Dateline: April 04, 1999
Part 1: 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.
Here we'll first examine his religious background and his earliest forays into religious broadcasting. In section two, we'll 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. I regularly get mail from readers who are incensed that I 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, I won't hesitate to do either when I find that the criticism is deserved. I've been accused of helping Satan before, and I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be no exception.
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 even 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 never was 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.
| Quote of the week: The ne plus ultra of wickedness is embodied in what is commonly presented to mankind as the creed of Christianity. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) |
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.
Don't miss the other section:
Part 2: Sex, Lies & Extremism
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