Franklin Graham

Reactions To Robertson

Submitted by Kyle on January 14, 2010 - 8:47am

Not surprisingly, a spokesperson for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network quickly issued a statement yesterday after Robertson's statement about Haiti being "cursed" for having "swore a pact to the Devil" made news, insisting that Robertson "never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath" and inisiting that it is "countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed":

On today’s The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti’s history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.

Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath.

But it looks like some of Robertson's nominal allies aren't buying it:

Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas said, "It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. & Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham and president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, said he also disagrees with Robertson's assessment.

"He must have misspoken," Graham said. "But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."

Does Graham even know anything about Robertson? He says this sort of thing all the time - what makes him think that this time "he must have misspoken"? Also, if the name Robert Jeffress sounds familiar, it is because it is:

Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said that Mormonism is a false religion and that Mr. Romney was not a Christian.

"Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise," Dr. Jeffress said in a sermon Sept. 30. "Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult."

It is probably safe to assume that when a man who made himself famous for viciously attacking a presidential candidate's religion is blasting your "absolute arrogance," you have probably gone too far.

But of course, not everyone is outraged by Robertson's comments. In fact, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is praising him for taking a stand and speaking the truth:

The modern cynic chaffs at any suggestion that there may be a connection between historical realities and unseen spiritual influences, or as the Bible calls it God's "blessing or cursing." Although most people are very comfortable with the notion that God blesses people, we are not at all comforted with the terrifying prospect that Almighty God might also curse.

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God and /or moral causality. Eastern religions call it Karma, but Christians call it God's Providence. I wonder if the reason that so many hate Pat is because he expressed what many Americans don't want to face- the moral and spiritual dimension of our lives.

As long as everything is going well we live as if we are never going to die. Then crisis hits and death slaps us in the face. Rather than humbling ourselves and searching our hearts like the Pilgrims did, we lash out at God and anyone who dares insinuate Him into our lives.

What the Robertson bashers left out is that finally, and with great compassion and concern in his voice, Pat said, "They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I am optimistic that some good thing may come, but right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."

Agree or disagree with what Pat said, it was well within the bounds of historic Christian theology. Maybe that's the real problem after all.

Man is offended by the fact that he is not God. They resent God's Providence. A simple reading of the Bible shows how God uses natural disasters to further his purposes. Earthquakes, floods, famine, locusts, etc. they're all there, but man hates it. Rather than humbly acknowledging that God's ways are not our ways, man rails against and accuses God. The last thing they will do is cry out for his mercy in Jesus Christ.

You may remember Cass from his statement last year before President Obama's inauguration when he told parents not to let their children watch because the Rev. Gene Robinson would be participating, making it the "most perverted [inauguration] in our nation’s history" and warning that God just might destroy the nation's capital because of it.

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Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle on April 8, 2009 - 4:06pm

Did you know there is a sports complex in one of Israel's biggest settlements in the West Bank named for John Hagee?

For some reason, Richard Viguerie seems to think that the Justice Department's prosecution of the Ted Stevens case under the Bush administration is evidence of a "alliance between leftwing Democratic politicians and corrupt bureaucrats and special interests."

Alan Keyes will reportedly be speaking at Washington, DC's "Tea Party" rally next week ... and Fox News has been aggressively promoting them.

Phyllis Schlafly declares that her gay son is fully supportive of her right-wing agenda and likewise opposes gay marriage.

Because WorldNetDaily apparently doesn't have enough nutcases writing columns for them, they've decided to bring Michael Savage on board as well.

Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association in Michigan, was greeted by hundreds of protesters when he arrived to speak at Central Michigan University last night.

More than 250,000 people have reportedly signed a petition sponsored by the Cardinal Newman Society calling on Notre Dame to withdraw its invitation to President Obama to speak at the May 17 commencement.

The Vatican has reportedly rejected at least three of President Obama's candidates to serve as U.S. ambassador because they support abortion.

Finally, Franklin Graham is beginning to sound more and more like Pat Robertson:

America was once a nation that honored and trusted God, albeit imperfectly. Many of today’s prestigious institutions of higher learning were founded by Christians, and precepts from Scripture were foundational for instruction. Presidents and national leaders embraced Christianity’s influence on civil matters, and God’s moral laws were encoded into our judicial system.

That godly heritage has been abandoned and rejected, and I believe we are paying the price today. Greed isn’t good. The lack of personal integrity has massive consequences. We’ve built a culture of our own making that is on the verge of destruction.

...

This is a time of testing for our country. Will we acknowledge our sin and turn back to God? Will we call on God for help in our hour of distress, or will we continue to further distance ourselves from His aid?

God always leaves room for repentance. He is patient and long-suffering. But there comes a time when He finally allows us to reap what we’ve sown. That will be a bitter harvest, one that I pray we will not experience.

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Right Wing Marks Katrina Anniversary

Submitted by Ezra on August 31, 2007 - 2:51pm

New Orleans after Katrina Two years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other stretches of the Gulf Coast. At the time, the response by many on the Right was to blame the victims and/or social-service programs, and to take advantage of the “golden opportunity” to advance a far-right economic agenda. Remember Pat Buchanan, who criticized the “failure” of the “character and conduct” of the population of New Orleans, who “waited for the government to come save them” and “screamed into the cameras for help”? Then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) called for “tougher penalties” for those who were stranded when the storm hit and the city was flooded. Bill O’Reilly saw video footage of the tragedy as an ideal object lesson for young people: “If you refuse to learn, if you refuse to work hard, if you become addicted, if you live a gangsta-life, you will be poor and powerless just like many of those in New Orleans.” (Watch the video.)

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Praise for the Genocidal Regime in Sudan

Submitted by Kyle on April 12, 2007 - 3:15pm

Reverend Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council and Faith and Action says he just returned from Sudan and Darfur and apparently likes what he sees:

The Reverend Rob Schenck … returned over the Easter weekend from a seven-day diplomatic mission to Khartoum, Sudan and its Darfur state … The purpose of the mission was to engage Khartoum's government in dialogue on religion and human rights and to gain first-hand information on the state of religious liberty in the officially Islamic country.

"I was surprised by what we found in Sudan," said Schenck. "The new unity government and various peace plans seem to be working. There is new power sharing with Christians, but much remains to be done. It's an extremely complex situation, one we need look at afresh."

Schenck added, "Evangelical believers in Khartoum gave us a strong message against U.S. sanctions, one I intend to deliver to President Bush."

Schenck just returned from visiting with the Sudanese leadership in Khartoum, a regime which is accused of orchestrating a genocidal counter-insurgency campaign against the people of Darfur with the assistance of government-backed Janjaweed militias who routinely rape women, torture men and burn victims alive, killing nearly a half-million people and displacing millions more.

And he returns pledging to press the Bush Administration not to implement sanctions simply because there appears to be some “power sharing with Christians” - even as the regime continues to kill African Muslims throughout the region.

Schenck’s visit was hosted by Sudan's Foreign Ministry at the same time as Rep. James McGovern was being denied entry into Sudan because he refused to “[meet] with government officials, saying he wanted to visit the refugee sites alone.” Presumably, Khartoum realized that McGovern and Schenck would have different messages to share with the US public once they returned, which is why one was welcomed and the other barred.

Schenck is not alone in thinking that the regime in Khartoum ought to be rewarded simply because, while it continues to kill the mostly Muslim people of Darfur, it has stopped war against the mostly Christian south. In February, Franklin Graham also returned from a meeting in Khartoum with similar views:

Graham said he came away thinking that Bashir, who now stands accused of presiding over the killing of at least 200,000 people in the Darfur region in the country's west, deserves credit for signing the peace agreement with rebels in the south in 2005.

Although human rights activists and some U.S. officials are counseling tougher measures against Bashir's government to end the violence in Darfur -- and to more fully implement a faltering peace agreement with the south -- Graham said that a softer approach is needed.

"I'm not a politician, but I think our government does need to recognize some steps he's taken and reward this government in some way to show them we appreciate what they have done" regarding southern Sudan, said Graham, the son of famed evangelist Billy Graham and head of the international Christian relief group Samaritan's Purse. "I think we can do more when we're engaged."

…

Graham said Bashir pledged to allow groups to build their churches and to look into Graham's other requests, including one for $15 million to help rebuild at least 600 churches in the south destroyed during the war.

Of course, there are other faith organizations that have been vocal in their concern about the victims of Darfur, such as Evangelicals for Darfur and the dozens of organization affiliated with Save Darfur. Graham and Schenck don’t appear to be members of either.