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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22 1930)[1] is a
televangelist from the United States.[2] He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations,
including the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ),
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family Entertainment,
Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation,
and Regent University.[1][3] He is the host of
The 700 Club, a Christian TV program airing on channels throughout the United States
and on CBN affiliates worldwide.[1]
He is opposed to abortion and gay
rights.[4][5] Robertson is a supporter of the Republican Party and campaigned unsuccessfully to become the party's nominee in the
1988 presidential election.[6]
He is a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that
denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally
common among Southern Baptists. As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any
church. Despite this, his media and financial resources make him a recognized and influential, albeit controversial, public voice
for conservative Christianity in the United States.
Life and career
Family
Robertson was born in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family. His
parents were Absalom Willis Robertson, a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his
wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis). He married Adelia "Dede" Elmer in 1954. His
family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson, and at the time of
writing (mid-2005) fourteen grandchildren.
At a young age, Robertson was given the nickname of Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed
patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which
first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for
his childhood nickname "Pat". His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself
again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later
became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal. He insisted upon being called a "religious broadcaster".
Pat Robertson is a distant relative of the 9th US President, William Henry
Harrison, as well as his grandson, the 23rd US President, Benjamin
Harrison.[citation needed]
(According to Robertson's website, his father, Absalom Willis Robertson, is
8-generation direct female line from Colonel Armisted Churchill, whose sister, Elizabeth Churchill, was William Henry Harrison's grandmother from his mother's side.)[citation needed]
Education and military service
When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the military preparatory McDonogh
School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended the
McCallie School in Chattanooga,
Tennessee. McCallie, now a college preparatory school, was at the time a military school. He graduated with honors and
enrolled at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history.
The claim that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, a prestigious national honor
society, is not substantiated by the Phi Beta Kappa membership directory.[7] He also joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson
has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls
schools."[8]
In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the
Marine Corps or being drafted into the army. He opted for the former, which
allowed him to finish college under the condition that he attend Officer Candidates School (OCS) in Quantico, Virginia during the summer. He graduated
magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts
degree and was the first person to be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant at a graduation ceremony at Washington and Lee. In January 1951, Robertson served
four months in Japan, "doing rehabilitation training for Marines wounded in Korea".
In his words, "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In
the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson.
"The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later
identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three
battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"[9]
However, former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with
Robertson in Korea, claimed that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened
on his behalf, claiming that instead Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan.
According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the
officers' clubs supplied with liquor.
Paul Brosman, Jr., another veteran who had served with Robertson, claimed in a deposition that Robertson had sexual relations
with prostitutes and sexually harassed a cleaning girl.[citation needed] Robertson has described these allegations as "an attack by liberals to
discredit me."
Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a
Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University Law
School in 1955. However, he failed to pass the bar exam,[10] shortly thereafter underwent his religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law.
Instead, Robertson attended the New York Theological Seminary, and was
awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.
Religious career
Pat Robertson (seated right) with the staff of his television show,
The 700 Club.
In 1956 Robertson found his faith through Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his
lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the
Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy
paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. Soon afterwards, he was filled with
the Holy Spirit and spoke in
tongues[citation needed] for the first time. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist
Convention in 1961.
In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in
Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying a small UHF station in nearby
Portsmouth. Later in 1977 he purchased a local-access cable channel in the Hampton
Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas
asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia
Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his
friends, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach- John Giminez was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with
donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.
CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. he founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN
Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep
it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's nonprofit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its
main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997,
which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program,
The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The
channel is now owned by Disney and run as "ABC
Family".
Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He
is also founder and president of the American Center for Law and
Justice, a public interest law firm that defends Christians whose First Amendment rights have allegedly been violated. The law firm,
headquartered in the same building that houses Regent's law school, focuses on
"pro-family, pro-liberty and pro-life" cases
nationwide.
1988 presidential bid
In September, 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of
the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for
his campaign by September, 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he'd be running in September 1987,
he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of
CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice
President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.
Robertson ran on a very conservative platform. Among his policies,
he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as
the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.
During the start of the presidential primary election season in early 1988,
Robertson's campaign was attacked because of a statement he had made about his military service. In his campaign literature, he
stated he was a combat Marine who served in the Korean War. Other Marines in his battalion
contradicted Robertson's version, claiming he had never spent a day in a combat environment. They asserted that instead of
fighting in the war, Robertson's primary responsibility was supplying alcoholic beverages for his officers. (see Education and
military service)
Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucus, ahead of
Bush.[11]
Robertson did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was
unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were
finished; his best finish was in Washington. He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New
Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the
election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.
Books
Robertson's books have been both successful and controversial. The Secret Kingdom,
Answers to 100 of Life's Most Probing Questions, and The New World Order were each in their respective year of publication the number one
religious book in America. [citation needed]
Robertson's tome The New World Order was described as a 'catch all for conspiracy theories' by Christian academic Don
Wilkey:
Pat Robertson’s work, NEW WORLD ORDER, is a catch all for conspiracy theories. It combines the paranoia of the Old Right with
modern versions. A summary of Robertson’s book is found on page 177 in which Pat says a conspiracy has existed in the world
working through Freemasonry and a secret Order of the Illuminati, a group combining Masons
and Jewish Bankers.[12]
Ephraim Radner also accuses Robertson of espousing anti-semitic beliefs in the same book:
In his published writings, especially his 1991 book The New World Order, Pat Robertson has propagated theories about a
worldwide Jewish conspiracy. Michael Land raised the issue in February in the New York Times Book Review, and in April Jacob
Heilbrun, writing in the New York Review of Books, cited chapter and verse of Robertson's borrowings from well-known anti-Semitic
works.[13]
Business interests
He is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)
Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment
Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and
Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and
co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc.
(IFE).
Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal
business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly
held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion. Disney acquired the Fox Family Channel in 2001 and named it ABC
Family.
He is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He is the nation's number three cable
operator, behind Ted Turner and HBO [verification needed]. He struck a deal with
Pittsburgh, PA-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a
weight-loss shake he created and promoted on the 700 Club TV show.
In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland to provide
financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on
homosexuality. After Robertson commented that Scotland was "a dark land overrun by homosexuals", the Bank of Scotland canceled
the venture [1].
Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion [2].
Political activism
After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian
Coalition, a 1.7 million member Christian right organization that campaigned
mostly for conservative candidates. It became, almost instantly, one of the most influential organizations in American politics
and one of the largest and most powerful lobbying groups in the United States.[citation needed] However, the organization's popularity has faded somewhat.[citation needed] It was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for
office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures"[14]
In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia."[15] Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.
While Robertson is primarily popular among evangelical Christians, his support extends beyond the Christian community. In
2002, he received the State of Israel Friendship Award from the Zionist Organization of America for his consistent support for a Greater Israel. In that year the Coalition for Jewish Concerns also
expressed its gratitude to Robertson for "unwavering support for Israel" and "standing up to evil".
Robertson has also been a governing member of the powerful conservative, controversial and secretive[citation needed] Council for National Policy (CNP). Seekgod.ca, which describes itself as "an independent
Christian research and apologetics ministry"[16] listed
him on the CNP Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.[17][18]
Controversies and criticisms
Robertson is outspoken in both his faith and his politics and controversies surrounding him have often made headlines.
Faith healer
In the 1970s and 1980s Robertson was a faith healer, and James Randi devoted a chapter, "A World of Knowledge from Pat Robertson" on Robertson in Randi's book
The Faith Healers.[19] Randi commented that "in 1986, soon after the full importance of the AIDS epidemic began to become evident, Robertson was attempting to cure it" by proclaiming people cured after
prayer.[19] Randi commented,
"Gerry Straub, a former associate of Pat Robertson and his television producer, pointed out in
his book Salvation for Sale the astonishing fact that God seemed to time miracles to
conform with standard television format," and "God would stop speaking to Pat and stop healing exactly in time with the theme
music."[19] Randi explained that "in
1979, it appeared to Robertson's staff that their boss had been taking lessons from Oral
Roberts" and "proposed to film the Second Coming!".[19] The project was eventually publicly dropped, but "budget
allocations [CBN] are made for their development.".[19] Martin Gardner also criticized Robertson's faith
healing in Gardner's work Beyond Reason.
Claim that some denominations harbor the spirit of the Antichrist
On January 14 1991, on The 700 Club, Pat Robertson
attacked a number of Protestant denominations when he declared: "You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing.
Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist."[20] He has never recanted this statement, though he has supported the
election of certain Episcopalians.
Claims about the power of his prayers
Robertson prayed to God to steer hurricanes away from his companies' Virginia
Beach, Virginia, headquarters. He credited his prayers for steering the course of Hurricane Gloria in 1985, which caused billions 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.[21]
Robertson later called on God to prevent Hurricane Isabel from hitting Virginia
Beach in 2003, but the city was damaged by the storm surge
regardless. In 2005, Robertson launched 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",[22] after the announced resignation of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Remarks concerning feminism, homosexuality, and liberalism
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."[23] Many of Robertson's views
mirror those of the evangelical activist Jerry Falwell, who made frequent appearances on
The 700 Club. He agreed with Falwell when Falwell stated[24] that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
were caused by "pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People For the American Way."
After public outcry regarding the dialog, which was conducted via television monitor and took place only days after the
attacks, Robertson claimed that his earpiece was malfunctioning, and that he was unaware of what he was agreeing with at the
time.
On the June 8 1998 edition of his show, Robertson denounced
Orlando, Florida 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 bombings and "possibly a
meteor."[25] The resulting outcry prompted Robertson to
return to the topic on June 24, where he quoted the Book of
Revelation to support his claims.
While discussing the Mark Foley scandal on the October 5, 2006 broadcast of the
show, Robertson condemned Foley saying he "does what gay people do".[26]
Charles Taylor, gold, diamonds and racehorse controversy
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 of 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."[27]
Robertson was criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8,000,000 (USD) investment in a Liberian
gold mine.[28]
Taylor had been indicted by the United Nations for war
crimes at the time of Robertson's support.
Prosecutors also said that Taylor had harbored members of Al Qaeda responsible for the
1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya
and Tanzania. 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."[29]
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 with Zaire's dictator,
Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Robertson had befriended earlier in 1993. According to Operation
Blessing documents, Robertson personally owned the planes used for Operation Blessing airlifts.
In 1993, Mobutu was denied a visa by the U.S. State Department after he sought to visit Washington, D.C. Shortly after this, Robertson tried to get the State Department to lift its ban on the
African leader.
An investigation by the Commonwealth of 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, 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.[30] No charges were ever brought against Robertson. "Two years earlier, while Virginia's
investigation was gathering steam, Robertson donated $35,000 to Earley's campaign — Earley's largest contribution."
In April 2002, Robertson acknowledged owning a race horse, named "Mr. Pat." He told a New York Times reporter that his
interest in the horse was based purely on its aesthetics. "I don't bet and I don't gamble. I just enjoy watching horses running
and performing." Harder to explain was why he spent $520,000 on the horse and intended the beast to compete at the track. But the
resulting furor over Robertson's direct participation in a gambling racket eventually caused him to sell the horse a month after
the Times story broke" [3] [4].
Political statements
On his The 700 Club television program, Pat Robertson has sharply criticized
elements of the United States government and "special interest" groups that don't share his views. 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,"[31]
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.
Robertson has repeatedly claimed that Barry Lynn has stated that fire departments
cannot put out fires in churches because it would be a violation of separation of church and state. Lynn, progressive
organizations like Media Matters for America[32] and conservative groups such as Focus on
the Family have all contested Robertson's statements.
Chinese abortions
In a 2001 interview with Wolf Blitzer, he said that the Chinese were "doing what they
have to do," regarding China's one-child policy,
sometimes enforced with compulsory abortions, though he said that he did not personally agree with the practice. His comments
drew criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.[33]
Hugo Chávez
Wikinews has News related to this article section:
On the 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 the leader an "out-of-control dictator... a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil
that could hurt us very badly."[34]
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."
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 explicitly denied
having used the word "assassination", though the word "assassinate" was present in his initial statement.[35][34] 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.[36]
On Sunday, August 28 2005, 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".[37]
On February 2 2006 edition of Hannity and Colmes, Pat Robertson once again called for Chávez's assassination. When Colmes
asked Robertson "Do you want him taken out?", Robertson replied "Not now, but one day, one day, one day."[38]
Message to Dover, Pennsylvania
On his November 10 2005 broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson told citizens of Dover,
Pennsylvania that they had rejected God by voting out of office all seven members of the school board who support intelligent design.
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him
from your city", Robertson said on his broadcast.
"And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just
remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because He might not be
there."[39]
In a written statement, Robertson later clarified his comments:
"God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in His eye forever. If they have future problems in Dover,
I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them."[40]
Remarks about Iraq War
Pat Robertson claimed in 2004 that President Bush told him before he led the United States into war with Iraq, that he
expected there to be no casualties. He made this claim in an interview with CNN, on October 19th,
2004. President Bush's then-press secretary Scott McClellan denied the allegation. Mike McCurry, press secretary for Democratic
USA Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, who was Bush's opponent for the presidency in the 2004 election, said that Bush
deserved the benefit of the doubt, but he should say whether or not Robertson was telling the truth or lying. [5]
Robertson also claimed numerous times on air that he had "deep misgivings" on the war, adding, "The Lord told me it was going
to be a) a disaster and b) messy." However, it should be noted that when the American invasion began in 2003, Robertson said on
his show that the war was in fact "a righteous cause out of the Bible." His statements were supported on-air by fellow
televangelist Paul Crouch on the March 21, 2003 edition his Trinity
Broadcasting Network show Behind the Scenes.
Remarks concerning Ariel Sharon
The lead story on the January 5 2006, edition of The 700
Club was Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's hospitalization for a severe stroke. After the story, Robertson said that Sharon's illness was possibly
retribution from God for his recent drive to give more land to the Palestinians. He also
claimed former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's 1995 assassination may have occurred for the
same reason.[41]
The remarks drew criticism from all sides, even from among other evangelicals. For instance, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist
Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said that Robertson "ought to know better" than to say such things.
He added, "... the arrogance of the statement shocks me almost as much as the insensitivity of it."[42] Ted Haggard, president of the
National Association of Evangelicals, said that "any doctor could
have predicted (Sharon's) going to have health problems" and that his illness was medical, not divine retribution.[43] The White House called Robertson's statement "wholly
inappropriate and offensive".[44] Robertson was also
chastised by Israeli officials and members of the Anti-Defamation League.[45]
On January 11, Israel responded by announcing that Robertson would be banned from
involvement in a project to build a Christian tourist attraction and pilgrimage site near the Sea of Galilee known as the Christian Heritage Center. The plan had
called for Israel leasing 35 acres of land to a group of evangelicals (including Robertson) for free to create several tourist
attractions and pilgrimage sites in exchange for the evangelicals raising 50 million dollars in funding. A spokesman for the
Tourism Ministry commented, "We cannot accept these statements, and we will not sign any contracts with Mr. Robertson."[46]
He added that the decision would not apply to all members of the evangelical community: "We want to see who in the group
supports his (Robertson's) statements. Those who support the statements cannot do business with us. Those that publicly support
Ariel Sharon's recovery ... are welcome to do business with us."[47]
On January 12, Robertson sent a letter to Sharon's son Omri, apologizing for his
comments. In the letter, Robertson called Ariel Sharon a "kind, gracious and gentle man" who was "carrying an almost
insurmountable burden of making decisions for his nation." He added that his "concern for the future safety of your nation led me
to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief experienced
because of your father's illness...I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel."[48] Omri and the Israeli government accepted the apology, though it remained
unclear whether the deal with Robertson would be rehabilitated.[49][50][51]
While some observers were satisfied by the gesture, some reporters also accused Robertson of using the apology as a tactic
allowing him to make such statements while promoting a public image among evangelicals as a leader who does not compromise on his
values. Surprisingly, some of the harsher criticism of Robertson did not come from American or Israeli Jews, but from his fellow
evangelicals and conservative Christians, who charged that Robertson's behavior did serious harm to evangelicals' image, and led
to unfair generalizations and criticism of them.[52]
The fallout from Robertson's comments was still visible over a month after the event; after speaking with organizers of the
National Religious Broadcasters February 2006 convention, Robertson
wound up cancelling his planned keynote speech.
A representative from Israel's Tourism Ministry diplomatically commented, "Pat Robertson has been a long-term friend of the
state of Israel, and continues to be so."[53]
In March 2006, Robertson lost a bid for re-election to the board of directors of the National Religious Broadcasters.[54]
Remarks against Islam and Muslims
Robertson has frequently denounced the religion of Islam and Muslim people. During a 1995 taping of The 700 Club, he called the religion
a "Christian heresy".[55]
During a September 19 2002 episode of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, Robertson
claimed that the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, was "an absolute wild-eyed fanatic … a robber and a
brigand."[56] He claimed on the September 14 2004 episode of The 700 Club that "Islam is by the gun,
by the fire, by the bayonet, by the torch."[citation needed] On the July 14 2005 broadcast of the The 700 Club, he claimed that "Islam, at its core, teaches violence."[57]
On the March 13 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club
Robertson stated that Muslims want global domination and that the outpouring of rage elicited by
cartoon drawings of the Islamic
Prophet Muhammad "just shows the kind of people we're dealing with. These people are crazed fanatics, and I want to say it
now: I believe it's motivated by demonic power. It is Satanic and
it's time we recognize what we're dealing with." He finished by stating "by the way, Islam is not a religion of peace."[58]
The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, called Robertson's new comments "grossly irresponsible". He went on to say, "At
a time when inter-religious tensions around the world are at an all-time high, Robertson seems determined to throw gasoline on
the fire."[59]
On the September 25 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club
Robertson stated "It's amazing how the Muslims deal with history and the truth with violence.
They don't understand what reasoned dialogue is...."[60]
Remarks about Asians
On the February 7, 2007 edition of The 700 Club,
Robertson stated that people who have too much plastic surgery "got the eyes like they're Oriental" and stretched his eyelids in
a manner stereotypical of Asians.[61]
Remarks against Hindus
Pat Robertson has been harshly criticized for his numerous insensitive and brash remarks towards the religion of Hinduism.
On March 23 1995, Pat Robertson led a television program in
which he attacked the religion of Hinduism. He called it "demonic" and said that Hindus should
be barred from entering the United States. He said that they worship "idols" and "hundreds of millions of deities," which "has
put a nation in bondage to spiritual forces that have deceived many for thousands of years." He spoke against the doctrines of
karma and reincarnation.[62]
Later in his book The New World Order he wrote: "When I said during my presidential bid that I would bring only
Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. 'What do you mean?' the media challenged me. 'You're not going to
bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in Christian values are better qualified to
govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, 'Yes, they are.'"[63]
These and other remarks were vociferously condemned by many Indian Americans.[64][65]
Liberal professors
On the March 21 2006 broadcast of The 700 Club, while
reviewing The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous
Academics in America by David Horowitz, the subject of which is
radical academics in American universities, Robertson went on to say that the 101 professors named in the book are only but a few
of "thirty to forty thousand" left-wing professors in the United States, all of whom
he accused of being "racists, murderers, sexual deviants and supporters of Al-Qaeda", further
labeling them as "termites that have worked into the woodwork of our academic society".
Later in the broadcast, he went on to say, "these guys are out and out communists, they are radicals, they are, you know, some
of them killers, and they are propagandists of the first order... you don’t want your child to be brainwashed by these radicals,
you just don’t want it to happen. Not only brainwashed but also beat up, they beat these people up, cower them into
submission."[66]
Predictions of Pacific Northwestern tsunami
In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's
coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in
January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.
On May 8 2006 Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about
2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17 2006 he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."[67] While
this claim didn't garner the same level of controversy as some of his other statements, it was generally received with mild
amusement by the Pacific Northwest media. It should also be noted that the History
Channel's initial airing of its new series, Mega Disasters: West Coast Tsunami, was broadcast the first week of
May.
It is worth noting that, while a tsunami obviously did not affect the United States, no hurricanes reached United States soil
that year, and the 2006 Hurricane Season was actually far tamer than the extremely active and dangerous 2005 Hurricane
Season.
Leg press claims
Robertson claims on his web site that through training and his "Age-Defying energy shake", he is able to leg press 2,000 pounds while others claim he is a liar, pushing a common energy formula.[68] 2,000 pounds would be an exceptional accomplishment for a world-class
athlete, to say nothing of a 76-year-old man like Robertson. For comparative purposes, when Dan Kendra set the Florida State
University record of 1,335 pounds, the leg press machine required extensive modifications to hold the proper amount of weight,
and the capillaries in both of Kendra's eyes burst during his successful attempt.[69] Thus, Robertson's claimed achievement would add 665 pounds to the best-ever total of Kendra, a top
athlete in his physical prime, who went on to play professional football in the National Football League and become a Navy
SEAL.[70][71]
In response to the skepticism of this claim, Robertson's website has claimed that his doctor is able to leg press 2,700
pounds, and that "It is not nearly as hard as the authors of these reports make it out to be."[72]
A video has also been provided
supposedly demonstrating Robertson doing several reps with a weight of 1,000 lbs (453 kg). In the video Pat Robertson is seen
using a 45 degree sled type leg press machine, which reduces the effective weight to 707 lbs (sin(45°) x 1,000
lbs).[citation needed] He keeps the safety locks in
place at the second step, which severely limits the range of possible motion. The seat is positioned to allow approximately six
inches of travel after the lock. This setup gives Pat Robertson the maximum mechanical advantage at the last few inches of
travel. This is generally regarded to be improper leg press technique[citation needed], and is significantly easier than a proper leg press. The proper technique
is to load the weight, place hands on the release levers and then to press the weight from the stops and then to rotate the stops
out.[citation needed] Then, the weight is allowed to
slide down until the hip and knee joints are at significant flexion. At this point, the person executing the leg press has
minimal mechanical advantage and can press the least amount of weight.[citation needed]
The video of Roberson’s lift has also been criticized because it does not appear to verify his claim that he’s lifting 1,000
pounds. Mike DeBonis of Slate noted “It appears as if 16 plates are loaded on the machine. Four of
them look like 100-pound plates, and the rest are 45s. That adds
