“God considers this land to be his,” Robertson said on the January 5th edition of the t.v. program. “You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.’”
Robertson’s controversial remarks follow another incident near the end of last August, where he publicly called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. At that time, Robertson had stated that “We have the ability to take [Chavez] out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability.”
Robertson’s comments about Chavez sparked something of a controversy, and even fans of the reverend were not entirely in agreement on the issue.
“Pat, I’m not going to rap on you too much, but seriously… what could compel you to say such a thing?” asked Jarret Mock in a post on VirtueBlog. “It’s statements like these that will hurt the overall reputations of Christians, especially those of you who lean towards the conservative side . . . The liberal media is having a field day with this. Not that the statement and idea shouldn’t be bashed and (publicly) rejected, but let’s try to work some subtlety in there, okay?”
Two days after the call for an assassination, Robertson apologized for his remarks. He apparently didn’t let the criticism cower him, however, because on Thursday he again expressed views he undoubtedly must have realized would create more controversy.
According to Robertson, Sharon “was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the [European Union], the United Nations, or the United States of America.”
Robertson cited the prophet Joel as a Biblical figure who “makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who ‘divide my land.’” He also made reference to former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had given land to the Palestinians and was assassinated in 1995.
“It was a terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless he was dead,” Robertson noted.
People from all sides have criticized Robertson for his latest remarks about Sharon’s stroke, including the Jewish Anti-Defamation League and the White House, who called his statement “wholly inappropriate and offensive” and without a place in any debate.
Many people have defended Robertson however, including his spokeswoman Angell Watts, who said of Robertson’s critics: “What they’re basically saying is, ‘How dare Pat Robertson quote the Bible?’”
“This is what the word of God says,” Watts said. “This is nothing new to the Christian community.”
Sharon himself is currently still in serious condition, but is reportedly showing significant improvement. He had two surgeries in two days, including a seven hour operation on Thursday and a five-hour operation on Friday. The stroke, which is Sharon’s second in three weeks, was a quite severe one and as of this writing, it is doubtful that the Prime Minister will ever fully recover. The first stroke that Sharon suffered took place on December 28th, and was a minor one.
Ironically enough, Sharon was scheduled to undergo surgery this past Thursday to repair a small hole in his heart that had contributed to his first stroke.
Sharon’s sudden health problems leave a gaping hole in both the current Israeli government, and the country’s effort to negotiate some sort of permanent peace treaty between itself and the neighboring Palestinians. In Sharon’s absence, deputy Ehud Olmert has taken the role of acting prime minister.
It is currently thought that Sharon’s new Kadima political party will dominate the upcoming elections held in March, and that Olmert will take over as the leader of the party.
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Sources:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10709976/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10728347/
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/5/174914.shtm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-08-22-robertson-_x.htm
http://blog.virtuemag.org/2005/08/24/pats-rat-a-tat-tat
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