Is Pat Robertson "relevant" to mainstream Christians?

[DawnCt1]

As far as the UK is concerned, a BBC survey in 2004 showed less than 50 per cent believed in God. I have not seen similar surveys for other European countries but empirical evidence suggests that the level of belief is much lower than in the US even when you consider the "habit" of belief that tended to exist in many Catholic countries.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/wtwtgod/3518375.stm

One impact of this increasing secularisation is for Europeans to view religious fervour in the Middle East, of whatever denomination, and religious fervour in the US, mainly Christian, and see them as comparable. Whilst the current activities of Christian extremists in the US pale into insignificance when set against the activities of, say, Islamic extremists, the argument becomes one of scale rather than that of moral absolutes. Is a Hamas suicide bomber who murders a score of innocent Israelis more reprehensible than a pro life supporter that murders an abortionist? Is the President of Iran calling for the destruction of Israel more heinous than Pat Robertson claiming that Sharon is being punished by God for his actions? In both cases, arguably yes, but your perspective could depend on where in the world you are sitting. The world hears Pat Robertson and considers his statement to be reflective of main stream US Christian opinion. Where is the world's media in publicising the rebuttal ?

ford family

Perhaps what doesn't come across in the foreign press is that Americans are as outraged at the murder of abortionist as you are. They are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The fact that Pat Robertson doesn't represent mainstream religious thinking is what put his comments in the news in the first place. We assume in this country that most Christians and Jews believe in love, peace and harmony. That isn't news. One will not read a headline in the paper that says the "Pastor of the First Congregational Church calls for a day of prayer, or peace, or unity" That isn't news to Americans. Its what religion teaches on a daily basis.

 

[yeartolate]

Apparently not. But that has been more or less evident in every other thread on PR.

Dawn, I can only think of one other thread that I have posted specifically regarding PR. Are there scores of other recent ones that I have posted to that I cannot recall? If I am expected to read the entire CB daily, I will need to quit my job and adopt out my son.

 

[binny]

No, he is not relevant nor respected. Not by any I know. As a matter of fact today we had our house inspected (we sold it last weekend). The inspector is a Christian, as are we. And he asked if we had heard what Robertson had said. I hadn't and my dh had. We all agreed that it was appalling and we had never met this inspector before!

ITA. I know no one who respects him or even listens to him


On a sad note how did the inspection go?

 

[Geoff_M]

In fairness, I think our general view of life in Europe is no less distorted than the view elsewhere of life in the U.S.

I agree... that was the whole idea of my post. I think it's safe to say that what the folks in place like the UK know of religious thinking in the US is mostly limited to reports of the latest "eye roller" issued by people like Robertson or Falwell. Limiting what you know about another culture to things presented in the media, regardless of what side of the ocean you're on, isn't a really good idea.

 

[Galahad]

The Gospel According to Pat:

Pat's Bible

 

[Galahad]

bumped for those that can't get enough of Pat. You might enjoy his new Bible translation above.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

Perhaps what doesn't come across in the foreign press is that Americans are as outraged at the murder of abortionist as you are. They are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The fact that Pat Robertson doesn't represent mainstream religious thinking is what put his comments in the news in the first place. We assume in this country that most Christians and Jews believe in love, peace and harmony. That isn't news. One will not read a headline in the paper that says the "Pastor of the First Congregational Church calls for a day of prayer, or peace, or unity" That isn't news to Americans. Its what religion teaches on a daily basis.

Exactly!

The press is more interested in sellling newspapers with sensationalism than it is in reporting the norm.

 

[eclectics]

I think most foreign citizens are smart enough to realize that fringe religious figures don't represent what most Americans practice. If they care enough about America's religious beliefs in the first place to even ponder it.

 

[Jamesbyr]

After all this, most Americans believe that Pat Robertson is gravely mistaken. So what should they do about it?