Pat Robertson

Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American Christian televangelist, entrepreneur, and Christian right political activist. He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations including: the American Center for Law and Justice, Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, the Flying Hospital, International Family Entertainment, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and Regent University. He is the host of The 700 Club, a TV program which airs on many channels in the United States and on CBN affiliates worldwide. His strongly conservative views have often provoked controversy, especially his statements recommending the dissolution of the barrier between church and state, the condemnation of groups he believes to be living in sin, and often violent denunciations of perceived communists or radical Islamic followers. Robertson is broadly considered a partisan of the Republican Party and launched a failed bid to be that party's candidate in the 1988 presidential election. He is a Southern Baptist and was an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a Charismatic theology. Robertson, as a result of his seeking political office, does not speak in an official role for any church.

Controversies

Robertson is outspoken in both his faith and his politics and controversies surrounding him have often made headlines:

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Claims about the power of his prayers

Robertson claims to have used the power of prayer to steer hurricanes away from his companies' Virginia Beach, Virginia, headquarters. He took credit for steering the course in 1985 of Hurricane Gloria, which caused millions of dollars of destruction in many states along the U.S. east coast. He made a similar claim about another destructive storm, Hurricane Felix, in 1995. In 2003, Robertson called on God to prevent Hurricane Isabel from hitting Virginia Beach. In 2005, Robertson launced Operation Supreme Court Freedom, a televised nationwide 21-day prayer campaign asking people to pray for vacancies on the Supreme Court, where "black-robed tyrants have pushed a radical agenda". Robertson declared that "God heard those prayers"http://www.cbn.com/special/supremecourt/prayerpledge.asp, after the announced resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Related Topics:
Prayer - Hurricane - Virginia Beach, Virginia - 1985 - Hurricane Gloria - Hurricane Felix - 1995 - 2003 - Hurricane Isabel - Supreme Court - Sandra Day O'Connor

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Attacks on feminism, homosexuality, and liberalism

Among his more controversial statements, Robertson has described feminism as a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Robertson's views mirror those of the controversial evangelical activist Jerry Falwell, who has made frequent appearances on The 700 Club. He agreed with Falwell that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were caused by "pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU and the People for the American Way." After public outcry regarding the dialogue, which took place only days after the attacks, Robertson stated that he had not understood what Falwell was saying during the interview, which was conducted via television monitor.

Related Topics:
Feminism - Socialist - Witchcraft - Capitalism - Lesbian - Jerry Falwell - September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - Pagans - Abortion - Feminist - Gay - ACLU - People for the American Way

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On the June 8, 1998 edition of his show, Robertson denounced Orlando and Disney World for allowing a privately sponsored "Gay Days" weekend. Robertson stated that the acceptance of homosexuality could result in hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombs and "possibly a meteor." The resulting outcry prompted Robertson to return to the topic on June 24, where he quoted Revelation to "back up" his claims. This incident was perhaps the best known of Robertson's nearly continual demands that government comply with his interpretation of biblical law.

Related Topics:
June 8 - 1998 - Orlando - Disney World - Homosexuality - June 24 - Revelation

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Support for Charles Taylor

Robertson repeatedly supported former President of Liberia Charles Taylor in various episodes of his 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Liberian Civil War in June and July 2003. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying "as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia." Robertson has been criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mine. Taylor had been at the time of Robertson's support indicted by the United Nations for war crimes, and prosecutors also said he had harbored members of Al Qaeda responsible for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. According to Robertson, the Liberian gold mine Freedom Gold was intended to help pay for humanitarian and evangelical efforts in Liberia, when in fact the company was allowed to fail leaving many debts both in Liberia and in the international mining service sector. Regarding this controversy, Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy said, "I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one."

Related Topics:
President - Liberia - Charles Taylor - Liberian Civil War - June - July - 2003 - U.S. State Department - President Bush - Gold mine - United Nations - War crimes - Al Qaeda - 1998 U.S. embassy bombings - Southern Baptist Convention

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Robertson has also been accused of using his tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, Operation Blessing, as a front for his own financial gain, and then using his influence in the Republican Party to cover his tracks. After making emotional pleas in 1994 on The 700 Club for cash donations to Operation Blessing to support airlifts of refugees from Rwanda to Zaire, it was later discovered, by a reporter from The Virginian Pilot, that Operation Blessing's planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation, a venture Robertson had established in cooperation of Zaire's dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

Related Topics:
Operation Blessing - Zaire - Mobutu Sese Seko

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An investigation by Virginia's Office of Consumer Affairs determined that Robertson "willfully induced contributions from the public through the use of misleading statements and other implications" and called for a criminal prosecution against Robertson in 1999. However, the Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, a Republican, (whose largest campaign contributor two years earlier was Robertson himself) intervened, accepting that Robertson had made deceptive appeals but overruling the recommendation for his prosecution.

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Political statements

On his The 700 Club television program, Pat Robertson has sharply criticized elements of the United States government. In interviews with the author of a book critical of the United States Department of State, Robertson made suggestions that the explosion of a nuclear weapon at State Department Headquarters would be good for the country, and repeated those comments on the air. "What we need is for somebody to place a small nuke at Foggy Bottom," http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35036 Robertson said during his television program, referring to the location of the State Department headquarters. State Department officials said they believed the comments to be in extremely bad taste, and have lodged official complaints against Robertson for his remarks.

Related Topics:
United States Department of State - Nuclear weapon - Foggy Bottom

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Chinese abortions

In a 2001 interview with Wolf Blitzer, he said of that the Chinese were "doing what they have to do," with regards to China's one child policy, sometimes enforced with forced abortions, though he said that he did not personally agree with the practice. His comments drew criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22475

Related Topics:
Wolf Blitzer - China - One child policy

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Judicial Activism vs 9/11 Terrorists

During an interview on ABC's This Week, on April 30, 2005, Robertson was speaking about judicial activism when he said, "If you look over the course of a hundred years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that?s held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings." This statement prompted outcry from several September 11th support and survivor groups.

Related Topics:
ABC - This Week - April 30 - 2005 - Judicial activism

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The statement was made as part of a discussion about the long term future of the United States. Robertson went on to say, "I think we're going to control al Qaeda. I think we're going to get Osama bin Laden. We won in Afghanistan. We won in Iraq, and we can contain that. But if there's an erosion at home, you know, Thomas Jefferson warned about a tyranny of an oligarchy and if we surrender our democracy to the tyranny of an oligarchy, we've made a terrible mistake."

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Education background

Robertson has claimed his IQ at various times as 159, 139 and 137. In a book Robertson wrote, he described himself as a "Yale-educated tax lawyer," though he had not passed the bar. Robertson claimed he was on a board of directors of a bank, when he was only actually on an advisory board. Robertson's claims of overseas graduate study only turned out to be a summer introductory course for Americans abroad.

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Call for assassination of Hugo Chávez

On the day of August 22, 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, "I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don?t think any oil shipments will stop." Robertson also said that Chávez was "going to make Venezuela a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent" and called him an "out-of-control dictator... a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil that could hurt us very badly." http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006 Assassinations of heads of state have been against U.S. policy since an executive order against them was issued in 1976; in response, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that "our department doesn't do that kind of thing." Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S., demanded a stronger condemnation from the White House and that the United States "respect our country and its president."

Related Topics:
August 22 - 2005 - Venezuelan President - Hugo Chávez - Venezuela - Communist - Muslim - Executive order - 1976 - Defense Secretary - Donald Rumsfeld - Bernardo Álvarez - Ambassador - White House

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On the August 24 edition of The 700 Club, Robertson asserted that he hadn't actually called for Chávez's assassination, but that there were other ways of "taking him out", such as having special forces carry out a kidnapping. Robertson flatly denied using the word "assassinate" http://mediamatters.org/items/200508240005 despite video tape evidence that he did. http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006 Later that day, he issued a written statement in which he said, "Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him." However, he continued to justify his original stance on the potential threat Chávez posed to U.S. interests. http://www.cbn.com/about/pressrelease_hugochavez.asp

Related Topics:
August 24 - Special forces - Kidnapping

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On Sunday, August 28, Chávez called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the matter: "My government is going to take legal action in the United States," he said in a televised speech. "If the U.S. government does not take the necessary steps, we will denounce the U.S. government at the United Nations and the Organization of American States."

Related Topics:
August 28 - Justice Department - United Nations - Organization of American States

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