Guest Post by Morbo
There’s something jarring about the commercial for the One Campaign — the star-studded effort to eradicate global poverty.
Watching the promotional ad online, I was impressed by the array of celebrities who have signed on, including Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Bono, Kevin Bacon, Ellen DeGeneres, George Clooney, Cameron Diaz, Al Pachino and Tom Hanks.
Suddenly, among all of this star power, up pops an unexpected face: TV preacher Pat Robertson.
Nothing could have prepared me for that. It’s like finding a carp in your bowl of corn flakes. Why on earth was this loon invited to take part in what otherwise seems to be a very worthy endeavor? Ted Kaczynski wasn’t available?
Robertson has spent 25 years on television attacking Democrats, liberals, women’s rights advocates, gay people, public school teachers, librarians, non-believers, non-Christians and anyone else who does not agree with his rigid interpretation of the Bible. He once wrote an entire book based on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. After Sept. 11, he and Jerry Falwell sat around on the “700 Club” and mused about how our nation deserved it. I don’t care if these days Robertson claims to be concerned about global poverty, he’s still a nut. His participation has tarred the entire project.
You want to know how kooky Robertson is? On Aug. 2, he prayed on his “700 Club” for more Supreme Court openings, saying:
“Father, Lord, the government is in your hand, the rulers are in your hand. This great and mighty nation, Lord, stands as a beacon of hope to so many oppressed people. But Lord, if our foundations are crumbling, then this great beacon won’t stand for long.
“And we pray, Lord, that this one key area of our government might be dramatically changed, that we might see people who respect the Constitution and who respect the fundamental law of the land. Lord, give us righteous judges who will not try to legislate and dominate this society. Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court, and we ask for additional fine people like John Roberts. Lord, speed this hearing process; may there be no rancor. May the Senate comport itself as it should, and may we see peace, harmony and a rapid confirmation process. Do miracles, Lord, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
God, in Robertson’s view, won’t have time to deal with hunger. He’s too busy ensuring smooth operations for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Prior to this prayer, Robertson outlined exactly what’s wrong with the Supreme Court: The justices have upheld legal abortion, the “so-called” separation of church and state and gay rights. They also had the nerve to declare the execution of juveniles unconstitutional. (Jesus wants those kids DEAD, dammit!)
This is the second time Robertson has appeared to be praying for the deaths of Supreme Court justices. In 2003, he was even more explicit, noting the advanced ages of some of the justices and hopefully pointing out that some have had health problems. The man is a creepy ghoul.
Frankly, I don’t even believe Robertson cares about world poverty. I’ve heard him preach against social programs, calling Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society “wasteful.” In his books he has criticized Social Security and implied that people are poor because they aren’t right with God. On his TV program, Robertson promotes the “prosperity gospel” — the idea that God wants you to be rich and will bless you with money, as long as you send donations to Robertson’s ministry.
In 1999, I listened to Robertson’s wife, Adelia, give a rambling speech in Washington, D.C., about poverty. Adelia Robertson talked of visiting economically distressed areas of West Virginia and seeing poor children with no shoes. Unfortunately, her solution to rural poverty was rather simple: “We’ve got to stop electing people who are for big government.”
The One Campaign has noble goals, goals worth supporting. It’s a shame the group undercut them by hooking up with an outrageous bigot like Pat Robertson.