Pat Robertson, Prophecy, And Partitioning

No one should be surprised when I confess I am no fan of Reverend Pat Robertson's. Perhaps my lack of respect for the man was borne when I first photographed him during his Presidential bid in 1987. His campaign stop was one of my first photojournalism assignments, perhaps my first candidate assignment, and I shot the whole event wonderfully, at least I thought so until, with about 5 minutes left to the gig, I discovered I had no film in my camera. I was eventually able to salvage something from the event, but I felt every bit the freshman. Admittedly Robertson had nothing to do with my mistake; he just reminds me of my own failures. But I've long held a suspicion, not of the man, but of the ambitious idea that God wants to establish something resembling a Christian state. God might indeed desire the melding of Church and State, but I have my doubts.

If there is one thing that can be said about the media, if you've said something unpopular, they will vigorously misquote you; or, at best, they will 'accurately misrepresent' you. Robertson found himself in the media spotlight last week for his alarming assertion that Ariel Sharon's recent stroke and brain hemorrhage were punishment meted out by the Almighty. That this may be in fact be the case eludes the best progressive minds of our young century, as only two weeks ago we were all handed a heavy dose of the limitations of science in the wake of a Pennsylvania Intelligent Design court decision: there are some things science can never know. But one thing science can know, infallibly, is that Pat Robertson is wrong. Or so it goes.

I believe Mr. Robertson is in fact guilty, but not of the intellectual crimes for which the media have indicted him. But before I journey into Mr. Robertson's mistakes, let us compare what Mr. Robinson actually said with what he reportedly said. This, I promise, will be fun. Here is what he said on his 700 Club program:

'Ladies and Gentlemen I said last year that Israel was entering into the most dangerous periods of its entire existence as a nation. That is intensifying this year with the loss of Sharon. Sharon was personally a very likeable person and I am sad to see him in this condition, but I think we need to look at the Bible and the Book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who “divide my land.” God considers this land to be His. 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.” I had a wonderful meeting with Yitzhak Rabin in 1974. He was tragically assassinated, it was a terrible thing that happened but nevertheless he was dead. And now Ariel Sharon who again was a very likeable person, a delightful person to be with, I prayed with him personally, but here he’s at the point of death. He was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto any Prime Minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says “this land belongs to me. You’d better leave it alone.”'

Please note that nowhere does Robertson actually state that Sharon is being punished. He may imply such a fact, but he does not say it outright. Robertson, long a zealous supporter of Israel's independence and legitimacy as a state, is merely warning that God allegedly does not take the partitioning of Israel lightly: Woe to those who parcel out My land. Robertson is quite clear, really, that he likes Sharon, has prayed with him, and is in fact sad to see him ill. Robertson is merely speculating that Sharon's illness might be a sign of God's wrath; how else to explain its timing and severity?

OK. You are now thinking I am some sort of shill for Mr. Robertson. I will defend myself in a moment. But let us look at what MSNBC has on its website regarding Mr. Robertson's remarks.

Here is the MSNBC headline:

White House blasts Robertson's Sharon remark: Christian broadcaster said stroke is God’s wrath for ‘dividing God’s land’

How about this at the JTA (Jewish Telegraph Agency) website:

"Robertson: Sharon punished for dividing Israel - -- The Rev. Pat Robertson said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was punished by God for dividing the Land of Israel."

At least the LA Times, The New York Times, CNN and the Washington Post show some restraint, headlining their reports with the verb "Robertson suggests" Sharon's stroke an act of God.

That Mr. Robertson stands in a tradition which honors prophecy is not to go unnoticed. Evangelicalism is enamored of prophetic utterances, whether by such prophets as the aforementioned Joel, or those who might speak today from the pulpit. Sadly, this latter fascination with prophecy is one of evangelicalism's most pronounced weaknesses. Prophets abound in the fundamentalist and evangelical backwaters, and even, to be frank, in the highest courts of evangelical fervor. Such prophets compete, not so much one to another, but for spiritual supremacy in their respective milieus, often leaving their followers stymied as to how to respond to a decree uttered by God to the man in charge. That this leads to gross abuses of the mind, an unfettered subjectivism that is impossible to rebuff, is undeniable.

But it is not merely backwater conservative believers, or Robertson devotees, that turn to prophecy. The Reverend Gene Robinson, the gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, a true liberalizer and sturdy Democrat, believes that the liberalizing of sexual identities (homosexuality in particular) is a move of God, an act of the Holy Spirit. Of course, once Mr. Robinson so decreed his Great Awakening, silence becomes the masses: it is hard to argue with God.

Ostensibly, there are two types of prophecy: that which predicts or augurs the future, and that which discerns the lessons of God in what history presents. The former represents the popular definition of prophecy, with predictions channeled in Nostradamus-like clairvoyance. The other type of prophecy, hardly known and less appreciated because of its lack of gravitas, sees trends and signs and events and interprets a lesson, a warning, a shining message that God might want us to hear. To me, a modern example of this might be C.S. Lewis's "That Hideous Strength," though less Christian minds, like George Orwell or Ayn Rand, strike me as tapping into a similar prophetic spirit.

Pat Robertson's mistake is that he blends this latter form of prophecy not with mystical clarity, not with pristine vision of God's dazzling decrees, but with judgmentalism. What do I mean? I mean that he comes dangerously close to suggesting that he knows that something is a punishment, when he means to say that one "might be" punished if God's will is forsaken. The former is a judgment; the latter a warning. Even Jesus's disciples fell into the same sort of trap, wondering whether a child was born blind as punishment for sins either he or his parents had committed. Jesus's answer was surprisingly Other.

To suggest that Ariel Sharon was struck by God is a bold one, and I am not fit to pronounce judgment on it. There seems to be plenty of materialistic explanations for Sharon's ill health; but the will of God eludes me in these deeper matters, as God may have, indeed, caused Sharon's illness. Who knows? I mean that, not in a cavalier way, but in an intellectually honest one. Who knows about the divine? Science doesn't, as we have so fully learned through the Intelligent Design debate: Science must be silent in the face of religious propositions. Of course, it never is, as doctors step to the microphone daily to demystify the world of mind and body, and the invisible world beyond them both.

For me, let Robertson be. Prophets must pay the price for their work. It is, I am sure, a horrid vocation. But prophecy is either true or it is not. Only time, study, and healthy interrogation can lead us toward the proper vantage point from which to judge such utterances. My only sorrow is that there is such a lust for prophetic dominance, on the left and right, much of which is harmful; much of which is ignored.

Do you hear the hue and cry? Outrage! Umbrage! Robertson is a fool! or so shout the pundits. But the President of Iran, who hopes that Sharon dies, gets a pass. Sad, really, that this is so. Equally sad is the energy expended in trying to connect Robertson's remarks to the viciousness of real terrorists, straining to find an Al Qaida connection between American fundamentalism and militant Islam, fudging each of our individual intelligences. Heard a fatwa issued by the 700 Club lately?

No. You haven't.

Contratimes

©Bill Gnade 2006/Contratimes - All Rights Reserved.