LAT: Robertson's Call for Assassination Draws Criticism(influence debated)

[DeepModem Mom]

Robertson's Call for Chavez Assassination Draws Criticism
By James Gerstenzang, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON -- Televangelist Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez provoked a storm of criticism today, triggering condemnation from his fellow religious leaders and international outrage, while the Bush administration said he was a "private citizen" whose remarks were "inappropriate."

Robertson remained publicly silent during the furor, in which he was criticized across the political spectrum in the United States by former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole as well as several liberal Democratic members of Congress and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The head of the National Assn. of Evangelicals said Robertson was endangering the lives of Christians in Venezuela....

***

In Venezuela, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said today that Robertson's remarks were "terrorist statements." He condemned them as incitement to commit murder, and called on U.S. officials to make clear that the law applies "even to such Christians."...

***

The scope of Robertson's influence drew considerable debate. His syndicated television program, which had only recently been described as reaching an audience of at least a million, has drawn an average audience of 863,000 a day during the 2004-2005 television season, according to Nielsen Media Research....(A leading national evangelical figure who wished to remain anonymous, said "The spokespeople for evangelicalism are significantly distanced from him politically and spiritually. The Moral Majority days are long gone. It's a different world."...


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-082305robertson_lat,0,2075668.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[arcos]

1. Endangering the lives of Christians in Venezuela??

Most Venezuelans are Christian... :eyes:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. Didn't you know? The only real Christians live in Red States.

[bribri16]

11. But Evangelicals don't consider Catholics to be "christians"

One of the meetings I attended in 2002 referred to Catholicism as a "cult." Blew me away.

[Minstrel Boy]

12. When a US evangelical leader says "Christians"

he means evangelicals only. Nevermind what the majority of Venezuelans think, or Chavez's "Christian socialism."

[stepnw1f]

2. I Wonder If There is Mounting Pressure

that caused him to act like a spoiled rich brat. Or is this just another distraction from Cindy Sheehan?

[barb162]

7. Maybe he's got 15 Dodge Durangos in his heated garage of

his 30 room mansion and he's tired of paying for all the gas. Whatever, he's a walking embarassment

[reality based]

3. "The Moral Majority days are long gone" so he wants to remain

anonymous-- right. The Christian mainstream and the evangelicals and fundamentalists who want to remain a religion and not an extremist political movement had better screw up the courage to publicly and vigorously disassociate themselves from the likes of Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, and their ilk.

[fishnfla]

4. I thought he said "cheaper than starting another war"

and even mentioned the 200 billion dollar figure.

Baby steps Pat

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Indeed - I think that's the overlooked big story

Pat Robertson finds the financial cost of the war in Iraq to be excessive! Pat Robertson dissents from the Bushie program, at least in a sideways and typically delusional manner.

[snippy]

10. That also was the argument Ari Fleischer made when he advocated the

assassination of Saddam Hussein. Maybe Fleischer and Robertson represent the fiscally conservative wing of the GOP, but I don't think so. Robertson is a mainstream republican.

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Endangering the lives of Christians in Venezuala?!?

Are they fucking kidding me?

Notice also that Pat Robertson said that Chavez was spreading "communism" nd Islamic extremism! Are we to believe that Hug Chavez is a Muslim, or that Venezuela isn't overwhelmingly Catholic?!? Oh yeah. I forgot. According to the remnants from the Protestant Reformation known as far right American evangelicals, Catholics aren't even Chistians, much less the syncretic brand of Indo-Catholicism (i.e., paganism) practiced by most South American Catholics! He's talking about the thousands of American missionaries that flood the poor areas of South America every year...

[Cha]

8. Jose Vincente Rangle is GooooD!

"In Venezuela, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said today that Robertson's remarks were "terrorist statements." He condemned them as incitement to commit murder, and called on U.S. officials to make clear that the law applies "even to such Christians."...

[Demeter]

13. Tax His Ass--and Indict If Possible

Show the world that we can our ayatollahs.

[damntexdem]

14. What is the boundary of free speech?

Can we openly preach murder to hundreds of thousands? Remember, he didn't just say he hoped Chavez died (which he also said, and prayed for), he advocated assassination. How many of those 'Christian' missionaries in Venezuela might be crazy enough to try to take Robertson up on his preaching?

[cliss]

15. Can you imagine? On another thread, I read

that Pat Robberson is worth around $1 BILLION DOLLARS. Just imagine that. Imagine the power of this demon from hell.

And ALL of that was tax-free.

You're right: tax his ass.

[Conservativesux]

17. Never happen during *'s watch. But I agree, tax his sorry ass.

[senaca]

19. Revoke his Faith Based Initiative Funding

Since he has crossed the line of being primarily Political rather than what Faith Based Funding is supposed to be used for, there should be some investigation of where the Faith Based Funding is going. Since Faith Based Funding is supposed to be used to help the poor, any funding that does not directly do so should be returned.

Would this be a FCC matter? I would think that speech that promotes the idea of eliminating a leader of another country on a family channel is crossing the lines.

[NYC]

21. Write to the FCC.

I did. :)

[e-mail]

[SaveAmerica]

16. Where are those evangelicals when we're concerned about

unlawful torturing of prisoners and how the backlash could endanger the lives of our soldiers? Hmm???

"Evangelicals said Robertson was endangering the lives of Christians in Venezuela"

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

18. To Gitmo with this terrorist, post haste.

[wli]

20. time to arrest that terrorist n/t

[mitchum]

22. Another christian terrorist