peter_mary
24th August 2005, 04:16 PM
Many of you have no doubt heard the Reverend Pat Robertson, star of the long-running "700 Club", make the claim that we should assassinate President Chavez of Venezuala. Here's the latest:
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson insisted Wednesday that he did not call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite comments broadcast on his program two days earlier.
"I didn't say 'assassination,'" Robertson said Wednesday on his Christian Broadcast Network show "The 700 Club" about remarks reported by The Associated Press and other media outlets.
"I said our special forces should 'take him out."Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping. [Peter_Mary snipes: "Ah...kidnapping is fine, assassination is bad. Now it all makes perfect sense." :slap: )
"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP, but that happens all the time."
But a video of Monday's telecast shows that Robertson's exact words were: "You know, 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."
He continued: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
To me, this is a very frightening example of what is wrong with letting religion interfere with politics. Robertson feels safe making these kinds of lunatic statements because he knows that he has the support of the Christian Right.
Anyone hear airplanes headed for buildings in Caracas?
I personally don't care for the Christian right. I don't agree with their whole world view. But I respect their right to believe--privately--whatever they want. But when their world view crosses over into the politics of this country, as it has under the Bush administration (and thank ALL the god's that we've never had to say "the Robertson administration"), then it starts to impact me...and I ain't happy about it.
There really IS a good reason to keep religion out of the public sector. Pat Robertson is just the latest great example of why that's so.
Peter_Mary
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson insisted Wednesday that he did not call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite comments broadcast on his program two days earlier.
"I didn't say 'assassination,'" Robertson said Wednesday on his Christian Broadcast Network show "The 700 Club" about remarks reported by The Associated Press and other media outlets.
"I said our special forces should 'take him out."Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping. [Peter_Mary snipes: "Ah...kidnapping is fine, assassination is bad. Now it all makes perfect sense." :slap: )
"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP, but that happens all the time."
But a video of Monday's telecast shows that Robertson's exact words were: "You know, 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."
He continued: "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."
To me, this is a very frightening example of what is wrong with letting religion interfere with politics. Robertson feels safe making these kinds of lunatic statements because he knows that he has the support of the Christian Right.
Anyone hear airplanes headed for buildings in Caracas?
I personally don't care for the Christian right. I don't agree with their whole world view. But I respect their right to believe--privately--whatever they want. But when their world view crosses over into the politics of this country, as it has under the Bush administration (and thank ALL the god's that we've never had to say "the Robertson administration"), then it starts to impact me...and I ain't happy about it.
There really IS a good reason to keep religion out of the public sector. Pat Robertson is just the latest great example of why that's so.
Peter_Mary