Dr. Robertson or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bullet

My Second Annoying Rant:

What is with some of these religious "leaders" that least follow their own teachings or the teachings of their religion? Unless you've been playing a PC game for five days straight, you probably know about the comments made by Pat Robertson on his show The 700 Club. On Monday, Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Now, I realize Chavez has become corrupt to some degree or so in power and has used his influence to make life hell for his opponents, but I have several problems with Robertson's declaration:

- When was "Thou shalt not kill" amended to say "Thou shalt not kill unless gas prices are $3 a gallon and the target is in bed with Communism?" Where was I when that happened? You'd think something like that would be on the news if the commandment was amended.

- It is ILLEGAL for us to assassinate a head of state when not in a state of war. Granted, this country has probably had its share of assassinations or hiring someone else to do the work for us or findng another way to get rid of a problem. However, if we can justify assassinating Chavez because of his politics, wouldn't other countries also use that reasoning? Couldn't such a thing be used against our political leaders?

- The only reason Robertson called for the assassination was because "we don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with." (Source: Washington Post) We could have done that to Saddam Hussein as well. In fact, the opening strikes of Operation Iraqi Freedom back in 2003 was us going after a site that our intel said he was. But if we start offing people we don't like, don't you think someone will figure out it was an American action? That can't be good for our international standing. And regardless of what anyone thinks, America does need at least some good standing. We do need trade. We do need help when it comes to other international efforts such as the fight against Osama bin Laden. Hell, we'd like to keep our bases in the 100 or so countries we have bases in. We can't do that if we become a pariah.


Should Robertson run for a House or Senate seat in 2006, this should be his campaign poster. It could work in some places.

- Yes, Robertson later apologized for such a comment. But was it really an apology? And, whatever happened to "Thou shalt not bear false witness?"

The "apology"

"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement," he said in a news release. "I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

He went on to state, however, that "when faced with the threat of a (dictator comparable to Saddam Hussein) in our own hemisphere, would it not be wiser to wage war against one person rather than finding ourselves down the road locked in a bitter struggle with a whole nation?" (Source USA Today)

Thou shalt not bear false witness, Mister Robertson

"The "mea culpa" came after Robertson earlier in the day denied that he had called for President Hugo Chavez's assassination — a denial disproved by a video recording of his syndicated TV program." (same source)

And on Monday....

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him," Robertson said, "I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war." He said the United States should "take him out."

AHEM!!! I rest my case...

- Finally, Robertson must be stuck in 1957. The huge threat to America that Robertson accuses Chavez of being is that he is bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas. (Source CNN)

Sure, Islamic extremism is something to worry about. But I just don't see Venezuela, with 96% of the population being Roman Catholic and 2% being Protestant, being a hotbed of militants. One would think if it were, the US would be quick to respond to that, considering we always consider South America to be our backyard. Also, unless 50 million Communists end up on our shores tomorrow morning, there is no reason to infiltrate anything from Communism here. And I wonder how Chavez and his ally Fidel Castro would manage to do that. Lastly, those Communists and Islamic militants would be too busy fighting each other to make much of a difference!

(Source on demographics 2005 CIA World Factbook)

I get it that Chavez is less than savory. And sure, the recall vote last year was probably rigged in his favor. Yes, he's been doing his best to quiet opposition in Venezuela, especially in the capital of Caracas. But why risk our oil imports on trying to take this guy out? Venezuela makes up about 10% of our daily imports. Furthermore, if we're going to go after people we simply don't like, I would argue there are a lot of better targets. Lastly, for Robertson, at least, it will be hard to claim a moral highground on anything if he is less a man of God and more someone advancing politics. Thankfully, other religious leaders have distanced themselves from Robertson:

The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches and a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, said it "defies logic that a clergyman could so casually dismiss thousands of years of Judeo-Christian law, including the commandment that we are not to kill."

The Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, a conservative advocacy group in Washington, issued a statement saying that he has always held Robertson in the "highest esteem," but that the evangelist "must immediately apologize, retract his statement and clarify what the Bible and Christianity teaches about the permissibility of taking human life outside of law." (Source: Washington Post article above)

Perhaps most religious leaders aren't at all like Robertson. But Robertson and others trying to advance their views through religion are the loudest out there, and people actually follow them. Robertson should think about what he says considering he has a national audience on his hands.