations, elect candidates who say they represent "Christian values," and run for offices ranging from school board to Congress. (Reported in the 2/1/93 issue of Christian News & Fall 1993 Edition of the Christian Coalition Congressional Scorecard.)

[The Christian Coalition is not as new as it would appear. It came into being as a spin-off from Robertson's 1981 organization, The Freedom Council.  Robertson was not successful with The Freedom Council.  In 10/86, in the midst of an IRS audit, the organization was dissolved.  It appeared that The Freedom Council had abused its tax-exempt status.]

In 1990, Robertson started the American Center For Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law group providing free legal counsel for Christians in battle with "anti-God, anti-family groups." (ACLJ had a $3 million 1992 budget with 11 full-time attorneys in four cities.) Executive director of the ACLJ is former Ohio prosecutor Keith Fournier, currently a charismatic Catholic activist, Dean of Evangelism and legal counsel at the Roman Catholic (Franciscan) University of Steubenville in Ohio, and author of Evangelical Catholics (a book which is a plea for Protestants to join Catholics in a joint evangelization effort; i.e., an "evangelistic endeavor" that will "evangelize" the world by the year 2000). Fournier, speaking of Robertson and others in Evangelical Catholics : "I found not only a tremendous openness to my presence but also a growing respect for my church and a thawing in what had been hard ice in the past."

The ACLJ poses a danger which outweighs whatever beneficial purposes it might have--a danger which should labeled: LEGAL ECUMENISM. The potential danger in the ACLJ is the ecumenical overtones and ecumenical bait being dangled before the legally needy believer. Professing fundamentalists must be extremely careful in the future, that in their desire to retain/regain constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, they are not conned into an ecumenical mesh from which they will be unable to extract themselves. Those who in the future accept the assistance of the ACLJ may discover that they could wind up regaining/maintaining the right to publicly exercise a faith which they no longer possess, that faith having been lost in an ecumenical planning for legal justice. (From the 11/92 Fundamentalist Digest .)

These political arms (CC and ACLJ) of Robertson's ministry are unbiblical because they facilitate the bringing together of many different denominations under the guise of encouraging conservative political action on the part of those who hold so-called traditional Christian values. This is the same false philosophy held by Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority (now defunct)that America can be helped politically and religiously by disobeying the plain commands of God's Word which forbid fellowship with those who preach a false gospel, no matter how good their political intentions may be. Dr. Bob Jones Sr. once made a statement that may be applicable here: "It's never right to do wrong, in order to get a chance to do right." Fighting for religious liberty does not justify forging ecumenical ties!

Robertson supports and encourages participation in acts of civil disobedience, such as Randall Terry's Operation Rescue. (Robertson wrote one of the forwords to Terry's book Operation Rescue .) Although there are numerous cases of civil disobedience in the Scriptures, it was never engaged for the purpose of forcing an ungodly society to obey biblical principles.) Since Operation Rescue's stated purpose is to create social upheaval, and thereby pressure governments into changing the abortion laws, Robertson's philosophy seems to be the same as OR's--"the end justifies the means."

That Robertson is still social and political action oriented was recently demonstrated by his efforts to acquire the bankrupt United Press International (UPI) organization. Robertson took both his own staff and that of UPI by surprise when in early May of 1992 he successfully made a $6 million bid to take over the beleaguered news agency. The bid was dropped on 6/10/92, however, with Robertson making a substitute offer of $500 thousand merely for UPI's name and two small parts (one being the rights to 60 pictures a month from UPI's Battmann Archive, which controls UPI's photo library). The offer was rejected. (At the time of Robertson's original bid, the bankruptcy judge had given him 30 days to lower his price or back out of the deal. Thus, Robertson recouped his $900 thousand deposit, but not the $300 thousand spent on UPI's operating expenses over the 30-day period.)

The surprise at Robertson's decision to acquire UPI was not only because of the huge debts piled up by the news agency (when it filed for bankruptcy protection in 8/91, it listed only $22 million in assets, but $65 million in liabilities), but also his insistence that he had no plans to convert UPI into a "mouthpiece for evangelical conservatism." It would remain, he said, "a secular news operation." But to supporters watching the 700 Club, Robertson sang another tune: "Remember some years ago, way back in the '70s, we began praying for all aspects of life: education, the media, arts and entertainment, etc? All of these facets are part of what God wants to touch ... The purchase of UPI would be a 'little opportunity' for God to touch society with truth and love." (Reported in the 5/25/92 issue of Christian News .)

It was announced in the 8/17/92 issue of Christianity Today that Robertson had created Standard News, a "mainstream" radio news service. The service subsequently absorbed CBN radio news and the estimated 300 religious stations it works with, and also branched out into the secular market to offer reporting on financial markets, sports, entertainment, and religion. Robertson also purchased Great Britain's TVS Entertainment for $68.5 million. TVS owns programs such as "Lou Grant," The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Bob Newhart Show, plus many others.

Robertson endorsed Catholic-sympathizer Chuck Colson's book, The Body: Being Light in Darkness (which is also endorsed by Jerry Falwell, Carl Henry, and Cardinal O'Connor). Colson, ever ecumenical, praised the Catholic chain of command, and includes the Catholic Church as a part of the body of Christ. He also said, "the body of Christ, in all its diversity, is created with Baptist feet, charismatic hands, and Catholic ears--all with their eyes on Jesus." In blindly praising the Roman Catholic church Colson says it, "to its great credit, does call heretics to account." Dave Hunt (4/93 Berean Call ) responds: "Indeed she does, having burned more than a million at the stake!"

Mother Teresa was featured, together with other famous professing Christians, in an award-winning television special entitled "Don't ask me, ask God." Hosted in 1984 by Pat Robertson, and broadcast on 150 television outlets as well as CBN, the first airing had more than 15 million viewers and ranked as one of the top five television specials of the season. (Reported in Is Mother Teresa a True Christian? , by David W. Cloud, pp. 5-6.)

Robertson has exhibited many charismatic tendencies over the years. On his 700 Club television programs, he has on more than one occasion peered into the camera, and as if he could see into peoples living rooms, describing people who are being healed at that very moment. On a program during the summer of 1976, Robertson was interviewing charismaniac Marvin Ford, who told about his experience of dying, going to heaven, and then returning! Ford claimed the necktie he was wearing that day retained the aroma of heaven. He kept it so that whenever he wanted to refresh his memory of that experience, he simply sniffed the tie. (Reported in Charismatic Chaos , pp. 27-28.)

Robertson, like most charismatics, claims to receive additional revelation from God, and on a regular and consistent basis. In fact, he even claims that God speaks to him in an audible voice. He also apparently considers himself a prophet. But on several occasions he has made prophecies which did not come to pass. For example, he predicted the tribulation would take place in 1982, then again in 1984 (cf. Deut. 18:22). Robertson says God gave him a mission in July, 1977, not to be a religious leader, but to be an educator who would influence the very center of our culture--"from God's perspective." He also claims that God chose him "to usher in the coming of My Son."

Robertson also has bought into the "name it and claim it"/"Word-Faith" movement, which sees faith as an immutable, impersonal "law" that, like gravity or the laws of thermodynamics, rules the universe--a principle that works regardless of who is exercising it, or for what purpose it is exercised. When asked if the laws of the Kingdom work, even for non-Christians, Robertson wrote: "Yes. These are not just Christian and Jewish ... The laws of God work for anybody who will follow them . The principles of the Kingdom apply to all of creation." (Emphasis added.) Applied to the "law" of faith, that reasoning means all who claim a blessing without doubting can have whatever they claim--whether they are Christians or not! (Pat Robertson, Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions [Nashville: Nelson, 1984], p. 271.)

Going one step further than your average Word-Faith charismatic, Robertson also says that, "Spirit controls matter ... The mind is the ultimate conduit of the spirit. In other words, when you confess blessing, favor, victory, and success, those things will come to you ." Further, those who remain ill or poverty-stricken demonstrate they have "failed to grasp the points we have been making" or are "not living according to the major principles," which Robertson refers to as "laws of prosperity." Robertson teaches that just as surely as scientific laws, these spiritual laws govern good or ill-fortune. God's name is "like a blank check ... Use the water in the reservoir. Remember that faith is the title deed to that pool of power. It is all ours if we know the rules of miracles. "

Robertson not only embraces this "mind over matter" philosophy of Transcendentalism, but also appears to deny the reality of matter altogether: "Matter is merely a form of energy. The great paradox is that what we perceive as real and tangible is actually an illusion . The reality is energy." All this is in keeping with the emerging world view of what has been called "the new paganism." (Reported in Made in America , pp. 123-126.) (Emphasis added.) [Robertson seems to have a strange affinity to Eastern mystical religions. In his book, Beyond Reason (p. 108), Robertson makes this metaphysical statement: "The great paradox is that what we perceive as real and tangible is actually an illusion." This is the Eastern world-view, specifically Hinduism. Hindus believe in non-reality. They call it "maya." To them everything is an illusion.]

In his book, The Secret Kingdom (which is merely warmed-over post millennialism), Robertson claims God gave him a revelation of eight Universal Laws, and that God is bound by these laws, and has no choice but to obey them. Robertson calls this the "Law of Reciprocity." (This is very similar to the claims of the Rosicrucian cult, which claims that by acting upon those immutable laws, one can have what he believes and imagines into existence. This is a foundational principle of all occult religion, including witchcraft.) Robertson speaks of the universality of the "eight laws," and that his solutions could "save our world." He calls for an International Year of Jubilee where all of the world's debts would be cancelled as the start of a new worldwide economic system. He paints a picture of a better world--a utopia on earth brought about by man's own efforts rather than by the return of Jesus. He proclaims that the Church is going to take control of the world in order to hand it over to Jesus when He returns.

The major thrusts of Robertson's books are disturbing to many christians aware of the strategies of the New Age Movement. There are strong parallels between them and Rosicrucianism, Theosophy (including Alice Bailey's teachings, and even those of Russian occultist George Gurdjieff. Robertson's Law of Reciprocity sounds amazingly like Gurdjieff's "Law of Reciprocal Maintenance." Such parallels take on deep significance to the Christian when one considers Robertson's claim that God chose him and CBN "to usher in the coming of my Son." They take on even deeper meaning when one considers the frequency with which the 700 Club has featured New Age activists (see below).

[According to the CBN movie, "For I have Chosen You," the prophecy that God chose CBN and Pat Robertson to "usher in the coming of My Son" came through Harald Bredesen. This allegedly took place at a charismatic-style prayer meeting. In 1982, Pat Robertson solicited donations in closed circuit television telecasts to groups gathered in hotels and other meeting spots around the United States.  At that time, Pat Robertson was soliciting donations for his Middle East television station.  One of the reasons he gave these audiences for wanting money was that Jesus had appeared to him in a vision and told him that he had been appointed a modern day John the Baptist to "usher in" His coming. Further, he says that Jesus specifically told Robertson He wanted him to get the first television shots of His return to earth.  (Robertson says that when the Bible says "every eye shall behold Him," it means "on television.") Robertson's scenario fits closely those given by many major New Age writers; e.g., The Armageddon Script by Peter LeMesurier, The Book of Co-creation :The Book of Revelation by Barbara Marx Hubbard; The Externalisation of The Hierarchy by Alice Bailey; and The Reappearance of the Christ by Benjamin Creme. (From "Special Report on Pat Robertson," Constance Cumby's New Age Monitor , 1987.)]

The 700 Club has often given New Age interests a significant platform. (Robertson himself sometimes calls God "The Initiator" and teaches the doctrines of "God Immanent" and "God Transcendent,". Some of the prominent New Agers who have appeared on the 700 Club include Norman Cousins, Jeremy Rifkin, Herbert Benson, John Naisbitt, Alvin Toffler, Amory and Hunter Lovins, Curtis Sliwa, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, and Mother Earth News. [Also appearing have been promoters of questionable, even obviously New Age-oriented theologies, including Richard Foster (of Renovarè), Bruce Larson (who claims Carl Jung, an occultist and anti-Christian, is one of his heros), Robert Schuller, and Denis Waitley.] Holistic health doctors have been featured. They in turn promoted "Wellness Centers." A 7/82 program gave advice on what one could do until he or she could reach the "Wellness Center"--"adopt a technique of visualization."

One wonders how many people became involved with Amory and Hunter Lovins or with Jeremy Rifkin as a result of their favorable treatment on his program? (Rifkin has boasted to interviewers that Robertson's program has been one of his chief entry points to the Evangelicals.) How many people adopted a "visualization technique"? How many became involved with Holistic Health through "Wellness Centers" because the 700 Club promoted them? How many young people joined the Guardian Angels. (More shockingly still, the 700 Club celebrated "International Forgiveness Week" in 1985an old time Lucis Trust project! What a spectacle--the Lucis Trust, Tara Center, and the 700 Club all celebrating International Forgiveness Week, all at the same time!) [From "Special Report on Pat Robertson," Constance Cumbys New Age Monitor , 1987.]

Although claiming to be premillennial in his eschatological beliefs, and not expecting some reconstructed utopia on earth, Robertson is very much reconstructionist/dominion theology in practice. (Reconstructionism is dedicated to a social gospel/activism agenda that proposes to impose biblical standards (e.g., Old Testament law) on unbelieving peoples and institutions, so that Christ is then able to return and take-over the Kingdom.) Robertson has deep Reconstructionist political ties, as well as makes available his 700 Club cable television program to Reconstructionist leaders Rousas Rushdoony and Gary North. Moreover, reconstructionists often cite Robertson's creation of the television network and the founding of (neo-evangelical) Regent University (formerly CBN University) as a model of effective Christian organization.

In fact, in an 8/17/92 Christianity Today letter to the editor, well-known Christian Reconstructionist Gary DeMar wrote: "I was a bit confused when Pat Robertson claimed that he doesn't 'agree with Reconstructionism' but does believe that 'Jesus is the Lord of all the world ... of the government, and the church, and business, and, hopefully, one day, Lord of the press.' This is the heart and soul of Reconstructionism. Robertson says he wants 'the church to move into the world.' Reconstructionists have been saying this and getting criticized for it for over 30 years. At the very least, Pat Robertson , as I've always suspected, is an operational Reconstructionist ." (Emphasis added.)

Origins & History

Pat Robertson wasn't always the political animal he is today. When he first entered the arena of religious broadcasting in the 1960s, he hoped to change the world through spiritual rather than political means.   Even as late as 1980, when the Moral Majority was still active, he wrote in his newsletter Pat Roberton's Perspective that "Christians should be wary of placing their hopes in non-Christian men and in programs of secular political parties."

It is interesting that many former leaders of the Moral Majority, the religious right organization in the 1980s which was later replaced by Robertson's Christian Coalition, have come full circle and are advocating just that.   In numerous public statements and even a new book, they explain that they were wrong to try and push their morality upon others via political means and that the country can only be changed one person at a time.

It appears that such things run in cycles, and we may yet see Robertson joining this chorus in a few years.  Interestingly, none of the leaders of the religious right are rejecting political activism because they agree with critics that church and state should be kept separate.  They are not changing because they found their tactics to be unethical, but because their tactics simply didn't work well enough.  The American political and cultural climate is more resilient than they realized.

Religious Reorientation

Robertson wasn't always interested in religion.  As an undergraduate at Washington & Lee University, he had quite a reputation for indulging in drinking, gambling and chasing women - a reputation which continued while he studied law at Yale.  He was never able to pass the bar exam after graduating, so was forced to pursue various business interests in New York City. His involvement with religious fundamentalism was brought about by his intensely religious mother who got him into contact with charismatic Christians speaking in tongues and advocating faith healing.

His wife Adelia, a nurse, thought that he was sick and recognized schizoid tendencies in his behavior.  This was especially true when he decided to leave her to go on a month-long religious retreat even though they were desperately poor and she was seven months pregnant.  As far as he was concerned, God would provide.  Fortunately for her, she too eventually had a charismatic conversion experience.  It's a shame, though, that she didn't pursue her original diagnosis and seek treatment for him.  I think that this treatment of his wife is instructive of how Robertson thinks women should be treated.

Broadcasting

In 1960 he purchased his first TV station in Virginia and his broadcasting career, along with the Christian Broadcasting Network, was born. It's tough to fully understand what Robertson is about without also understanding that first and foremost, he is a religious broadcaster and a televangelist. Whatever else happens to his political aspirations, whatever else happens to the fortunes of his Christian Coalition, he'll still have his broadcasting network and his television shows to reach and influence people.

It's worth noting that he's updated his style a bit on his television shows, but not necessarily changed in substance. Whereas before he would claim that God helped him heal viewers across the country through the television, he will currently claim that God has been instrumental in the development of his huge fortune.   Whereas before he would claim to exorcise demons from a viewer with the help of God, now God is giving him hints that Florida will suffer hurricanes because of allowing homosexuals to engage in too much openly sinful behavior there.

Sex, Lies and Videotapes

It's taken Robertson a long time to clean up his act, but he's finally begun to learn that words matter. When you become a public figure, people notice what you say and a few will actually remember what you've said. Video and audio records can even come back to haunt you. This means first that Robertson has rued, although not retracted, his religious extremism and oddities which were once open, but have since become more hidden. Secondly, it means that his regular flip-flops on positions and even deliberate lies are more easily caught.

One of the more interesting, and certainly ironic, examples of this involves sex. Naturally.

Very shortly after he announced that he would be seeking the presidency in 1988, the Wall Street Journal reported that he had been lying for many years about the date of his wedding in order to hide the fact that his wife was very pregnant during the ceremony. And he was still lying about it to the press as late as 1987. It might not have mattered much had he been honest about it earlier, but the fact that he was deliberately courting the votes of a moralistic and self-righteous crowd prevented honesty in such matters. It's his own fault, really - snake handlers get bitten from time to time, and have no one to blame but their selves.

His reaction to all of this was quite illuminating. He told reporters in Philadelphia that:

It is outrageous to pry into a man's past and try to do damage to a man's wife and children under the guise of journalism.

The obvious question raised by this is: why didn't he come to the defense of President Clinton when he was savaged by the media for reports of sexual impropriety? Unless, of course, Pat Robertson believes in double standards.

Just Plain Lies

If that had been the only instance of Robertson misleading the press and public, perhaps it wouldn't really matter so much. Instead of being an isolated instance, however, it was actually part of a wider pattern of attempt to cover up uncomfortable or unpleasant facts. Of particular note was his war record. Campaign literature claimed that he as a combat veteran of the Korean war, but witnesses came forward to report that his father used political influence to get him out of combat duty. Robertson sued for libel, but later dropped the charges

Unfortunately, the damage had been done - publicity over this issue led reporters to take a much closer look at his claims and found an incredible number of inconsistencies. He had at various times claimed his IQ to be 159, 139 and 137, all of which would qualify him as "genius." A book of his describes him as a "Yale-educated tax lawyer," even though he didn't pass the bar. He claimed to be on the board of directors of the United Virginia Bank, but he really only served on an advisory board. He claimed to have done graduate study at the University of London, but he only took a summer introductory course for visiting Americans.

More serious was his claim that CBN's financial affairs had always been "completely open and on the record," but in truth CBN had refused to join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. This is an oversight group which provides voluntary standards of financial conduct and disclosure. CBN had not released any public financial statements, even though Robertson publicly insisted that it had. Even his salary was questionable, with him claiming much less than he really received. Excessive financial irregularities such as these are not laudable in a person seeking high office.

Open Extremism

None of that exhausts the degree to which he has mislead people, but it's time to move on to the other matter which Robertson learned the hard way: extremists statements aren't always forgotten. He has a habit of opening his mouth and saying some of the most bizarre things - not bizarre for members of the far religious right, but certainly bizarre for anyone who actually expects to run for public office. No wonder he always lost

He has often been accused of wishing to enforce his extremist theology upon the American public, and every time he has vehemently denied this. Unfortunately, many of his public positions belie such denials. In 1986, for example, he quite openly declared that "a Supreme Court ruling is not law." He has at other times been quite clear that neither the President nor the Congress have any duty to pay attention to anything the Court says or does. He has also stated that the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, does not limit the actions of the states, but only of the federal government. This sounds amazingly inept for someone who went got a law degree from Yale, but perhaps that is why he failed his bar exam. This is the sort of person who wanted to be president? This is the sort of person who wants to play a role in choosing the president?

Basic Constitutional law isn't the only issue where he's an inept extremist. In 1985, he stated on an edition of his 700 Club television program that:

Individual Christians are the only ones really - and Jewish people, those who trust the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - are the only ones that are qualified to have the reign, because hopefully, they will be governed by God and submit to him.

It's rare to have a powerful religious and political figure declare that only Christians and Jews are fit to hold public office or run government, and for that I think we can all be thankful. Of course, when confronted with this during his presidential campaign he denied ever having said it, but the video condemned him with his own words.

World of Conspiracy

Pat Robertson's oddities don't stop with misleading people and religious extremism. To put it bluntly, he's something of a conspiracy nut, peddling old and insulting conspiracy theories to people who should probably know better, but are willing to believe the tripe because it comes from someone who is respected. But however respected he may be, many of his ideas can only be described as loony. The best source to see this is his book The New World Order. I don't suggest giving him royalties by buying it new - you should be able to find a used copy, as I did.

In his book Robertson tries to convince readers that there is a secret international conspiracy of anti-Christian forces which manipulates both governments and financial markets in an effort to control all of humanity. The ultimate goal is a one-world government centered around the United Nations which will eventually be controlled by the Antichrist and leading to Armageddon.

Leading the cast of characters in betraying America to Satan are the usual suspects from centuries of conspiracy-mongering: Freemasons, the Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission, the Federal Reserve, mysterious "European bankers" (all Jewish, coincidentally?), and more. The anti-semitic undertones are not at all coincidental - many of his sources for his conspiracy ideas are virulently anti-semitic, and all Robertson did in some cases was repackage the anti-semitism in vague terminology.

It's useful to see here the worldview that Robertson has been using for so many years. Everywhere around him he sees layered conspiracies of "establishment" figures and organizations directed against Christianity, America, God and, by extension, himself personally. There is a chance that he didn't write all of the book himself, and Robert Boston discusses the possibility that much or all was ghost-written by someone else; but even if that were true, he definitely endorses all of the ideas therein and has never indicated that he would reject any of it.

Theory and Practice

Naturally, his book is more than just an unemotional observation of what is happening in the world. Robertson has no hesitation in calling people to arms in an effort to fight the conspiracies arrayed against America and Christianity. The cure he has in mind amounts to a theocracy, where religious liberties are curtailed, religious tests for public office are imposed, and various other freedoms, like freedom of the press, are restricted.

Does anyone care about this? Some people got around to explaining just what Robertson wrote and what it meant, but the American Right was deafening in its silence. No one thought that the an ideology of conspiracies and anti-semitism in a major political figure was all that important. Saddest perhaps was the speed with which conservative Jews rushed to defend him. Norman Podhoretz even admitted that Robertson was guilty of anti-semitism, but indicated that that wasn't so bad since Robertson has such a long history of supporting Israel.

This alliance between Evangelical Christians and Conservative Jews is very odd. Although they share similar moral views and social goals, their theologies couldn't be more divergent. The Jews imagine that the evangelical support for Israel implies approval and support of Judaism itself, but they either ignore or are inexcusably unaware of the fact that for conservative evangelicals like Robertson, the Jews only have meaning in the role they will play in Jesus' Second Coming. For Jesus' return it was first necessary to have a state of Israel so that, at the appointed time, there can be a mass conversion of Jews in Israel.

The Long Road

We have to face facts: Pat Robertson is a nut. Worse than that, he is a powerful nut. But the fact that he is so powerful prevents people from openly admitting that he is a nut. If he were still a minor religious broadcaster, people would quickly dismiss his lies, conspiracies and anti-semitism as the work of just one more extremist who had a dim and irrational view of the world. No one would have much interest either in refuting him or in defending him.

But right now he is amazingly powerful, and he appears to consider himself untouchable. The fact that he is so powerful means that his claims and ideas warrant close scrutiny. Unfortunately, this power brings people to defending the indefensible merely because they either fear him or need his help. Critique comes at a price - those who dare to even raise questions about Robertson's views, not to mention those who label them for them for what they are, are quickly accused of engaging in bigotry, discrimination and persecution. In America today, anyone who criticizes Christianity, Christian theology, Christian morals or Christian leaders is automatically regarded as being part of systematic persecution of Christians.  

That is the primary danger of Pat Robertson and other extremist groups - they stiffle religious freedom to worship and the freedom to believe the way we wish.

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