Pat Robertson Passes

Most of what I saw and heard from Pat Robertson was from news and outrage reports, meaning if his actual words were included, they were just snippets out of context. If I recall correctly, I read one book attributed to him and some fundraising pleas, watched one political convention speech, and maybe heard him talking to radio program hosts over the years.

I'm not going to even try to defend everything he said or did. Nobody is perfect, and anyone who appears in as much media as he did, especially if any of it is unscripted, is going to say things that are erroneous or sound strange. Whatever he did wrong is now between him and the Lord.

I will say that Robertson was not wrong advocating that Christians participate in politics. Christians have every right to run for office, vote, speak up, support candidates, causes, and actions, and oppose others, including doing so based on their religious beliefs. 

Also, I have noticed outrage reports about him have often taken what he's said out of context have "interpreted" what he said without quoting him. Assuming he actually said some of the more strange things attributed to him, such as about the rumored actions of some people on the Left or who identify themselves by certain behaviors, Robertson and conservative Christians hardly have a monopoly on that. I don't know if a day goes by that I don't see some bizarre claim from the Left, or antitheists, or abortisexuals about what Republicans/conservatives/Christian are planning to do or are already doing.

It isn't some wacky fringe idea that there is Divine judgment for nations, and that a nation turning against the Lord is going to suffer some judgment as a result. This has been something believed throughout history by many cultures. That doesn't automatically make it right, but it is a Biblically sound idea, and Robertson considered the Bible to be Scripture. Sexual morality and ideals of the sort proclaimed by Robertson also haven't been fringe and certainly aren't unique to a few prominent religious broadcasters. Like it or not, if more people lived by them, there would be a lot less disease, unwanted pregnancies, and broken hearts.

The haters, predictably, are celebrating the passing of Robertson. Every time they react this way to the death of a prominent Christian preacher, Republican, or conservative, those haters are reminding many of us why they should never have power over any of us. The hate, the vitriol, the bloodthirsty behavior should remind everyone why limiting government and being prepared to defend yourself and the innocent are necessary.