Robertson, Pat 700

--> trump

corrupt w raph reed?

conspir

see DN obit

AN 1 25

J. Dylan Sandifer is now a sociology professor at the University of the District of Columbia, but Sandifer didn't grow up in the U.S. capitol. Sandier was raised in East Texas and had a strict evangelical fundamentalist upbringing — and now rejects that ideology.

In a biting think piece published by The New Republic on January 13, Sandifer emphasizes that one of most troubling characteristics of far-right evangelical Christian fundamentalists is their disdain for "critical thinking." And that disdain, Sandifer warns, poses a threat to democracy itself.

"Growing up in the evangelical church in the piney woods of East Texas, the world felt circumscribed by an ever-present fear — not just of sin but of ideas that might challenge the worldview handed down to those of us in the pews," Sandifer explains. "Everything outside the Christian framework — including secular music, television, and books — was discouraged. Just as I signed multiple purity pledges throughout my preteen and teen years, promising to avoid not just sex, but even impure thoughts, we were taught to practice absolute abstinence from dangerous ideas."

READ MORE:['Utterly inadequate': Conservative warns Trump 'major war' is looming — and he’s not ready

The "evangelical distrust of intellectual inquiry," Sandifer observes, "has found a powerful ally in American right-wing politics" — going back to the late Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr.'s alliance with President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.

"The rise of Jerry Falwell Sr.'s Moral Majority and its embrace by the Reagan campaign provided organizational structure to these fears, helping translate religious anxieties about intellectual corruption into political action," the sociology professor observes. "Building on the foundation laid during the Reagan Administration, figures like Pat Robertson continued to leverage this partnership in the 1990s through organizations like the Christian Coalition of America."

Sandifer adds, "They capitalized on fears of moral decline to mobilize voters and influence policy, solidifying evangelical influence within the Republican Party."

With President-elect Donald Trump's encouragement, Sandifer warns, the "alliance between evangelical Christianity and conservative politics" has "fostered a cultural paranoia that seeks to limit the range of acceptable ideas."

READ MORE:[Revealed: Allies are grilling career intel staff to ensure total loyalty to Trump

"In an era of rising authoritarianism and deepening social division," the sociology profess writes, "our capacity to think critically about ideas rather than fear them may well determine whether democracy survives. The question isn't whether we can protect ourselves from ideas, but whether we can develop the intellectual resources to evaluate ideas thoughtfully."

READ MORE:['It is tremendous': Kremlin insiders explain how Trump is already helping advance Putin’s goals

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/pat-robertson-religious-right-icon-dies-leaves-harmful-legacy/

https://www.alternet.org/pat-robertson-2661178558/

Thursday, June 8, the Rev. Pat Robertson — a far-right Christian fundamentalist and the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and the Christian Coalition — died in Virginia Beach at the age of 93. Robertson was a controversial figure in U.S. politics and within Christianity, but he was also highly influential. And he helped shape the radical Christian nationalism that the late conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) vehemently warned against more than 40 years ago.

Robertson founded CBN in 1961, launching his program "The 700 Club" several years later. But it wasn't until the early 1980s that he became so influential in the Republican Party. Along with the late Moral Majority founder the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr. and Pentecostal evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, Robertson was a major supporter of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and helped the Religious Right gain considerable influence in the Republican Party.

It wasn't influence that Goldwater welcomed. The Arizona senator was part of Reagan's right-wing coalition, but he viewed the Religious Right as dangerous and saw far-right evangelicals like Robertson, Falwell and Swaggart as toxic for the conservative movement. President Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign painted Goldwater as a war-mongering extremist in the 1964 presidential election; during the 1980s, Goldwater's vehement opposition to the Religious Right made him an unlikely ally of liberals and progressives and a favorite among right-wing libertarians.

Goldwater warned, "Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the (Republican) Party — and they're sure trying to do so — it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."

Goldwater's warning was downright prophetic. From the early 1980s on, the Religious Right has maintained a stranglehold on the GOP. Conservative Republicans who openly oppose the Religious Right the way that Goldwater did will not get very far in a Republican presidential primary.

Robertson himself ran for president in 1988, ultimately losing the GOP nomination to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush. As Robertson's supporters saw it, Bush 41 wasn't far enough to the right. Regardless, Bush enjoyed a decisive victory over the Democratic nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mike Dukakis, in the general election.

Goldwater had nothing against Christianity per se, either Protestant or Catholic. But he believed that Robertson and Falwell embodied a very dangerous, fanatical and intolerant strain of religious fundamentalism. And many years after Goldwater's death, Donald Trump was more than happy to encourage that fanaticism during his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Trump sees far-right white evangelicals as crucial to his success in the 2024 election.

In an op-ed published by CNN's website on June 9, historian Nicole Hemmer emphasizes that Robertson helped pave the way for the MAGA movement.

"One of Robertson's most lasting legacies was in the world of politics," Hemmer explains. "Running in the Republican presidential primary in 1988, Robertson pioneered a new style of candidacy that would open the door to presidential hopefuls like Pat Buchanan and Donald Trump. Long before Trump leapt from reality television to the Oval Office, Robertson showed how a celebrity with no political experience could launch a national political campaign."

Hemmer notes that Robertson'sChristian Coalition "became a powerful political force after absorbing the leftover funds of the Robertson campaign — and the millions of names and addresses Robertson had collected while he ran for president."

"Robertson also became a vector for vivid conspiracy theories on the right," Hemmer observes. "His bestselling book 'The New World Order,' published in 1991, played off Bush's use of the phrase in a speech a year earlier. But rather than simply bash Bush, thebook covered every internationalist conspiracy imaginable.Apocalyptic, paranoid and popular, Robertson's conspiracy tract tapped a rich vein of right-wing religion and politics — one that continues to feed the party today…. No assessment of the (Republican) Party's march away from democracy and into demagoguery can be understood without understanding Robertson's role."

After Robertson's death, liberal Washington Post opinion columnist Greg Sargent discussed his influence with historian Rick Perlstein, author of the 2020 book, "Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980."

Perlstein told Sargent, "Robertson's vision buttresses the entire edifice of right-wing evangelical America, in particular his institution-building work creating alternatives to supposedly demonic secular liberal America…. When you think about a right-winger living within the bubble of Fox News, that was pioneered by the Christian Broadcasting Network. The force behind this was 100-percent Pat Robertson. The role of these kinds of institutions in birthing the modern right was that it became a self-supporting world of its own — an entire parallel reality."

Read Nicole Hemmer's CNN op-ed at this link and find Greg Sargent's Washington Post column here (subscription required).

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obit

Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and one of the most influential figures of the Religious Right, has died at the age of 93, according to the Associated Press.

Robertson founded CBN in 1961, but it was in the early 1980s that his influence within the Republican Party grew by leaps and bounds. Along with the Moral Majority's Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr., Robertson played a key role in the rise of the Religious Right — which has since been a highly influential voting block within the GOP.

Over the years, Robertson was known for promoting far-right conspiracy theories. The late conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) believed that far-right evangelicals like Falwell and Robertson were bad for the GOP, yet their influence continued to grow. In 1988, Robertson ran for president as a Republican, but the nomination eventually went to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/pat-robertson-joe-biden-russia/

nuke putin?!

https://washingtonmonthly.com/**2020/12/**30/inside-the-many-conspiracy-theories-about-the-great-reset/

nancy let

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chair of the World Economic Forum, raised an :{important question:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: last December: “What kind of capitalism do we want?” He posited that there were three potential forms:

Shareholder capitalism—which currently dominates Western corporations and is focused on maximizing short-term profits;
State capitalism—otherwise known as “democratic socialism”—which trusts the government with setting the direction of the economy; or
Stakeholder capitalism—a system in which corporations serve the interests of all their stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and local communities.

Schwab founded the World Economic Forum in part to promote the benefits of stakeholder capitalism. During a speech in July, President-elect Joe Biden :{said that:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: “It’s way past time to put the end to the era of shareholder capitalism. The idea [that] the only responsibility a corporation has is its shareholders—that is simply not true …They have a responsibility to their workers, their community, to their country.”

Recognizing that the coronavirus pandemic had exposed “inconsistencies, inadequacies and contradictions of multiple systems—from health and financial to energy and education,” the World Economic Forum launched :{an initiative called:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:“The Great Reset” in June 2020 to extol the principles of stakeholder capitalism. Klaus :{wrote:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: that the initiative’s goals would have three main components.

Governments should improve coordination (for example, in tax, regulatory, and fiscal policy), upgrade trade arrangements, and create the conditions for a “stakeholder economy.”
Investments should advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability.
Innovations of the :{Fourth Industrial Revolution:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: should be harnessed to support the public good, especially by addressing health and social challenges.

Of course, those on the far left who are :{committed:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:to viewing corporations as the enemy have responded to this initiative with derision. But they have a point. For the most part, the Great Reset relies on voluntary efforts from corporations to reform themselves, asking the government to merely “create the conditions” for change. While such efforts may be laudable, they have never been sufficient. Some form of regulatory oversight is necessary.

On the far right, however, the Great Reset has become grist for massive QAnon-like conspiracy theories used by various groups to promote their own self-interests. For example, Justin Haskins is often :{referred:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: to as “a leading authority on the Great Reset” in right-wing media. He not only :{writes:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: for publications like Breitbart, he is the :{editorial director:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: and a research fellow at the Heartland Institute, a libertarian public policy think tank :{founded:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: in 1984 to deny the science of climate change. That is the backdrop on which Haskins distorts the message of the Great Reset, transforming it into a socialist plot to implement the Green New Deal, when in fact it is anything but socialist.

In short, the Great Reset is a proposal to completely alter the entire global economy, moving it more toward collectivism and away from capitalism. According to its most ardent supporters, the purpose for the “Great Reset” is three-fold: (1) repairing the global economic damage caused by the coronavirus; (2) stopping a coming climate change catastrophe; and (3) using the two previously mentioned “crises” as an opportunity to advance socialist ideals, including the destruction of capitalism and individual rights.

Another major proponent of a conspiracy theory about the Great Reset is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò,aformer Vatican ambassador to the United States and an outspoken adversary of Pope Francis. In October, he :{penned a letter:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: to Donald Trump warning that “the whole world is being threatened by a global conspiracy against God and humanity.”

A global plan called the Great Reset is underway. Its architect is aglobal élite that wants to subdue all of humanity, imposing coercive measures with which to drastically limit individual freedoms and those of entire populations…

The purpose of the Great Resetis the imposition of a health dictatorship aiming at the imposition of liberticidal measures, hidden behind tempting promises of ensuring a universal income and cancelling individual debt. The price of these concessions from the International Monetary Fund will be the renunciation of private property and adherence to a program of vaccination against Covid-19 and Covid-21 promoted by Bill Gateswith the collaboration of the main pharmaceutical groups…

As is now clear, the one who occupies the Chair of Peter has betrayed his role from the very beginning in order to defend and promote the globalist ideology, supporting the agenda of the deep church, who chose him from its ranks.

According to Viganò, the “deep state” has now been joined by the “deep church,” headed by the Pope he :{attempted:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: to unseat.

Tucked away in Viganò’s letter is a reference to another conspiracy theory recently :{promoted:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}:by televangelist Pat Robertson about Biden merely being a placeholder for a Harris presidency. The archbishop wrote that, “It is obvious that those who manipulate [Biden] already have someone worse than him ready, with whom they will replace him as soon as the opportunity arises.” It should come as no surprise, then, that Christian nationalists have once again joined far right Catholics in spreading lies.

[vid]

if all of this talk about a globalist conspiracy crafted by the elites sounds familiar, that’s because it has always been the foundational message coming from Steve Bannon, who :{joined:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: Archbishop Viganò in attempting to undermine Pope Francis. Bannon is now using his Youtube channel :{to promote:(style="box-sizing:inherit"):}: a slightly different, but even more sinister take on the Great Reset.

In Bannon-land, the great reset is an opportunity for the elite cabal to “depopulate” the earth to 500 million, then genetically engineer humankind using “the convergence of artificial intelligence, advances in chip design and bioengineering.” He explains that the Democrats are attempting to “steal this election” because “if they can thwart the will of the people in this country,” they’ll be able to achieve the great reset by taking down populist movements in other countries as well.

As you can see, whether your agenda is to deny climate change, challenge the Pope, or warn of an impending apocalypse, the Great Reset can be twisted into a conspiracy theory to meet your needs, regardless of how many lies that requires.

180 on scotus loss?

no lnx vid twt

'It's all over': Televangelist Pat Robertson says a 'very erratic' Trump lives in an 'alternative reality'

Pat Robertson

Matthew Chapman and Raw Story December 22, 2020

Rev. Pat Robertson, a fixture of right-wing evangelical commentary and one of President Donald Trump's longtime supporters, declared that Joe Biden will be president and urged Trump to accept that fact.

The outgoing president, said Robertson, "lives in an alternate reality" and "is very erratic," in footage posted by Right Wing Watch. Robertson said to Trump, "You've had your day and it's time to move on" — and added that Trump should not try to run again in 2024, something he has been reportedly considering.

Trump won overwhelming majorities of white evangelical voters both times he ran for president. They have been a reliable component of his coalition and critical to the GOP's viability in elections.

Watch below:

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an 120

pat Robertson: 'The Lord told me' Trump will be reelected — and help set off the Apocalypse

Alex Henderson

Christian fundamentalist evangelical and televangelist Pat Robertson is predicting that President Donald Trump will and usher in the end of the world

https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/trump-evangelicals-2649541067/

alexh

Christian Right is in mourning over President Donald Trump being voted out of office. Pat Robertson, the far-right evangelical who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, has declared that the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, 2021 must be prevented, saying, "We will not give up this great country. And Satan, you cannot have it." But the irony is that the incoming president is much more religious than Trump, who has demonstrated how little he knows about Christianity and the Bible.

Although Trump was raised Presbyterian, religion was never a high priority in his life. But when he ran for president in 2016, Trump realized that the Christian Right was a prominent voting bloc in the GOP and went out of his way to pander to the far-right White evangelicals he had no connection to in the past. The Trump of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s was more of a Blue Dog Democrat than a GOP culture warrior, and he spent a lot more time in casinos than in churches.

Journalist Ed Kilgore, in an article published by New York Magazine on December 17, notes Trump's history of butchering Biblical references during his speeches.

Kilgore explains, "Before Donald Trump became the very favorite politician of White conservative evangelicals, he was regularly a figure of sport for displaying exceptional ignorance in all matters religious. A particularly rich example of his clumsiness occurred when he was campaigning at evangelical stronghold Liberty University early in 2016 and tried to quote a Bible verse that was very familiar to the audience, since it's etched on several buildings there."

Kilgore adds that there were many other "religious gaffes Trump committed while stumping for votes" in 2016.

"On another occasion along the campaign trail," Kilgore recalls, "Trump was asked about his favorite line of scripture. He delivered a word salad for a while and finally tried to recall 'an eye for an eye,' not the sort of thing Christians of any variety consider normative for the faith of the Prince of Peace…... Just prior to the Iowa caucuses, Trump was in a Council Bluffs church when a plate came down the pews with communion bread on it. The billionaire misidentified it as a collection plate and put a couple of bills on it."

Kilgore also notes that in 2017, Trump met with two Presbyterian minsters and was surprised to learn that they didn't consider themselves evangelicals but rather, described themselves as "Mainline Protestants."

Of course, anyone with even a basic knowledge of Christianity realizes that Presbyterians aren't evangelicals any more than Episcopalians or Lutherans — two other examples of Mainline Protestants — are evangelicals. And there's no way that either Biden, a devout Catholic, or former President Barack Obama, a Mainline Protestant, would have made that mistake or confused a communion plate with a collection plate. Unlike Trump, Biden and Obama both have a long history of being churchgoing Christians and obviously have an extensive knowledge of the Bible.

[twt]

if Pat Robertson were to sit down with Biden or Obama, they could have an in-depth conversation about scripture. Yet Robertson, like much of the Christian Right, adores Trump while hating Biden and Obama — which underscores the deeply tribalist nature of the Christian Right.

The Christian Right has long been a hate movement, and it is as much about White nationalism and far-right identity politics as it is about Protestant fundamentalism. The late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr., founder of Liberty University and co-founder of the Moral Majority, was a notorious segregationist during the 1950s and 1960s, when he vigorously defended Jim Crow laws in the pulpit and argued that the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a not a true Christian because of his anti-segregation views. During the 1980s, Falwell defended the racist apartheid regime in South African and encouraged Christians to buy krugerrands to support it.

The late Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, known for being an arch-conservative in his day, was vehemently critical of Falwell and the Christian Right during the 1980s — describing them as dangerous fanatics and warning that the GOP was making a huge mistake by allying itself with that movement. But many Republicans ignored Goldwater, much to the GOP's detriment.

To the Christian Right and far-right White evangelicals, the fact that Biden and Obama are more religious than Trump is irrelevant. Robertson, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, James Dobson (founder of Focus on the Family) and other evangelical Trump supporters are extreme tribalists, and they view Trump as part of their tribe — which is why Trump got a pass when, according to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen, he had extramarital affairs with a porn star (Stormy Daniels) and a Playboy model (Karen McDougal) and paid them hush money to keep quiet.

Trump repeatedly attacked Biden as anti-Christian during his 2020 presidential campaign. But in 2017, Trump didn't even know the difference between Presbyterians and evangelicals.

The Christian Right will miss Trump dearly when he leaves off on January 20, 2021. And no matter how much Biden goes to church or accurately quotes the Bible, it won't matter to the far-right evangelical extremists who value White identity politics above all else.

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ah, the hits

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/pat-robertson-blames-coronavirus-pandemic-on-wicked-same-sex-marriage/

nacla

Even as word of the genocide leaked out, Ríos Montt maintained friendships with prominent U.S. evangelical Christians Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Ronald Reagan had won the presidency in 1980 by flipping the evangelical vote away from the Democrats, who had helped elect Carter four years before. In 1982, Reagan traveled to Guatemala during the genocideand dismissed reports of abuses, saying that Ríos Montt was “totally dedicated to democracy in Guatemala.” Reagan said “frankly I’m inclined to believe” Ríos Montt has been “getting a bum rap.”

wapo 1/20

dallek

At times, the wild-eyed conspiracism came from the top. Vice President Spiro Agnew delivered speeches identifying a cabal of Washington- and New York-based power brokers who supposedly controlled the news media, whipping up what journalists at the time considered a frenzy of anti-Semitism on the far right. (In 1976, a few years after he’d been indicted on bribery and other charges, Agnew published a novel pushing the anti-Semitic trope that the media’s “Zionist lobby” was controlling America’s foreign policy in the Middle East.)

At other times, understanding that they had to court the conspiracy-minded activists of “the base,” the party’s leaders went out of their way to confer legitimacy on extremists. Take the GOP’s relationship with Christian Coalition leader Pat Robertson, who won four states in the 1988 Republican presidential primary contest. In 1991, Robertson published “The New World Order,” holding that scheming government pooh-bahs were working to set up “world government, a world police force, world courts, world banking and currency, and a world elite in charge of it all.” He even suggested that President George H.W. Bush was complicit in establishing this new world order. Still, Republicans wanted votes and donations from Robertson’s acolytes, so Newt Gingrich, Oliver North, William Bennett, Jack Kemp, Jesse Helms and Dinesh D’Souza all happily spoke at his “Road to Victory” conferences. Sen. Bob Dole, a pillar of the Republican establishment and at the time a presidential candidate, told Robertson’s followers in 1995 that “I am proud to stand up here and say that I’ve been awarded a 100 percent voting record in ’93 and 100 percent in 1994 and 100 percent in 1995” from the Christian Coalition.

During the Clinton years, the crackpot theorizing became harder and harder to distinguish from the Republican Party itself. Conservative billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife sent investigators to Arkansas to dig up dirt on the president’s past, and when they failed, they settled for salacious fabrications that Bill Clinton was part of a drug-smuggling ring. Scaife became what The Post called “a guiding force” behind Speaker Gingrich’s Contract With America and a later generation of tea party activists. The Rev. Jerry Falwell, a leader of the religious right (his son is a big Trump supporter), started selling a $43 videotape that among other charges said Clinton was responsible for the deaths of “countless people.”

rww random grab 1019

Pat Robertson warns that President Donald Trump is a modern-day Neville Chamberlain for abandoning Syria, predicting that though he’ll be re-elected in 2020,America will find itself struggling to survive as the nation fights off attacks from Russia, China, North Korea, and Turkey.
Ted Baehr knows why Hollywood dislikes Trump: “He’s one of the last bulwarks to say we need religion, we need faith, we need values.”
Rick Wiles that “America is a military occupied country” that is under “Israeli-Zionist control.”
Wayne Allyn Root is threatening to move to Utah to run for the Senate because “Mike Lee and Mitt Romney are frauds” and “Democrat assets.”
Finally, Dave Kubal explains why evangelicals continue to support Trump: “When I seeclear demonic activity—arbitrary distortions of processes, illegal leaking of information, and known evil sources being utilized—my discernment tells me this activity is a demonic attack on someone being used to accomplish God’s purposes. The watchman watches for God’s activity, and also the enemy’s.”

Tags: Dave Kubal Pat Robertson Rick Wiles Ted Baehr Wayne Allyn Root Leftovers Intercessors for America

https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/how-pat-robertsons-christian-tv-empire-created-a-shadow-government-and-led-to-donald-trump/

no lnx

How Pat Robertson’s Christian TV empire created a ‘shadow government’ — and led to Donald Trump

Written by Chauncey DeVega / Salon August 29, 2019

Last week Donald Trump shared a message on Twitter from a racist conspiracy theorist proclaiming that he, the president, was viewed by Jewish people as the “Second Coming of God” and the “King of Israel.”

The mytho-religious aspects of this “endorsement” likely have no meaning for Donald Trump. Such claims matter to Trump primarily because they stroke his megalomania. Trump the malignant narcissist authoritarian and fascist seeks out praise from wherever it may come. As such, Donald Trump frequently praises himself in the grandest and most absurd terms possible: for example, Trump’s looking to the sky last week as if looking for a sign from God and then telling journalists and the world that he is in fact the “chosen one.”

Beyond personal grandiosity, Trump’s endorsement of his status as the “Second Coming” and the “King of Israel” were important signals to his two most loyal groups of supporters.

Christian nationalists, evangelicals, “reconstructionists” and “dominionists” support Donald Trump because they see him as a means of overturning the U.S. Constitution and its rules separating church and state, with the ultimate goal of creating a Christian theocracy.Trump’s racist supporters are buoyed and encouraged by his sharing (another) message from a member of their movement. Collectively, these Trump supporters are eager to put an end to America’s multiracial democracy.

Terry Heaton was a television news executive for the Christian Broadcasting Network during the 1980s, where he worked primarily on “The 700 Club,” its signature news and talk show. Heaton also served as one of Pat Robertson’s advisers during his 1988 presidential campaign.

Terry Heaton is also the author of several books including his most recent, “The Gospel of Self: How Pat Robertson Stole the Soul of the GOP.”

I spoke to Heaton recently about how and why right-wing evangelical Christians have come to worship and love Donald Trump, a man who is an unapologetic sinner. Heaton also offers insights on the direct connection between evangelical-oriented media such as his former employer at CBN, Christian nationalism, Fox News and Donald Trump’s conquest of the Republican Party and its voters. Heaton also warns about the power and influence of Robertson and his “shadow government” of right-wing evangelicals, who have waged a decades-long campaign to overthrow secular democracy in America.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. You can also listen to my full conversation with Terry Heaton through the player embedded below.

How do you make sense of Donald Trump’s rise to power and why so many Christians support him, given his evident values and behavior?

One of the things that has always puzzled me about the Trump phenomenon is that he would never have been elected had he not been able to recruit people for whom his policies would be harmful. But many of these voters consider their faith first. As I wrote in my book “The Gospel of Self,” they see affluence around them and in their minds there is no reason they too can’t be rich one day.

There is also this belief from a certain Biblical perspective thatDonald Trump is a type of King Cyrus. Cyrus was the Persian king who released the Israelites from captivity and then let them go back to Jerusalem and build the temple. Connecting Trump to King Cyrus has been written about a great deal in certain Christian publications.

Cyrus wasn’t a righteous man. He was a reprobate and a pagan. But the point is that God used him for good. Many of these Christians look at Trump and they say the same thing could be going on with him. The ends then justify the means, and to them supporting Trump means getting their Supreme Court justices, “religious freedom,” prayer in schools and all their related concerns about “morality.” This of course includes abortion and same-sex marriage.

What should be viewed as major mistakes by Donald Trump, in terms of his behavior and policy-making, are just dismissed by many conservatives because of their religious beliefs. He also promised to “drain the swamp,” which these voters find to be very appealing and compelling language.

But Trump has not in fact “drained the swamp.” He is the head swamp-monster. He is violating the emoluments clauses of the United States Constitution. He has put crony capitalists in charge of his administration. Trumpism is a version of what is known as “state capture” by private interests — the kind of thing that happens in Third World countries and so-called banana republics.

Trump supporters do not see it that way — and that is the problem. In order to reach Trump’s Christian evangelical supporters it has to be a Christian message. You will not convince those people with a rational or secular argument. It has to be from a Biblical perspective, because that’s the only thing they listen to.

For example, in talking with these voters, how about we agree that God put Donald Trump in office? Now if we agree on that, then we also have to also come to an agreement that throughout the history in the Bible where God has done such things, it was not always for the good of the believers. God has put certain people in power in order to punish others, to disappoint them.

I think that could well be going on with Donald Trump. Trump’s Christian supporters believe that God is upset with America’s culture. But the Bible says that judgment begins at the house of God. So if God is angry with the culture, guess who he holds responsible? Not the culture, but the church. And I think that’s an argument that you can win with Trump’s Christian supporters.

Do these right-wing Christian leaders actually believe that Donald Trump is a tool of God? It isn’t simply transactional, where they and others are getting what they want, but they know in their hearts and minds that Trump — by their own criteria — is a wicked sinner?

Yes, they do believe it. They believe the King Cyrus argument. It is being used in many places all over the Christian world now. Yes, Trump’s behavior is terrible. Yes, Donald Trump is the opposite of what we would hold up as good Christian. But it doesn’t matter, because God used King Cyrus and God can use Donald Trump in the same way. This is why it Is so hard to speak in rational terms with Donald Trump’s Christian evangelical supporters. King Cyrus is their ultimate explanation.

If you know the Bible, then you also know the places in the Bible to which these people turn for everything. Then you can make opposing arguments within the scope of the Bible itself. And that’s what I’m trying to do. It is not easy.

In terms of biblical hermeneutics, how can one group of Christians actually believe that Jesus Christ — assuming he even existed — is some type of gun-toting, nationalist plutocrat who wants to punish the poor and bless the rich, while other Christians believe exactly the opposite?

The doctrines of the church are man-made. A person can argue for the inerrancy of the Bible, but they cannot make a compelling claim that man-made doctrines are perfect. Either people are infallible or the Fall of Man never took place.

White evangelicals and other white Christians also need to confront the racism and white supremacy in their churches and religious communities.

The Southern Baptist denomination was formed for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to keep whites from interacting with African-Americans. It’s tragic. If one believes that the rise of Trump means the death of all that is good and holy, then we may be missing out on some real good that can come out of how Trump and his movement are really exposing the deep problems in this country with racism and other social issues. Trump is putting all of America’s problems on the metaphorical table for the whole world to see.

How did you initially get involved with “The 700 Club”?

I was working for a TV station in Louisville, Kentucky, called WHAS. I was a host and producer of a magazine show that was popular back in the late ’70s called “PM Magazine”. I got this packet in the mail one day from a young woman who was going to CBN University, and she was doing a study on magazine show burnout — what happens to people who produce these kinds of daily high-pressure programs.

I filled out the questionnaire and sent it back to her. She called me the next week and said, “You must be a Christian because the way you answered the questions is not like the other people.”

The first story on my audition reel was a story about a thoroughbred horse photographer in Lexington, Kentucky. I did not know that Pat Robertson was obsessed with thoroughbred horses. And the fact that I did that story with just a photographer and myself was impressive to Pat Robertson and the network, as they were struggling with how to do that kind of work. I really could have written my own ticket. The fact that they offered me a job wasn’t really a surprise. I was out of work when I accepted the job. But it wasn’t just the money. I was really up for the challenge.

Many people believe that Ted Turner’s gift to television is 24-hour news. But Turner’s real gift was that he took graphics production technology out of the hands of engineers and put it in the hands of artists. That revolutionized television production on a scale that most people do not realize. It was remarkable. I knew that, so I hired a gentleman from New York who was the godfather of television graphics and he came in and built a graphics production facility that was second to none.

Many of the techniques perfected by Fox News were actually borrowed from CBN, such as the style, tone and obvious bias that is used to frame the narrative.

Ten years before Fox News, there was CBN News. There was “The 700 Club.” CBN had a slogan, “TV Journalism with a Different Spirit.” We pioneered point-of-view journalism for television. In so doing, because Pat Robertson was very conservative politically, he was able to blend Republican Party politics and conservative politics with the Bible, and in so doing he presented a consistent message that if you were for Jesus, then you were for the Republican Party. From a journalistic standpoint, we were presenting a right-wing version of the news.

Where did that slogan come from? It is so seductive.

The marketing genius of CBN cannot be underestimated. The people who worked there were brilliant. George Gallup was our researcher. We had very smart people who saw marketing as a way to move people to make social and political change — and the change that CBN wanted was to move people from wherever they were to the right. Not only did Pat Robertson and CBN move people to the right, we moved the Republican Party to the right. This was all built upon a fallacy that it was OK for us to present right-wing news programming because everything else was supposedly left-wing. To say there is left-wing news is just not true.

We at CBN had no business presenting political propaganda as news, and other people picked up on what we were doing. For example, Fox News says that they’re “fair and balanced.” What are they balancing? Well, they claim they’re balancing the liberal media. It is based on a false assumption.

CBN is a business. How did faith mate with profit-seeking? How did the “faithful” reconcile making all that money with the network and “The 700 Club” in particular? Were there ever any conversations about how poor people were being exploited by the pledge drives, for example?

That’s a very cynical way of looking at it. I appreciate your question, but that is not the way it really was. We were trying to change the world for Jesus. These were really wonderful, well-intentioned people. That’s what we were doing. We never did anything that messed with people’s faith. We wanted to present this all as “You, the viewer, are being a faithful Christian.” Now if you go back and look at Pat Robertson’s book “The Secret Kingdom,” which he wrote in the early to mid 1980s — which is a handbook, a self-help book based on the Bible — that is where I started to really have problems with what we were doing at CBN. Because it is so easy to get caught up in that aspect of the message that you forget the other parts of the Bible, such as helping the poor.

I had a meeting with Pat when I became senior producer and responsible for fundraising on TV. I said, “Pat, if I’m going to do this, you’re going to have to teach me about fundraising.” So we had lunch one day, and we ate and had our pleasantries, and then got a pot of coffee and cleared the table away. And he said, “Write this down. People give to this ministry for these reasons, and in this order. How does it help me? How does it help my family? How does it help my neighborhood? How does it help my community? How does it help my state? How does it help my country? And how does it help somebody else?”

So if you can craft a message that appeals to the self, then you can raise money. And the last reason people give is so they can help somebody else. If you really want to raise money, you’ve got to appeal to the person’s sense of self-interest. You’ve got to talk to them in a way that they understand that you are talking to them. Craft the fundraising message in a way that appeals to their sense of self-worth, their sense of self-growth, their sense of place in the world. Speak to their ego.

How do we connect the dots from Pat Robertson’s decision to run for president with where America is today with Donald Trump and his takeover of the Republican Party?

Pat Robertson was very effective at creating a shadow government of religious conservatives. That was his message. Pat wrote a book about this shadow government after he dropped out of the presidential race. Robertson said that his greatest contribution was raising up people like Sarah Palin. She is a classic example of the shadow government of “The 700 Club.” But this shadow government and people like Palin are all over the United States now. This was a grassroots effort to build the reserves, if you will, for the legislature, at school boards, city councils, then state legislatures and on up.

You would be amazed at the number of people who are in key positions right now. It is why the religious right and Robertson’s shadow government have been so much more effective than many people know. If this was a top-down approach it would be easy to stop because all you have to do is identify the top leadership and then you can cut it off. But now you can’t. This Christian right-wing shadow government is very much a grassroots movement that starts with the message of conservatism. Now I would go so far as to say it is nationalism. It is not just rural, red-state Christians. This movement is in the suburban churches too, the big megachurches where the congregation then takes the message back to their neighborhoods and their friends and so on.

You need to understand that white Christian nationalists, Christian fundamentalists, are not in any one denomination or any one particular church. They are everywhere. Many of them were raised on what we created at “The 700 Club.” They are in charge of a large voting bloc. They are not going to be swayed by logical arguments. It will take people from within their own version of Christianity, that world, to help right the wrongs they are doing to the country.

Can we draw a more or less straight line from Pat Robertson and “The 700 Club” in 1988 to Donald Trump’s presidency today?

Absolutely. I don’t see how it’s possible for it not to be. The role of evangelicals in the election of Donald Trump is still underestimated because he is such a reprobate. Many people have difficulty believing that the church could possibly be involved in Donald Trump’s election. But again, those who do not want to accept how Christians can support Donald Trump are not properly thinking about how this all came to pass in America.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/pat-robertson-establishes-a-shield-of-protection-against-hurricane-florence

Televangelist Pat Robertson spoke at a special prayer service at his Christian Broadcasting Network, ordering Hurricane Florence not to harm any of his facilities and to turn back out to sea.

At the moment, Hurricane Florence is a Category 4 storm that is expected to hit the eastern coast of the United States sometime later this week. In preparation, Robertson is declaring a “shield of protection” over his CBN network and Regent University and calling on God to intervene and turn the storm away from land.

Robertson claimed that when he first arrived in Virginia in 1961 to establish CBN, the region was threatened by Hurricane Esther, which he feared would destroy his fledgling network. As such, Robertson and his staff gathered in prayer and commanded the storm to shift course, which he claims miraculously happened because God stepped in to save CBN.

With another storm approaching, Robertson again gathered with CBN staff today to order Florence to veer away from land and produce no damage.

“I don’t want that thing to come in,” Robertson said. “I don’t want it to hurt Regent, I don’t wait it to hurt CBN, I don’t want it to tear up the beautiful campus, I don’t want it to tear these trees down, I don’t want to see any damage, I don’t want a bunch of glass flowing, and I don’t want [damage] all over this area that is counting on us to pray for them.”

Robertson then commanded Florence, in the name of Jesus, to change its path away from land and to spin off into the Atlantic ocean.

“We declare in the name of the Lord that you shall go no farther, you shall do no damage in this area,” he said. “We declare a shield of protection all over Tidewater and we declare a shield of protection over those innocent people in the path of this hurricane. In Jesus’ holy name, be out to sea!”

Robertson then assured those who had gathered in prayer that they will “live to mark this day” as the moment when their prayers guaranteed that “we are not going to let Hurricane Florence hurt us.”

proto-fox

The bitter political and religious divides we see today in America have roots that go back many decades. The televangelist Pat Robertson was one of the first to determine how battlelines were drawn. Robertson, now a leading and unflinching Trump supporter, rose to national prominence in the 1960s with hisChristian Broadcasting Network and his hit show The 700 Club.

Terry Heaton, who worked alongside Robertson at The 700 Club and became its executive producer, provides the inside story of how evangelical Christianity forced itself on a needy Republican Party in order to gain political influence on a global level. Using deliberate and strategic social engineering, The 700 Club moved Christians steadily into the Republican Party–and moved the party itself to the right.

With a gospel message that appealed to self-interest, The 700 Club violated numerous laws in an attempt to create a Shadow Government of Evangelicals, all in the name of doing God’s work on earth. The results of this longterm campaign were fully on display in the 2016 electoral season.

222 pages • Paperback ISBN 978-1-682190-83-8 • E-book 978-1-682190-84-5

http://www.orbooks.com/catalog/gospel-self-terry-heaton/

http://www.risingupwithsonali.com/terry-heaton-discusses-his-book-the-gospel-of-self-how-jesus-joined-the-gop-extended-interview/

TERRY HEATON: Televangelist Pat Robertson is not happy that Donald Trump is facing mass criticism for his unprofessional, dishonest, and unconstitutional policies. Robertson said recently, “the Lord’s plan is being put in place for America and these people are not only revolting against Trump, they’re revolting against what God’s plan is for America.”

He added, “These left-wingers and so-called progressives are trying to destroy the country that we love and take away the freedoms they love. They want collectivism. They want socialism. What we’re looking at is free markets and freedom from this terrible, overarching bureaucracy.”

Trump, whose lifestyle isn’t exactly terribly Christian, has embraced evangelical constituencies and their values as stated by Robertson. It is worth, now more than ever, to examine theorigins of the movement that sees capitalism and selfishness as a religious virtue.

Warning sounded by man who helped

bring Trump to power

Terry Heaton, above, once a key figure in televangelist Pat Robertson’s The 700 Club, recently announced that he was about to publish a book that would show howright-wing Christian zealots succeeded in hijacking the Republican Party.

He wrote here:

As political events began to take shape last year in the US and specifically with the candidacy of Donald Trump, I began gathering all of the documents from my days as Pat Robertson’s producer in the 1980s. I could sense what was happening and felt a sense of responsibility for at least some of it, for as producer of The 700 Club, I had played a key role in our efforts to influence Republican Party politics.

Lamenting the period in which he helped sow the seeds that led eventually to the flourishing idolatry of the venomous Trump creature, he warned:

The people addicted to Donald Trump are ushering in something they really don’t understand.

Trump supporters represent a serious and significant threat to freedom, and the sad thing is that most of these people formed the core of our audience target back in the early 80s. The fears they express were planted by us, and while I’m not saying it was insincere, cynical, or corrupt, I am stating that it was a deliberate attempt at social engineering. People need to know this, for we preached what I’m calling ‘the gospel of self’.

Well, today I was informed that Heaton’s book, The Gospel of Self: How Jesus Joined the GOP,has just been published. Publicity for the book says:

The bitter political and religious divides we see today in America have roots that go back many decades. The televangelist Pat Robertson was one of the first to determine how battle-lines were drawn. Robertson, now a leading and unflinching Trump supporter, rose to national prominence in the 1960s with his Christian Broadcasting Network and his hit show The 700 Club.

Terry Heaton, who worked alongside Robertson at The 700 Club and became its Executive producer, Provides the inside story of how evangelical Christianity forced itself on a needy Republican Party in order to gain political influence on a global level. Using deliberate and strategic social engineering, The 700 Club moved Christians steadily into the Republican Party – and moved the party itself to the right.

With a gospel message that appealed to self-interest, The 700 Club violated numerous laws in an attempt to create a Shadow Government of Evangelicals, all in the name of doing God’s work on earth. The results of this long-term campaign were fully on display in the 2016 electoral season.

Heaton adds here:

Evangelical Christians were among Donald Trump’s staunchest allies during the 2016 campaign, and they remain a group the President can count on as he implements even the most extreme of the positions he proclaimed would make America great again.

Chief among these for Evangelicals are: religious freedom allowing for rejection of liberal mandates such as being forced to serve those with whom they disagree theologically (and socially); the ability to have their children pray in school and be exposed to Biblical absolutes; returning to a culture within which access to safe abortions is illegal, and this despite the fact that the abortion rate is now where it was BEFORE Roe v Wade; eliminating the threat of evangelism from what they view as the false religion of Islam and in the process making sure their neighborhoods will be Muslim-free; and a return to a time when – in their opinion – the voice of Christianity was sought, heard, and embraced as relevant by the culture as a whole.

AlterNet [1] / By Janet Allon [2]

8 of the Worst Right-Wing Wackos This Week: War on Science Edition

May 10, 2014 |

1. CNN’s S.E. Cupp to Bill Nye: You science guys are bullying us.

Remember when we all used to agree that science and knowledge were good things? When scholarship was respected? When we looked to educated people to do research and inform us about what was actually going on with the world?

It wasn’t that long ago.

This week, after the White House released a report on just how devastating climate change has shown itself to be right here at home, with superstorms, flooding, droughts and tornadoes already pounding America (and the rest of the world) with increasing frequency—the very phenomena reputable scientists have been warning about for a long time—what did the deniers do?

They upped the ante.

Not only are they impervious to knowledge, reason or fact, they apparently feel attacked by knowledge, reason and fact. So, they counterattacked. On CNN, S.E. Cupp accused scientists of being bullies. Scientists who are just trying to inform people about facts and something that affects us all. WTF is wrong with these people?

It happened on CNN’s Crossfire. Heritage Foundation economist Nicholas Loris argued with science guy Bill Nye and activist Van Jones that the extreme weather trends are "uncertain."

"I’m not a denier, I’m not a skeptic,” Loris said. “What I’m saying is, climate is changing — yes, manmade emission are in some part to that — but we haven’t seen these extreme weather event trends. The observed data doesn’t prove that."

Poor Bill Nye was flabbergasted.

“So let’s just start with, we don’t agree on the facts,” Nye said. “This third report came out, saying it’s very serious, you say no. There’s the essence of the problem, S.E."

That would be the S.E. Cupp from the Heritage Foundation, who then said this to Bill Nye: “Isn’t it a problem when science guys attempt to bully other people? Nick here had to say, ‘I’m not a denier.’ He had to get it out: ‘I’m not a denier.’ Because really, the science group has tried to shame anyone who dares question this, and the point I’m trying to make is, it’s not working with the public.”

Attack the scientists! The purveyors of knowledge! Kill the messengers!

Anyone else getting a Taliban-like feeling from this crew?

2. A sign that Fox News’ Benghazi obsession just might be getting out of hand.

OK, we’re not sure, but we think it just might be possible that Fox News is developing an unhealthy obsession with Benghazi. We’re just worried that maybe they should see someone for that particular problem. There are treatments. Cognitive behavioral therapy can loosen the grip such obsessions have. You can acquire tools to drive away these negative, repetitive thoughts swirling around in your brain. The thoughts that are preventing you from thinking about or doing anything about actual problems like, oh, we don’t know... maybe climate catastrophe!!!

Maybe we’re wrong though. Blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Here’s what got us worried. You tell us. Does this seem like a worrisome sign?

It was on Monday, just after the White House released the landmark report on climate change and its observable disastrous effects. It also announced that President Obama would be doing interviews with local weather announcers and meteorologists around the country to try to get the word out, and deliver the information from a source people generally know and trust, like Al Roker or (insert your local weatherperson here).

Here’s Fox News host Dana Perino on that:

"Tomorrow, President Obama is going to do interviews with meteorologists all across the country about a new climate change report ... I hope they ask him about Benghazi!"

Hear that, Al Roker?

3. Charles Krauthammer continues the assault on science, calling it superstition.

Fox News managed to find another crazy, irresponsible idiot disguised as a sentient being to debunk facts and science: good old Charles Krauthammer. He said on Tuesday that the belief in global climate change is mere “superstition” akin to the “rain dance of Native Americans.”

Why would he say such a provably wrong thing? We have no idea. It could be wishful thinking. Sure, we wish this whole climate change catastrophe would go away, and that we could wake up from it like a bad dream. We wish all these meanie scientists conducting real research based on actual facts would just stop discovering that the news is so very, very bad, and bullying us about it.

Krauthammer took his point a little further, about science actually being superstition. Yah, and the other way around, too. Up is down, Charles. Black is white. No is yes. “It’s always a result of what is ultimately what we’re talking about here, human sin with pollution of carbon. It’s the oldest superstition around. It was in the Old Testament, it’s in the rain dance of Native Americans — if you sin, the skies will not cooperate.”

Still more crazy talk from Chuckie Kraut: “Ninety-nine percent of physicists were convinced that space and time are fixed, until Einstein working in a patent office wrote a paper in which he showed that they are not,” Krauthammer said. “I’m not impressed by numbers, I’m not impressed by consensus.”

What does impress you, Charles? On second thought, maybe don’t answer that.

4. Pat Robertson: Fighting climate change will destroy America.

Pat Robertson added his sober assessment to the news of the new study on climate change’s damaging impact on the U.S. [3] by warning that efforts to combat climate change will [4].”

During his “700 Club” program Monday night, Robertson said actions to curb human-influenced climate change are part of an anti-American “socialist agenda,” saying it all goes back to “the playbook of Obama’s mentor.”

He did not appear to notice that he resembled an insane man as he said it.

Fighting climate change “is high on theagenda of the radicals who want to destroy America, it isn’t high on the agenda of those who really care about what goes on in life,” he said.

Patty, just one question. What the hell are you talking about?

h/t: rightwingwatch [5]

5. Fox News is just wondering if female breadwinners are a recipe for disaster. Just wondering.

It takes a ton of work, a huge budget and an army of numbskulls to try to set the social clock back roughly to the Victorian era. Or maybe just the 1950s. Either way. Lots of work. But the Fox Newsians are on it.

Some women are making good money. More than their husbands, apparently. Is that good? Fox News is just wondering. It’s emasculating. They’re just saying. Just reporting the news, that’s all.

This was the topic of a discussion Brian Kilmeade and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had with author financial writer/professional advice giver Farnoosh Torabi, who managed to be pretty calm in the face of questions like Kilmeade’s: “Is it worth it to have the man be the second highest paid person in the house?”

Because sometimes husbands cheat under those circumstances. And sometimes marriages break up when the man makes less. And we all know that none of those things happen when the man makes more.

And what if he’s the third highest earning person in the house? Like, what if one of the kids' careers takes off. What then? Would he divorce his kids?

Well, we don’t know, but something is going to have to be done, because the statistic they are citing is that in 24 percent of households, women are out-earning men. While normally Fox likes it when people earn money, especially rich people, they like it a little less when women do it, and emasculate their men.

h/t: mediamatters [6]

6.AZChristian pastor: Women in yoga pants partially responsible for rape.

Last month, Dean Saxton, a University of Arizona student who preaches under the name Brother Dean Samuel [7], protested outside a documentary [8] about 1998 Miss World Pageant winner and rape survivor Linor Abargil.

It was her fault, he explained this week in an interview with Vice. She had put out some provocative pictures of herself. Therefore, she was asking for it. “I believe that if she was at home, and if she had kept to her Orthodox Jewishness, that rape would really probably would not have happened.”

Nice. This douchebag also likes to wear T-shirts that say “You whore.”

During his protest, he held a sign that said “You Deserve Rape.” He yelled at women to “give up your immodest clothing” and that “yoga pants are a sin.”

Do not even get him started on downward-facing dog.

h/t: rawstory [9]

7. Tony Perkins warns that condom use leads to tyranny, because, of course it does.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins responded to the news this week that the Department of Education will investigate 55 colleges and universities for “mishandling sexual assault claims [10]” by coming to the very reasonable conclusion that contraception distribution “leads to tyranny.”

Huh? Sorry, Tony. Care to connect those dots for us?

Well, the problem, Perkins said on his “Washington Watch [11]” program, is “the sexualization that is taking place in our culture in general but on college campuses.”

Right, because 18- to 22-year-olds never used to think about sex. Furthest thing from their minds.

“Contraception is made available as if it were candy which sends a message, well it’s there, it must be there for a reason, and then we’re surprised when — this is not justification, it’s wrong, we are all responsible for our actions — but we’re surprised when people act on these outside factors that they are surrounded by,” Perkins sputtered.

Then, the non sequitur he apparently thought followed his already wobbly sequence of kind-of thoughts: “It leads to tyranny,” he said.

Dot connection fail.

h/t: rightwingwatch [12]

8. Gordon Klingenschmitt speculates that forbidden fruit in Genesis might have been marijuana.

Hoo boy! Crazy Gordon Klingenschmitt was at it again the other day on his “Pray in Jesus Name” program. Seems Klingenschmitt, a.k.a. “Dr. Chaps” felt called to respond to those “pot hippies” who cite Genesis 1:29, the line about God having given you "every herb bearing seed," as biblical justification for legalizing weed.

Oh, those dastardly hippies. Reading the bible? That is just low!

Klingenschmitt has cooked up a theory in his busy little brain that maybe the “forbidden fruit” was no apple; it was marijuana (maybe disguised as an apple? or smoked in an apple?).

No, actually, he’s done a little research. The bible does not use the word “apple,” he pointed out. It uses the word “forbidden weed.”

C’mon, people, weed?!! Remind you of anything?

“How do you know that the serpent didn't give pot to Eve and say 'go ahead, and the day that you eat this, you're not going to die,'” Klingenschmitt said. “But you are going to die.”

Oh man, what a buzz kill.

h/t: rightwingwatch [13]

[14]

See more stories tagged with:

s.e. cupp [15],

charles krauthammer [16],

fox news [17],

climate change [18],

climate change denial [19]

Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/8-worst-right-wing-wackos-week-war-science-edition

Links:

chickenhawk

sold cable network? to Murdoch (Palast p 87) 1.82 billion

Ran for pres in '88, some charge, just to generate mailing list (became Xian Coalition?) Presd Ralph Reed

FEC sued CC for funnelling $ to GOP (tax expempt )

pals with Mobuto and Zhu

childood pals of b1? p 92

180 on GW?! While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has recently begun endorsing environmental causes. He appears in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We can Solve it Campaign against global warming.^[31]

http://www.skeptictank.org/robem2.htm

Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930)^[1] is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and business man who espouses American Christian Right political views.

He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family Entertainment Inc., Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, and Regent University.^[1][2] He is the host of The 700 Club, a Christian TV program airing on channels throughout the United States and on CBN affiliates worldwide.^[1]

The son of U.S. Senator A. Willis Robertson, Robertson is a Southern Baptist and was active as an ordained minister with that denomination for many years, but holds to a charismatic theology not traditionally common among Southern Baptists. He unsuccessfully campaigned to become the Republican Party's nominee in the 1988 presidential election.^[3] As a result of his seeking political office, he no longer serves in an official role for any church. His media and financial resources make him a recognized, influential, and controversial public voice for conservative Christianity in the United States.^[4]

Contents[hide]

Life and career

Family

Robertson was born in Lexington, Virginia, into a prominent political family. His parents were Absalom Willis Robertson, a conservative Democratic United States Senator, and his wife Gladys Churchill (née Willis). He married Adelia "Dede" Elmer on August 26, 1954. His family includes four children, among them Gordon P. Robertson and Tim Robertson and, as of mid-2005, fourteen grandchildren.

At a young age, Robertson was given the nickname of Pat by his six-year-old brother, Willis Robertson, Jr., who enjoyed patting him on the cheeks when he was a baby while saying "pat, pat, pat". As he got older, Robertson thought about which first name he would like people to use. He considered "Marion" to be effeminate, and "M. Gordon" to be affected, so he opted for his childhood nickname "Pat".^[4] His strong awareness for the importance of names in the creation of a public image showed itself again during his presidential run when he threatened to sue NBC news for calling him a "television evangelist", which later became "televangelist", at a time when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker were objects of scandal.

Education and military service

When he was eleven, Robertson was enrolled in the preparatory McDonogh School outside Baltimore, Maryland. From 1940 until 1946 he attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He graduated with honors and enrolled at Washington and Lee University, where he majored in history. The claim that he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa is not substantiated by the Phi Beta Kappa membership directory.^[5] He also joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Robertson has said, "Although I worked hard at my studies, my real major centered around lovely young ladies who attended the nearby girls schools."^[6]

In 1948, the draft was reinstated and Robertson was given the option of joining the Marine Corps or being drafted into the army, he opted for the first.

In his words, "We did long, grueling marches to toughen the men, plus refresher training in firearms and bayonet combat." In the same year, he transferred to Korea, "I ended up at the headquarters command of the First Marine Division," says Robertson. "The Division was in combat in the hot and dusty, then bitterly cold portion of North Korea just above the 38th Parallel later identified as the 'Punchbowl' and 'Heartbreak Ridge.' For that service in the Korean War, the Marine Corps awarded me three battle stars for 'action against the enemy.'"^[7]

However, former Republican Congressman Paul "Pete" McCloskey, Jr., who served with Robertson in Korea, wrote a public letter which said that Robertson was actually spared combat duty when his powerful father, a U.S. Senator, intervened on his behalf, and that Robertson spent most of his time in an office in Japan. According to McCloskey, his time in the service was not in combat but as the "liquor officer" responsible for keeping the officers' clubs supplied with liquor. Robertson filed a $35 million libel suit against McCloskey in 1986.^[8] He dropped the case in 1988, before it came to trial and paid McCloskey's court costs.^[9]

Robertson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Laws degree from Yale University Law School in 1955. However, he failed to pass the bar exam,^[10] shortly thereafter underwent his religious conversion, and decided against pursuing a career in law. Instead, Robertson attended the New York Theological Seminary, and was awarded a Master of Divinity degree in 1959.

Religious career

In 1956 Robertson found his faith through Dutch missionary Cornelius Vanderbreggen, who impressed Robertson both by his lifestyle and his message. Vanderbreggen quoted Proverbs (3:5, 6), "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths", which Robertson considers to be the "guiding principle" of his life. He was ordained as a minister of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961.

In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He started it by buying a small UHF station in nearby Portsmouth. Later in 1977 he purchased a local-access cable channel in the Hampton Roads area and called it CBN. Originally he went door-to-door in Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and other surrounding areas asking Christians to buy cable boxes so that they could receive his new channel. He also canvassed local churches in the Virginia Beach area to do the same, and solicited donations through public speaking engagements at local churches and on CBN. One of his friends, John Giminez, the pastor of Rock Church Virginia Beach, was influential in helping Robertson establish CBN with donations, as well as offering the services of volunteers from his church.

CBN is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. He founded the CBN Cable Network, which was renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988 and later simply the Family Channel. When the Family Channel became too profitable for Robertson to keep it under the CBN umbrella without endangering CBN's nonprofit status, he formed International Family Entertainment Inc. in 1990 with the Family Channel as its main subsidiary. Robertson sold the Family Channel to the News Corporation in 1997, which renamed it Fox Family. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program, The 700 Club, twice a day in perpetuity, regardless of any changes of ownership. The channel is now owned by Disney and run as "ABC Family". On December 3, 2007, Robertson resigned as chief executive of CBN; he was succeeded by his son, Gordon.^[11]

Robertson founded CBN University in 1977 on CBN's Virginia Beach campus. It was renamed Regent University in 1989. Robertson serves as its chancellor. He is also founder and president of the American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm that defends Christians whose First Amendment rights have allegedly been violated. The law firm, headquartered in the same building that houses Regent's law school, focuses on "pro-family, pro-liberty and pro-life" cases nationwide.

Robertson is also an advocate of Christian dominionism – the idea that Christians have a right to rule.^[12]

In 1994, he was a signer of the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together.

Pat Robertson was a fundraiser for the Nicaraguan Contras. In March 1986, he told Israeli Foreign Affairs that South Africa was a major contributor to the Reagan administration's efforts to help the anti-Sandinista forces.^[13]

1988 presidential bid

In September 1986, Robertson announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States. Robertson said he would pursue the nomination only if three million people signed up to volunteer for his campaign by September 1987. Three million responded, and by the time Robertson announced he would be running in September 1987, he also had raised millions of dollars for his campaign fund. He surrendered his ministerial credentials and turned leadership of CBN over to his son, Tim. His campaign, however, against incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush, was seen as a long shot.

Robertson ran on a standard conservative platform. Among his policies, he wanted to ban pornography, reform the education system, and eliminate departments such as the Department of Education and the Department of Energy. He also supported a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget.

Robertson's campaign got off to a strong second-place finish in the Iowa caucus, ahead of Bush.^[14] He did poorly in the subsequent New Hampshire primary, however, and was unable to be competitive once the multiple-state primaries began. Robertson ended his campaign before the primaries were finished. His best finish was in Washington, winning the majority of caucus delegates.^[15][16] He later spoke at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans and told his remaining supporters to cast their votes for Bush, who ended up winning the nomination and the election. He then returned to CBN and has remained there as a religious broadcaster.

Books

Main article: The New World Order (Robertson)

Episcopalian professor of theology Ephraim Radner accuses Robertson of espousing anti-semitic beliefs in the book:

In his published writings, especially his 1991 book The New World Order, Pat Robertson has propagated theories about a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. Michael Land raised the issue in February in The New York Times Book Review, and in April Jacob Heilbrun, writing in The New York Review of Books, cited chapter and verse of Robertson's borrowings from well-known anti-Semitic works.^[17]

Business interests

He is the founder and chairman of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Inc., and founder of International Family Entertainment Inc., Regent University, Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, American Center for Law and Justice, The Flying Hospital, Inc. and several other organizations and broadcast entities. Robertson was the founder and co-chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE).

Formed in 1990, IFE produced and distributed family entertainment and information programming worldwide. IFE's principal business was The Family Channel, a satellite delivered cable-television network with 63 million U.S. subscribers. IFE, a publicly held company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc. for $1.9 billion, whereupon it was renamed Fox Family Channel. Disney acquired FFC in 2001 and its name was changed again, to ABC Family.

Robertson is a global businessman with media holdings in Asia, the United Kingdom, and Africa. He struck a deal with Pittsburgh, PA-based General Nutrition Center to produce and market a weight-loss shake he created and promoted on the 700 Club TV show.

In 1999, Robertson entered into a joint venture with the :{Bank of Scotland:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}: to provide financial services in the United States. However, the move was met with criticism in the UK due to Robertson's views on homosexuality. After Robertson commented that “In Europe, the big word is tolerance. You tolerate everything. Homosexuals are riding high in the media ... And in Scotland, you can't believe how strong the homosexuals are." the Bank of Scotland canceled the venture.^[18][19]

Robertson's extensive business interests have earned him a net worth estimated between $200 million and $1 billion.^[20]

A fan of Thoroughbred horse racing, Robertson paid $520,000 for a colt he named Mr. Pat. Trained by John Kimmel, Mr. Pat was not a successful runner. He was nominated for, but did not run in, the 2000 Kentucky Derby.^[21][22]

According to a 2 June 1999, article in The Virginian-Pilot,^[23] Robertson had extensive business dealings with Liberian president Charles Taylor. According to the article, Taylor gave Robertson the rights to mine for diamonds in Liberia's mineral-rich countryside. According to two Operation Blessing pilots who reported this incident to the state of Virginia for investigation in 1994, Robertson used his Operation Blessing planes to haul diamond-mining equipment to Robertson's mines in Liberia, despite the fact that Robertson was telling his The 700 Club viewers that the planes were sending relief supplies to the victims of the genocide in Rwanda. In response to Taylor's alleged crimes against humanity the United States Congress passed a bill In November 2003 that offered two million dollars for his capture. Robertson accused President Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country." At the time Taylor was harboring :{Al Qaeda:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}: operatives who were funding their operations through the illegal diamond trade.^[24] On February 4, 2010, at his war crimes trial in the Hague, Charles Taylor testified that Robertson was his main political ally in the U.S., and that he had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials in exchange for concessions to Robertson's Freedom Gold, Ltd., to which Taylor gave a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia.^[25] In 2010, a spokesman for Robertson said that the company's arrangements – the Liberian government got a 10 percent equity interest in the company and Liberians could purchase at least 15 percent of the shares after the exploration period – was similar to many American companies doing business in Africa at the time.^[26]

Political activism

After his unsuccessful presidential campaign, Robertson started the Christian Coalition, a 1.7 million member Christian right organization that campaigned mostly for conservative candidates.^[4] It was sued by the Federal Election Commission "for coordinating its activities with Republican candidates for office in 1990, 1992 and 1994 and failing to report its expenditures"^[27]

In 1994, the Coalition was fined for "improperly [aiding] then Representative Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Oliver North, who was then the Republican Senate nominee in Virginia."^[28] Robertson left the Coalition in 2001.

Robertson has been a governing member of the Council for National Policy (CNP): Board of Governors 1982, President Executive Committee 1985–86, member, 1984, 1988, 1998.^[29]

On November 7, 2007, Robertson announced that he was endorsing Rudy Giuliani to be the Republican nominee in the 2008 Presidential election.^[30]

While usually associated with the political right, Pat Robertson has recently begun endorsing environmental causes. He appears in a commercial with Al Sharpton, joking about this, and urging people to join the We can Solve it Campaign against global warming.^[31]

In January 2009, on a broadcast Monday of his The 700 Club television show, Robertson stated that he is "adamantly opposed" to the division of Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians. He also stated that Armageddon is "not going to be fought at Megiddo" but will be the "battle of Jerusalem," when "the forces of all nations come together and try to take Jerusalem away from the Jews. Jews are not going to give up Jerusalem – they shouldn't – and the rest of the world is going to insist they give it up." Robertson added that Jerusalem is a "spiritual symbol that must not be given away" because "Jesus Christ the Messiah will come down to the part of Jerusalem that the Arabs want," and that's "not good."^[32]

Controversies and criticisms

Main article: Pat Robertson controversies

Controversies surrounding Robertson include his earlier work as a faith healer,^[33] his claim that some Protestant denominations harbor the spirit of the Antichrist,^[34] and his claims of having the power to deflect hurricanes through prayer;^[35] he has also denounced Hinduism as "demonic"^[36] and Islam as "Satanic."^[37] Robertson has issued multiple condemnations of feminism,^[38] homosexuality,^[39] abortion^[40] and liberal professors.^[41] Robertson also had financial ties to former presidents Charles Taylor^[42] of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko^[24] of Zaire, both internationally denounced for their human rights violations. Robertson was criticized worldwide for his call for Hugo Chavez’s assassination^[24] and for his remarks concerning Ariel Sharon's health as an act of God.^[43]

The week of September 11th, 2001, Robertson discussed the terror attacks with Jerry Falwell, who said that "the ACLU has to take a lot of blame for this" in addition to "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians [who have] helped [the terror attacks of September 11th] happen." Robertson replied, "I totally concur."^[44] Both evangelists came under attack from President George W. Bush for their statements,^[45] for which they later issued apologies.^[46]

Less than two weeks after Hurricane Katrina killed 1,836 people, Pat Robertson implied on the September 12th broadcast of The 700 Club that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment in response to America's abortion policy. He suggested that September 11 and the disaster in New Orleans "could... be connected in some way".^[47]

On November 9, 2009, Pat Robertson said that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination." He went on to elaborate that "you're dealing with not a religion, you're dealing with a political system, and I think we should treat it as such, and treat its adherents as such as we would members of the communist party, members of some fascist group."^[48]

Robertson's response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake also drew controversy and condemnation.^[49][50] Robertson claimed that Haiti's founders had sworn a "pact to the Devil" in order to liberate themselves from the French slave owners and indirectly attributed the earthquake to the consequences of the Haitian people being "cursed" for doing so.^[51][52] CBN later issued a statement saying that Robertson's comments "were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Dutty Boukman at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French."^[53][54] Various prominent voices of mainline and evangelical^[55] Christianity promptly denounced Robertson's remarks as false, untimely, insensitive, and not representative of Christian thought on the issue.^[49][56]

Predictions

Several times near New Year Robertson has announced that God told him several truths or events that would happen in the following year. "I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."^[57]

1982: Doomsday

In late 1976, Robertson predicted that the end of the world was coming in October or November 1982. In a May 1980 broadcast of The 700 Club he stated, "I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world."^[58]

2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami

In May 2006, Robertson declared that storms and possibly a tsunami would hit America's coastline sometime in 2006. Robertson supposedly received this revelation from God during an annual personal prayer retreat in January. The claim was repeated four times on The 700 Club.

On May 8, 2006, Robertson said, "If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms." On May 17, 2006, he elaborated, "There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest." ^[59] While this claim didn't garner the same level of controversy as some of his other statements, it was generally received with mild amusement by the Pacific Northwest media. The History Channel's initial airing of its new series, Mega Disasters, debut episode "West Coast Tsunami", was broadcast the first week of May.

2007: Terror attack

On the January 2, 2007, broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said that God spoke to him and told him that "mass killings" were to come during 2007, due to a terrorist attack on the United States. He added, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."^[60] When a terrorist attack failed to happen in 2007, Robertson said, in January 2008, "All I can think is that somehow the people of God prayed and God in his mercy spared us."^[61]

2008: Worldwide violence and American recession

On the January 2, 2008, episode of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson predicted that 2008 would be a year of worldwide violence. He also predicted that a recession would occur in the United States that would be followed by a stock market crash by 2010.^[61]

2008: Mideast meltdown

In October 2008 Robertson posted a press release on the Georgian Conflict speculating that the conflict is a Russian ploy to enter the Middle East, and that instability caused by a predicted pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran would result in Syria's and Iran's launching nuclear strikes on other targets. He also said that if the United States were to oppose Russia's expansion, nuclear strikes on American soil are also pending. "We will suffer grave economic damage, but will not engage in military action to stop the conflict. However, we may not be spared nuclear strikes against coastal cities. In conclusion, it is my opinion that we have between 75 and 120 days before the Middle East starts spinning out of control." ^[62]

2009: Economic chaos and recovery

On the January 1, 2009, broadcast of The 700 Club, Robertson said, "If I'm hearing [God] right, gold will go to about $1900 dollars an ounce and oil to $300 a barrel." He also suggested that Americans would broadly accept socialism. Despite these predictions, he also said that economically, "things are getting ready to turn around."^[63]

Works

Shout it from the Housetops an autobiography with Jamie Buckingham (1972, repr 1995)
The Secret Kingdom (1982)
Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions (c1984)
Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life (1985)
America's Dates with Destiny (1986)
The Plan (1989)
The New Millennium (1990)
The New World Order (1991)
Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense (c1993)
The End of the Age (1995, fiction)
Bring It On (2003)
The Ten Offenses (2004)
Courting Disaster (2004)

Christian Coalition of America

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The **Christian Coalition of America** (CC), founded in 1989 by Rev. Pat Robertson, claims to be "the largest and most active conservative grassroots political organization in America ... [offering] people of faith the vehicle to be actively involved in shaping their government - from the County Courthouse to the halls of Congress."[1]

The Christian Coalition says that it is "a coalition of pro-family Roman Catholics, evangelicals, and other people of faith working together to become the unified voice of families in America." The organization says that it has "well over a million supporters and 1,500 local chapters in all 50 states. During the 2000 elections [it] passed out 70 million voter guides. Several million of those guides were printed in Spanish." [2]

The CC's president is Roberta Combs, who "has strategically relocated its National Headquarters to Washington, DC, ... [to] further enhance" the organization's "effectiveness in supporting the pro-family agenda." [3]

Contents[hide]

Contract with the American Family

In May 1995, the Christian Coalition's "Contract with the American Family", which was "the brainchild of TV religionist" Pat Robertson, was "introduced with much fanfare" for consideration by Congress. [[4]](http://www.christianethicstoday.com/Issue/002/The%20Christian%20Coalitions%20Contract%20With%20the%20American%20Family%20-%20An%20Analysis%20By%20Steve%20Watkins_002_.htm "http://www.christianethicstoday.com/Issue/002/The%20Christian%20Coalitions%20Contract%20With%20the%20American%20Family%20-%20An%20Analysis%20By%20Steve%20Watkins_002_.htm")

David Kuo, who was later to become Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, as a "top adviser to the coalition's main political strategist", "helped draft the coalition's manifesto" which "argues that the nation should 'abolish all major federal welfare programs' and turn them over to 'private and religious organizations'," NPR's Daniel Zwerdling reported on the October 10, 2003, edition of PBS's "NOW with Bill Moyers".

The Contract offered ten provisions [5]:

Restoring Religious Equality ("Religious Equality Amendment")
Returning Education Control to the Local Level ("Transfer funding of the federal Department of Education to families and local school boards.")
Promoting School Choice
Protecting Parental Rights (Passage of "Enactment of a Parental Rights Act and defeat of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.")
Family-Friendly Tax Relief ("Reduce the tax burden on the American family, eliminate the marriage penalty, and pass the Mothers and Homemakers' Rights Act.")
Restoring Respect for Human Life
Encouraging Support of Private Charities
Restricting Pornography
Privatizing the Arts ("The National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Legal Services Corporation should become voluntary organizations funded through private contributions.") This included the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), a "federally chartered corporation established to provide legal assistance to the poor."
Crime Victim Restitution (Note: restitution to victims was the least of concerns; the Contract, in essence, called for more work and less play for prisoners.)

In his June 1995 analysis of the "Contract", Steve Watkins concluded in Christian Ethics Today that the Coalition's "concept of what Christianity represents actually takes the form of advocacy for the privileged and powerful as over against the underprivileged and powerless! They seem to hold that certain groups possess the right, yes, the responsibility, to enforce certain ideologies as the only means of true expression in a democratic society."

Also see Ralph Reed, "Contract With the American Family: A Bold Plan," Ballantine Books (June 1, 1995), ISBN 0345402537 (paperback).

External links

References

Articles

William Norman Grigg, "Right Problems, Wrong Solutions. The Constitution is barely mentioned in the Christian Coalition's 'Contract'," The New American, June 26, 1995.
Bill Berkowitz, "End Times for the Christian Coalition?", Media Transparency, December 6, 2006.
Chris Frates, "Christian group clashes with right over Net rights," Politico.com, May 21, 2008.
John Eggerton, "Boehner, Conservative Groups Weigh In on Localism: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Hears from Rep. John Boehner, Americans for Tax Reform, Christian Coalition, Citizens United," Broadcasting & Cable, June 13, 2008.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Christian_Broadcasting_Network

The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is a Christian television network based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S., started by televangelist Pat Robertson in 1961 and known for its 700 Club program.

The mission of CBN and its affiliated organizations, according to its website, is to prepare the United States of America and the nations of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a time in history when "the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." ^[1]

Multi-millionaire heir Joseph Coors serves on the Regent University (formerly called CBN University) Board of Trustees. His wife Holly Coors is on the Regent University Board of Regents. The Coors Foundation has given money to the university (Foundation Grants Index, 15th edition, 1986.)

The National Committee to Draft Pat Robertson for President, which featured Roy Rogers and Dale Evans as spokespersons, held a big fundraiser at the Dallas ranch of millionaire Nelson Bunker Hunt. Joseph Coors supported this run as well.

Contents[hide]

History

According to the CBN website "History Of The Christian Broadcasting Network":

Forty years ago, Pat Robertson, named his broadcasting organization, located in a defunct Portsmouth, Virginia, TV station, The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Not only was CBN the first Christian television station in Virginia, it was also the first in the nation. Forty years later, it is one of the largest television ministries in the world.Founded on January 11, 1960, CBN first went on the air on October 1, 1961, on WYAH-TV (from Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God), a UHF television station with barely enough power to reach across the Portsmouth city limits. With a modest income from a few local supporters, CBN began broadcasting live half-hour programs from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every night. Gradually, the broadcast day was expanded to 5:00 p.m. to midnight. Because Robertson refused to accept commercial advertisements, paying for programming was out of the question. A few free travelogue films were used to fill in the blank spots.The first live broadcast of WYAH-TV was on Sunday, Oct. 1, 1961. The station had been broadcasting only a test pattern. There was a short live broadcast on that day. The first minister was Robert W. Garthwaite, a Portsmouth evangelist, along with his two sons, Nevin and Gregory who sang on the broadcast.In the fall of 1963, CBN conducted its first telethon to raise the $7,000 per month needed for the following year's budget. Robertson told viewers that a "club" of 700 contributors, each giving $10 a month, would enable CBN to meet its expenses. As guests appeared to sing and share their religious experiences, Robertson invited the audience to pray for the 700 supporters who would help keep CBN going. Though its financial struggles continued, CBN had taken an important step in building community support for the ministry.A year later, the 700 Club telethon was an important turning point for CBN. This telethon generated more contributions than the previous year's but not enough to meet CBN's growing budget. Then, in the final minutes of the broadcast, a remarkable outpouring of spiritual revival began to sweep through the viewing audience. Throughout the next several days, callers flooded CBN with prayer requests and pledges of financial support to CBN. A year later, Robertson added a program to the end of his station's broadcast day that followed the telethon format prayer and ministry coupled with telephone response. He named it The 700 Club, hoping to build on the audience that had become familiar with CBN's telethons. The program's audience grew as other stations began carrying the show.Today CBN is a multifaceted nonprofit organization that provides programming by cable, broadcast and satellite to approximately 180 countries, with a 24-hour telephone prayer line. Chief among CBN's broadcasting components is The 700 Club, a daily television program featuring Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuswen, Lisa Ryan, Gordon Robertson, Kristi Watts and news anchor Lee Webb. On the air continuously since 1966, The 700 Club is one of the longest-running programs in broadcast history. Seen in 96% of the television markets across the United States, the show's news/magazine format presents a lively mix of information, interviews, and inspiration to an average daily audience of one million viewers.CBN programs have aired in approximately 71 languages from Mandarin to Spanish and from Turkish to Welsh. In 1990 CBN International launched special projects in the Commonwealth of Independent States (formerly the Soviet Union) that included primetime specials and later The 700 Club and Superbook, an animated series of Bible stories. The broadcasts were followed by 190 rallies throughout the region that resulted in the establishment of 190 churches. Similar special projects were implemented in the Philippines and Romania in 1994. CBN International also distributes videos and literature and provides follow-up through international ministries around the world. In 1995, CBN launched CBN WorldReach with a mission of converting 500 million people to Christianity using Gospel programming to targeted international audiences.Middle East Television (METV), a television station in Southern Lebanon, broadcasts news, sports, family entertainment, and religious programming by satellite to a potential audience of 200 million people in 15 nations including Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Cyprus. METV also distributes free videotapes and religious literature and provides food and clothing through CBN's humanitarian affiliate, Operation Blessing Internationalthroughout the Middle East. METV was sold to a like-minded ministry, LeSEA Broadcasting, in July 2001.Here in America, The 700 Club Prayer Counseling Center provides prayer, scriptural counsel, and literature to people who call CBN's toll free telephone prayer line. The center's phones are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year by a staff of paid, volunteer, and "on call" workers who are trained in offering comfort and encouragement from a biblical perspective.In 1977, CBN started the nation's first basic TV cable network with satellite transmissions of religious and syndicated family TV shows.By 1981, CBN Cable reached nearly 10 million homes. Renamed the CBN Family Channel in 1988, the commercial cable operation continued to prosper and was sold in 1990 to International Family Entertainment Inc. (IFE), a publicly held company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange. IFE was sold in 1997 to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc.. :{Disney:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}: acquired the :{Fox Family Channe:(style="background-color:#fff200"):}:l and it was named ABC Family on November 10, 2001.Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is an affiliate organization founded by Pat Robertson in 1978. Operation Blessing was originally set up to help disadvantaged people by matching their needs for clothing, appliances, vehicles and other items with articles donated by viewers of The 700 Club. However, as requests for assistance grew, Robertson and CBN's board of directors decided to make a financial commitment to Operation Blessing that reached $1 million in 1982. In 1992 a fleet of refrigerated tractor-trailer trucks was added to Operation Blessing and called the Hunger Strike Force (HSF). The HSF hauls millions of pounds of food and disaster relief across the U.S.. Operation Blessing later purchased and retrofitted an L-1011 airplane into a hospital. "The Flying Hospital" was commissioned in 1996 by former President George H. W. Bush and took its first medical mission to El Salvador. The Flying Hospital was sold to a charitable not-for-profit organization in 2000. However, the Flying Hospital will continue to be an integral part of evangelistic missions with Operation Blessing International.Located in Virginia Beach, Va., Regent University was founded in 1977 by Robertson, who serves as its president and chancellor. Regent is a fully accredited graduate university that offers degrees in business, communication & the arts, divinity, education, government, law, organizational leadership and psychology & counseling. In addition, Regent offers a bachelor's degree completion program. Regent University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees, and has enrollment of nearly 2,600 students. In addition to the main campus in Virginia Beach, Regent has a Graduate Center in Northern Virginia D.C. and offers programs online via their Worldwide Campus.CBN Historical Highlights1960: Pat Robertson opened bank account for CBN with $3.00. CBN was founded.1961: CBN first went on the air on WYAH-TV, taken from YAHWEH, the Hebrew name of God.1963: CBN's first telethon--700 viewers were asked to join "700 Club" by pledging $10 a month to meet CBN's monthly operating budget of $7,000.1966: The 700 Club was born after a successful telethon.1974: National Counseling Center opened, handling calls for prayer 24 hours a day.1977: First Christian ministry to build and operate its own satellite earth station; first satellite broadcast from Jerusalem. CBN began transmitting Christian and family programming 24 hours daily (beginning of CBN Cable--later to become The Family Channel).1978: Operation Blessing International (OBI), humanitarian arm of CBN, was founded.1980: News added to The 700 Club format complete with a news bureau in Washington, D.C.1981: CBN creates "Superbook," the animated, episodic children's tale for a Japanese audience This marks the beginning of CBN's award-winning collection of Christian animated tales used to share the Gospel internationally.1982: Middle East Television (METV) begins operations in southern Lebanon and Israel.1988: CBN receives an Emmy award for "Never Say Goodbye", an After-School Special produced for CBS.1990: CBN sells The Family Channel to International Family Entertainment.1994: OBI's Hunger Strike Force launches a food distribution campaign delivering more than four million pounds of food to 18 major U.S. cities.1995: CBN WorldReach is launched with a torch lighting ceremony at Cape Henry, Virginia. Worldwide evangelism goal is to win 500 million to Christianity.1996: The Flying Hospital is commissioned by former president George Bush. Virginia Governor George Allen launches the first inaugural mission to El Salvador.1997: International Family Entertainment (owner of The Family Channel) sold to Fox Kids Worldwide, Inc.1998: Pat Robertson is honorary co-chairman along with Bill Bright and Vonette Bright, with campus Crusade for Christ, for the 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer Campaign.1999: CBN launches Book of Hope campaign which distributes 10 million books making it the largest Bible reading campaign in America-as well as the largest promotion of any secular or religious book.2002: NorthStar Studios, state-of-the-art broadcast facility, opens its doors in May.-- Pat Robertson presented with The State of Israel Friendship Award by the Chicago chapter of the Zionist Organization of America in July.

Support for Islamophobia

According to the Center for American Progress, the CBN promotes anti-Muslim hysteria in much of its programming. For example, on Pat Robertson's "700 Club" TV show, he claimed that Islam is "a violent political system bent on the overthrow of the governments of the world and world domination." ^[2]

References

↑ About page, Christian Broadcasting Network, accessed June 2008.
↑ Wajahat Ali, Eli Clifton, Matthew Duss, Lee Fang, Scott Keyes, and Faiz Shakir, Fear Inc.: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America, CAB, August 2011.

Contact details

977 Centerville Turnpike

Virginia Beach, VA 23463

Phone: (757) 226-7000

Web: http://www.cbn.com

Robertson, Pat 700

Warning sounded by man who helped

bring Trump to power

8 of the Worst Right-Wing Wackos This Week: War on Science Edition

Life and career

Family

Education and military service

Religious career

1988 presidential bid

Books

Business interests

Political activism

Controversies and criticisms

Predictions

1982: Doomsday

2006: Pacific Northwestern tsunami

2007: Terror attack

2008: Worldwide violence and American recession

2008: Mideast meltdown

2009: Economic chaos and recovery

Works

See also

Christian Coalition of America

From SourceWatch

Contract with the American Family

External links

References

Articles

History

Support for Islamophobia

References

Contact details

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

External articles

External resources