Seems my last entry was interpreted by somebody to mean I may be leaving Bravenet. No such luck. That was written in a half hearted attempt to say something witty after working a 12 hour shift and I was too tired to think of anything else. The appalling waste of bandwidth that is Moon Panther's Journal shall continue.
Looking through the news for inspiration, I came across
Pat Robertson's comments concerning the president of Venezuela, and was so outraged the only comment I could think of was the title of this post. My feelings on the subject are presented somewhat more eloquently in this email from Don Lewis of the Correlian Nativist Church.
America and its allies are calling on all people to end terrorism and
violence as acceptable political tools worldwide. Yet here in America itself, a major
Christian Leader, the Reverend Pat Robertson, has called for the
assassination and murder of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. This announcement was
delivered from the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club television show to an
international audience of millions on Tuesday, August 22. Rev. Robertson hinted
that God would approve of the killing of the dictator and save the United
States of billions of dollars. Such a public incitement to murder by any other
religious or political leader would be called an outrage, yet we see no such
action against Robertson.
Several Wiccan leaders, who have themselves been targeted by Robertson's
organization, are calling on all Christians and religious people to censure Pat
Robertson and publicly denounce the use of violence. Rev. Ed Hubbard of the
Correllian Nativist Church states, "Pat Robertson has the ear of the president of
the United States and has asked that Christians pray for the death of
political leaders. He is legitimizing the use of violence against non-Christians and
those who disagree with his political positions using his powerful religious
pulpit. Robertson would use the CIA as the Christian Inquisition and
Assassination division of the Christian Church.”
Hubbard adds, “Without a clear statement from Americans, and especially
Christians, condemning this action, then we see that they accept and even approve
of such violent, and potentially illegal, terrorist statements. It makes CBN no
better than the Taliban and other terrorist organizations broadcasting hate.
Good people should be appalled and call for Pat Robertson to be censured and
even removed from such an important position. Otherwise, it won't be long
before he may call on his followers to commit acts of physical violence rather than
spiritual violence. It is definitely not beyond him to do so."
Pat Robertson has advocated violence and negative prayer (prayer intended to
bring about the illness or death of a person) numerous times to push his
religious political agenda, and calls on civil disobedience and other means to
ignore laws he finds inconvenient to his own political aims-calling them contrary
to the Bible. The question Americans and their allies must ask is, "How far
will we accept his call for violence before we believe it? Will he call for the
death of Americans in the name of God?" Only immediate censure and
condemnation of such violence can assure all people that Christians are truly a loving
people, otherwise they are accomplices to murder and violence.
Peace,
Bill