gary@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Gary Buchholz) (09/18/86)
James Wall is editor of the Chicago based Christian Century magazine.
In the Perspective section of the Chicago Tribune July 28, 1986 Wall
writes:
"His [ Pat Robertson ] chances are not the best [for republication
nomination] ... he has a longer 'wacko factor' to overcome than did
any of his predecessors."
As regards this term "wacko factor", it was used by John McLaughlin in
an article he wrote in the May 23 National Review in reference to Pat
Robertsons "knack" for construing the world.
"Preacher Pat believes that God's actions in people's lives are
miraculous. So, at prayer meetings, he speaks in tongues, expels
demons with shouts of 'Satan be gone!', cures lung cancer and
hemorrhoids. Claiming 'Prophet of God' status, he has called
down the divine wrath on his critics. And when hurricane Gloria
threatened Virginia Beach last fall, 'we rebuked that thing,
commanded it,' says Robertson, and the city was spared."
The media has not been kind to Robertson. A recent political cartoon
depicted "Preacher Pat" in a pulpit wearing a button "A vote for Pat
is a vote for the Lord" receiving a "word of knowledge" that a severe
case of hemorrhoids would been cured instantly by divine intervention.
The next frame showed a bolt of lightning coming out of the sky and
reducing Robertson to smoldering rubble.
What is immediately obvious to a person such as myself is that "Preacher
Pat" no matter how moral and ethical and "peaches and cream" this guy
might be, he certainly does not know how the world "works". I would
not keep my sanity long if I knew that a guy who thinks he can "rebuke
a storm" was running the country. It is a question to be put to Mr.
Robertson whether or not this same technique would work with incoming
ICBM's and exactly what form a defense strategy would take. Would Mr.
Robertson move our men out of the missle silos and into the pews to pray
to gain some advantage (from the deity) in the event of a nuclear war ?
I might welcome a presidential nomination for Robertson. It would give
the media a chance (given its track record) to bring out its big guns
thus giving the whole event the earmarks of another "Scopes Trial".
Showing tapes of Robertsons "700 club" where (in McLaughlins terms) the
"wacko factor" is in full bloom just might give some Christians a
"Reality alert" causing them to cast their vote for secular humanism
rather than Protestant Fundamentalist exorcism.
Garytim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) (09/22/86)
What worries me about Robertson is the incredibly shallow nature of TV
election coverage. A candidate's stands on the issues can't be fairly
squeezed into fifteen seconds, and so they are almost always omitted
altogether. All we get to hear is how much of what demographic block a
particular candidate is currently supported by.
So far, I have yet to hear any coverage of Robertson's explicitly theocratic
statements, which I have frequently heard on the 700 Club, or any coverage
of his position that the end of the world is immanent, greatly to be
desired, and intimately tied up with American activity in the Middle East.
Nor his open advocacy of censorship and of laws against occult religions.
Nor of his acceptance of the idea that non-Christians are mentally ill.
I believe that the American people, as stupid as we are, still would turn
against Robertson if more of us knew of his positions on these issues. As
it is, if all we hear continue to about is faith healing, which most
Americans believe in, then we are in serious trouble.
--
Tim Maroney, Electronic Village Idiot and Self-Assigner of Pretentious Titles
{ihnp4,sun,well,ptsfa,lll-crg,frog}!hoptoad!tim (uucp)
hoptoad!tim@lll-crg (arpa)
Engineers gleefully note the inability of artists to solve technical
problems, but angrily deny the atrophy of their own aesthetic sense.tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney) (09/22/86)
What worries me about Robertson is the incredibly shallow nature of TV
election coverage. A candidate's stands on the issues can't be fairly
squeezed into fifteen seconds, and so they are almost always omitted
altogether. All we get to hear is how much of what demographic block a
particular candidate is currently supported by.
So far, I have yet to hear any coverage of Robertson's explicitly theocratic
statements, which I have frequently heard on the 700 Club, or any coverage
of his position that the end of the world is immanent, greatly to be
desired, and intimately tied up with American activity in the Middle East.
Nor his open advocacy of censorship and of laws against occult religions.
Nor of his acceptance of the idea that non-Christians are mentally ill.
I believe that the American people, as stupid as we are, still would turn
against Robertson if more of us knew of his positions on these issues. As
it is, if all we continue to hear about is faith healing, which most
Americans believe in, then we are in serious trouble.
--
Tim Maroney, Electronic Village Idiot and Self-Assigner of Pretentious Titles
{ihnp4,sun,well,ptsfa,lll-crg,frog}!hoptoad!tim (uucp)
hoptoad!tim@lll-crg (arpa)
Engineers gleefully note the inability of artists to solve technical
problems, but angrily deny the atrophy of their own aesthetic sense.stuart@BMS-AT.UUCP (Stuart D. Gathman) (09/23/86)
In article <638@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>, gary@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Gary Buchholz) writes: > not keep my sanity long if I knew that a guy who thinks he can "rebuke > a storm" was running the country. It is a question to be put to Mr. > Robertson whether or not this same technique would work with incoming > ICBM's and exactly what form a defense strategy would take. Would Mr. > Robertson move our men out of the missle silos and into the pews to pray > to gain some advantage (from the deity) in the event of a nuclear war ? This is a misconception of the viewpoint. Look at II Chronicles 20 for a description of a successful war waged with prayer. Notice that full natural preparations were made (muster the army, etc.). Notice also that their confidence was in God, not in the army. If ICBM were headed this way and the only thing I had to trust was more missles, I would prefer quick death to the slow lingering horrors of nuclear aftermath. (A man questioned about the reliability of our missles in newsweek was quoted as saying: "If we have to use them, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference whether they work or not. The important thing is that the Soviets think they *might* work.") I certainly support full military preparedness (including SDI), but I also know that we need all the prayer we can get. (And some repentance would help.) -- Stuart D. Gathman <..!seismo!{vrdxhq|dgis}!BMS-AT!stuart>