Him And Jeane Dixon

[filkertom]

By way of AmericaBlog we learn that radical fundamentalist cleric Pat Robertson says God told him He may strike the US with a tsunami.

I admit that I am amused -- not because anyone pays attention to this pathetic, venal, superstitious, delusional old bigot, but because the only way he can get attention from anyone besides his hardcore, equally nutso followers anymore is to either call for someone's death or make a prediction that would look well on the front pages of the Weekly World News.

Comments

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering (vaguely, not enough to google it) how many of this type of prediction he's made and if he's ever been close to right.

Of course my favorite was Oral Roberts announcing that Jesus would call him him if he didn't raise enough money.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Well, usually he plays it safe and declares Recent Disaster X is obviously God's punishment on the wicked for being insufficiently Medievally Superstitious Christian.

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Maybe he is hoping one will hit. Even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and again.

[naja-pallida.livejournal.com]

As soon as I see Pat out there building an ark and collecting pairs of every animal in the US, I'll believe him.

;)

[que-sara-sara.livejournal.com]

Pat Robertson is just jealous because god talks to me and I know she's really just out to annoy him.

[infinitemorning.livejournal.com]

Well, seeing as it's pretty much an inevitability (barring the release of Al Gore's anti-tsunami machine, of course), the guy's got to be right sooner or later. And it might not be too stupid to bet that his followers'll just forget all the times he's been wrong and remember the one time he's been right. So he'll keep on predicting tsunamis and hurricanes and tornados and terrorist attacks for the near future, keep on leaving the blood and angels' trumps to the indeterminate future, and some people'll be stupid enough to listen when he calls the plausible disasters God's punishment.

What scares me is not the prospect that this man is crazy. What scares me is the prospect that he's crazy like a manipulative asshole of a fox.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I predict that God will strike him down long before any inevitable tsunami takes place.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Given the accuracy record of Robertson's previous conversations with God, I'm not planning to invest in hip-waders just yet.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Could we maybe hope that any tsunami that does hit will catch him in it? (smile) Eh, probably not. If I remember correctly, he lives in Virginia. Not a ton of tsunami action there.

[lapislaz.livejournal.com]

Well, if that one island out in the Atlantic that the geologists are all worried about cuts loose, Virginia's a definite target. It just seems wasteful to take out the entire East Coast to get Pat. (Though maybe if it does happen, my mom will stop sending him money...)

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

Oh, but what if it involves some wacky tectonic stresses that ends up causing a wave that only hits his house? Let's see him interpret THAT message from God. ;)

Nope

[capplor.livejournal.com]

They've already very conveniently failed to note that it was the more "sinful" parts of NOLA that survived, that exclusive lesbians are less likely to get aids, and a host of other "maybe God is telling you something you don't want to hear" items.

But really, as I understand it, the Bible itself debunks that whole line of reasoning in the book of Job. Something about rain falling on both the just and the unjust.

[ladysmith.livejournal.com]

The quote that I saw has him saying that "If I heard the Lord right..."

So, that means that if we don't get a tsunami, then God mumbles...

"I'm sorry, Lord, I didn't quite hear you. Could you repeat that?"

You say Tsunami, I say Tsumami...

[eibii.livejournal.com]

"The US will be hit with a righteous wave of folded-silk flowers, held together with rice starch! (http://www.puchimaiko.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=b94a29368dda38de3f8ef2ec8bf4f5ac) And lo, the people will look FABULOUS!"

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Hmm... you know if some radical muslem cleric said something similar, we'd be saying it's incitment for his followers to commit an atrocity...

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

You're wrong. Dubya and his cadre listen to Pat Robertson and his ilk -- and that's what gets my uterus screaming in terror and running to Canada.

I do NOT want my country to turn into HANDMAID'S TALE: THE RPG.


-- Jane Mailander

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

I say we call him on this. Put up billboards and hand out pamphlets and hold parties, make sure everybody knows it's showdown" Pat Robertson vs. Reality! Who will win? After a month of announcing his predictions, we then go to stage two: remind everybody he's wrong. "It's Monday, July 7th, and the Pacific Coast is still 100% tsunami free!" Whenever anyone writes a letter to a newspaper, end it with "Where's the water, Pat?" Bumper stickers that read "Reality Wins, Pat Loses," and so on and so forth so nobody could forget this.

But then, that would be viewed as an attack on christianity, wouldn't it?

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

Hey, by calling on god to drop a tsunami on the US, that makes ol' Pat a "turr-rist", doesn't it? I mean, from where I sit, it's absolutely indistinguishable from an extremist imam calling for destruction to be rained down on America...

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Oooo, good point! Wonder if anyone could make a citizens arrest? Or at the very least, file a lawsuit against the feds to force them to arrest him like they would anyone else who threatened such an attack.

I hope the Daily Show does something about this.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

See, here's the thing: imagine the reaction in the press if Rev. Al Sharpton, or Rev. Jesse Jackson, or the late Rev. William Sloane Coffin had called the wrath of god down on America because of its extreme right-wing path.

Then think about the totally wack bullshit that Robertson has been allowed to say for years (let's see... "God allowed 9/11 to happen because he's mad that the country allows gays and abortionists some rights", how's that for a start?), and still hasn't had his license yanked, hasn't been put under medication, hasn't been just plain put away.

[scs-11.livejournal.com]

Why do any of you people pay attention to this asshole?

Seriously.

You know he's nuts. You know he represents Christianity the way the Taliban represent Islam.

Why do you give over even one second of your day to him?

You're clearly not amused. You're not entertained. You're mostly faux outraged, siezing on the opportunity to say something insulting about a moron.

Give him what he deserves. Resounding silence. And spend your time on something that might actually make you happy. Anything that might actually make you happy.

Yeesh.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Well, I know why I do. He is taken seriously by the talking heads, and they are directing the conversation, like it or not (and you know I don't). He is rich, he has many followers, and he thought for awhile there he could be President. Many of the people in power pay attention to his moods and those of his flock, and the fact that he's deranged doesn't matter when it's time to count votes or donations.

That's why.

[trdsf.livejournal.com]

He owns his own TV network, and commands hundreds of thousands of mindless sheep. Even if we ignore him, he still has the means to spread his venom. Better we do keep an eye on this dangerous demagogue, and that we do expose him to public ridicule whenever he so deserves.

The only time I've seen the silent treatment work was when Fred Phelps and his merry band of inbred bigots turned up here in Columbus after Taft allowed the rainbow flag to fly over the statehouse during Pride Week. The only coverage he received was that he had left town.

The silent treatment works well when dealing with small groups. It doesn't work when the person who deserves it controls a media outlet.