Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Did a Christian preacher really just call for an assassination?

The Associated Press is reporting that alleged Christian preacher Pat Robertson called on the U.S. government to kill democratically-elected Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

This man should be stripped of his ability to speak on behalf of 'thou shalt not kill' Christianity from whatever religious order gave this televangelist his authority.

And no network television news program should ever invite him as a guest on any of their programs.

Check out some of the stories on google here.

I think I'm going to buy some gas at CITGO, a subsidiary of the Venezuelan government.

I like the thrust of Chavez's political platform that the oil resources of Venezuela should be reinvested in the needs of the people (especially the poverty-stricked peasants), and not rich insiders (like in Saudi Arabia). And frankly, when conservative corporate types in the U.S. argue that Chavez is a bad guy, I don't trust their analysis.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can someone help me out? I forget where in the Bible that passage is that says, "Thou shalt assasinate thine enemies..."

Anonymous said...

In the OT, He did smite a whole heap of enemies.

But fundies aren't big Old Testament folk. They're mostly Jesus, most of the time. And Jesus most certainly did not, as near as I can recall from 12 years of Catholic schooling, call for the smiting of any enemies - particularly when thine enemy is all bark and no bite.

lazerlou said...

Yea, our president and all bellicose republicans need to remember:

6. THOU SHALT NOT KILL

Actually for Jews it is thou shalt not murder, as the Old Testament makes a distinction between killing and murder, with killing being necessary sometimes.

lazerlou said...

Where do they? I thought there was only the stuff is about sodom and one reference to sleeping with your brother. Nothing per se anti-homo whatsoever as far as I can tell. Funny we jews never got that homo hating stuff in religious school. And I'll trust the Catholics on definitive interpretations of the Bible.

lazerlou said...

Oh yea, and that stuff about the sin of Sodom being homo sex is way off. You Christians made that up. It is greed that was the sin in Sodom, but it is at least arguable.

Anonymous said...

Better off assasinating Hussein? Who would have been better off? Sure, I see your point that Bush wanted Saddam gone and now we're in this huge debacle of a war, but what would be the point of killing Saddam in the first place? US citizens would not have, and have not, gained a thing with this Iraq mess.

Anonymous said...

MDS, I'll defer to you on Fundamentalist Christians and the Old Testament. But I do wonder when the likes of Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps will take on the real enemy of the US -- Red Lobster:

Leviticus 11:9-12 says:

9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Anonymous said...

Okay - can I just say this, for the record? There are those, like Pat Robertson, who seem to think they represent all Christian conservative citizens in this country. I resent that.

I also resent the idea that just because Pat Robertson says something that all conservatives must agree with his opinion. I for one, do not, and there are many, many more conservatives who are outraged at his statements.

Unfortunately, there is not much any of us can or should do to silence such an opinion. We all have the right to speak freely of our beliefs, and I would not want to limit anyone's right to speak their mind. Pat Robertson has the right to speak his own opinion, but he does not have the right to speak for me, or for any other American.

I think it's important for us all to remember that. Criticize the individual (in this case, Pat Robertson) but be careful in broadly criticizing the conservative right or Christianity in general - we aren't all Pat Robertson's robots.

Anonymous said...

too "clubby" for me (700 club)

Rick Warren and his decision to not have tv cameras in church is interesting.

On Venezuela: you might read Soros. he explains why countries rich in natural resources (oil) sometimes have a hard time developing in positive ways. I do not know much about Venezuela or Chavez. It would be interesting to apply Soros ideas to Venezuela.