July 16, 2003

Offensive Prayer

And now, back to our regularly scheduled bitching and moaning . . .

Possibly as an attempt to divert attention from his cozy friendship with Liberia's monstrous dictator, telehuckster cum moralist Pat Robertson has launched an effort beseeching God to remove one of three unnamed Supreme Court justices. The fundraising gimmick, which he aptly named a "Prayer Offensive," calls upon his flock to "pray for God to remove three justices from the Supreme Court so they could be replaced by conservatives," according to the Associated Press.

PR Offensive

That's not all. He couldn't resist pointing out that several justices are in frail health: "One justice is 83-years-old, another has cancer and another has a heart condition," he said on his TV show. "Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire?"

Setting aside the question of whether the Almighty would stoop to such subliminal trickery -- whatever happened to setting shrubs ablaze? -- I'd like to point out that Robertson seems, at best, unconcerned as to whether the targeted justices leave feet first. And it's no leap to infer that he is subtly calling on Christians to pray for the deaths of John Paul Stevens (who is 83), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whose cancer is in remission), and Sandra Day O'Connor (who has had cardiac trouble).

The media have so far reported this rather benignly, which may be their duty. I give style points to this Portland State University columnist (or, at least, his headline editor).

Robertson's defense of dictator Charles Taylor is classic. He accuses the U.S. of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." But his kinship goes much deeper than religion with the Liberian strongman (remember when dictators were called "strongmen," during the Cold War?), because Taylor and Robertson have been partners in the gold and diamond mining business. Christianity Today took him to task, following the lead of repeated op-eds in the Washington Post that revealed how Robertson's "Freedom Gold" company (begun with his own $15M investment) gave Taylor a 10-percent stake in exchange for impunity within the despot's generally lawless nation. Reverend Pat also convinced himself somehow that the Lord's work includes pillaging war-ravaged Sierra Leone's diamond reserves.

Posted by Vernam at July 16, 2003 08:20 AM
Comments

The pic does make Rev. Moneygrabber look like he needs an enema, doesn't it? I thought there'd be a bigger firestorm over his comments. He and Falwell are like the old Detroit Pistons. The "Bad Boys" strategy was to foul so much that the refs had to ignore 90 percent of the infractions, because it's just not possible to call every one.

Posted by: Vernam at July 29, 2003 04:00 PM

The picture of Robertson is the best part! He's just... straining... a little too hard.

I feel so juvenile, but it made me laugh, anyway.

Posted by: amy at July 27, 2003 09:25 AM

> a 10-percent stake in exchange for impunity within the despot's generally lawless nation. <

These days, the 'art' of the deal, albeit always part & parcel of the global political landscape, is hardly ever questioned anymore. It's only appropriate 'moralists' also use it wantonly.

Remember Afghanistan? In exchange for American forward bases in Uzbekistan, the quid pro quo was to allow Russia carte blance in dealing with the Chechen 'revolt.' Expediency trumps all.

Sorry for launching into another subject. I honestly tried to remain on topic, however tenuous the link. #~)

Posted by: deano at July 23, 2003 10:46 AM

I wish Pat would hurry up and get caught with his pants down. More than that, I would love to be hanging out at the Pearly Gates when he steps up, and St. Peter is rolling on the cloud-floor laughing.

Posted by: Jim at July 20, 2003 12:12 PM