The tragedy of being Pat Robertson
I'm going to take you on a journey into your imagination. I have to ask you to trust me, because this is likely to be one of the more frightening exercises you've ever undertaken. But bear with me. I think the results will be...illunminating.
Picture, if you will, that you are Pat Robertson.
Oh, damn. Get the smelling salts, Myrtle. I shoulda known it would be too much of a shock. Let's try again.
Picture, if you will, that Pat Robertson actually believes the crap he spews forth on his television show. I know that even this much is asking for a lot of suspended disbelief, but try to stay with me.
What is the foundation of your message to the world? It's that God (insert the number of syllables you prefer in pronouncing The Holy Name) God is in control of everything. God controls the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets, and he controls the fate of his Chosen People. God makes the sun shine and the plants grow and the rain fall. And, yes, the earthquakes come. God controls all of this, and his Chosen People receive his blessings and prosper because he is a good and loving God. God is completely holy and completely good, and because of this bad things only happen because people turn away from his completely holy and good light.
Then a giant earthquake shatters an already-impoverished region of the world, leaving thousands dead, thousands more wounded. Many of those dead are little children. Many more are Christians. And in the light of this tragedy, Mr. Robertson has to get on his TV show and explain to people across the country why God, who is all knowing, all powerful, and all good, let - no, made - this earthquake happen.
He cannot look at the camera, shake his head, and say that this is a tragic natural disaster and that all the money donated to the 700 Club in the next week will be sent directly to Haiti.
He cannot say this, because there is no such thing as a natural disaster. Nature does not exist outside of God. Nature is not a force in and of itself. It is God's little stage. To acknowledge things like nature being its own force would be to acknowledge that God is not all-powerful. And unless God is all powerful, Pat's world falls apart.
So Pat is left with two choices: accepting a fickle God who allows tragedy to strike, and therefore is not All Good; or finding a reason why an All Good God would strike out with righteous wrath against an impoverished island nation.
And so, not because he hates Haitians, not because he hates people of color, not even because he hates poor people who can't send him money, but because his own narrow, broken theology leads him to a reductio ad absurdum that would tax the patience of a debate coach, but is Pat's only refuge, he flails back to 1804 and an alleged "pact with the devil" that has cursed Haiti. He makes statements that are vile, ignorant, disgusting. Because his narrow view of God leads him to a creator who is as petty as he is whimsical.
My prayer in all of this? That Pat will keep talking. Because the more absurd and stupid he sounds, the more people might come to recognize the foolishness of his message.
Picture, if you will, that you are Pat Robertson.
Oh, damn. Get the smelling salts, Myrtle. I shoulda known it would be too much of a shock. Let's try again.
Picture, if you will, that Pat Robertson actually believes the crap he spews forth on his television show. I know that even this much is asking for a lot of suspended disbelief, but try to stay with me.
What is the foundation of your message to the world? It's that God (insert the number of syllables you prefer in pronouncing The Holy Name) God is in control of everything. God controls the sun and the moon and the stars and the planets, and he controls the fate of his Chosen People. God makes the sun shine and the plants grow and the rain fall. And, yes, the earthquakes come. God controls all of this, and his Chosen People receive his blessings and prosper because he is a good and loving God. God is completely holy and completely good, and because of this bad things only happen because people turn away from his completely holy and good light.
Then a giant earthquake shatters an already-impoverished region of the world, leaving thousands dead, thousands more wounded. Many of those dead are little children. Many more are Christians. And in the light of this tragedy, Mr. Robertson has to get on his TV show and explain to people across the country why God, who is all knowing, all powerful, and all good, let - no, made - this earthquake happen.
He cannot look at the camera, shake his head, and say that this is a tragic natural disaster and that all the money donated to the 700 Club in the next week will be sent directly to Haiti.
He cannot say this, because there is no such thing as a natural disaster. Nature does not exist outside of God. Nature is not a force in and of itself. It is God's little stage. To acknowledge things like nature being its own force would be to acknowledge that God is not all-powerful. And unless God is all powerful, Pat's world falls apart.
So Pat is left with two choices: accepting a fickle God who allows tragedy to strike, and therefore is not All Good; or finding a reason why an All Good God would strike out with righteous wrath against an impoverished island nation.
And so, not because he hates Haitians, not because he hates people of color, not even because he hates poor people who can't send him money, but because his own narrow, broken theology leads him to a reductio ad absurdum that would tax the patience of a debate coach, but is Pat's only refuge, he flails back to 1804 and an alleged "pact with the devil" that has cursed Haiti. He makes statements that are vile, ignorant, disgusting. Because his narrow view of God leads him to a creator who is as petty as he is whimsical.
My prayer in all of this? That Pat will keep talking. Because the more absurd and stupid he sounds, the more people might come to recognize the foolishness of his message.