Religious leader advocates assassination

[miriam_e]

I thought there were laws to lock up religious leaders if they publicly incited murder.
Oh... maybe those laws only work on Moslem religious leaders.

Pat Robertson, host of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club and founder of the Christian Coalition of America, called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200508220006

He should go straight to jail. If he was a Moslem cleric exhorting people to assassinate Tony Blair you can bet he'd be languishing behind bars right now. Such an idiot would deserve jail. This insane Christian extremist belongs in jail too.

Can you say double standards?

Comments

Shiver

[exileinparadise.livejournal.com]

I am confused, which Moslem leader in America was locked up for speaking?
I know the UK evicted a religious person recently... is that who you mean?

As far as Pat Robertson, I want him off TV on general principles. He's a crazy monkey, that's for sure.

But there is a PART of his assassination message that I have to agree with: Hugo Chavez must not be allowed to stay in power in Venezuela.

The people in Venezuela have tried 4 times to GET RID OF HIM... and 4 times been put down. He's a despot.

As an American, I *must* support the Venezuelan desire to be rid of him, and believe that America should do *anything* we can to help them get rid of Chavez... peacefully if Chavez would cooperate (doubtful), and forcefully if needed. Yes, in effect, I would explicitly agree that a US sniper have at Hugo Chavez... even though I personally hope a less drastic option of freeing Venezuela would be explored first.

Unfortunately, since I am currently living in GW Bush Jesusland, I expect we would shoot first and skip the talk talk.

Why should Pat Robertson, or I, support assassination?

The answer is in the American Declaration of Independence:

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

The US Declaration of Independence makes its every patriotic American's DUTY to support ANY effort to throw off despots, anywhere, without cause or provocation, and that alone is enough reason for American to be in Iraq.

The desire to throw off despots founded this country.
People keep forgetting that about Americans.
That desire is CODIFIED into our very existence, and has been since 1776.

So, it should not come as a great surprise to the rest of the world when America starts meddling, but it seems to anyway, over and over again.

So, Mr. Robertsons's statements are abhorrent coming from a "religious leader" (as he claims to be...) but they are absolutely justified under *the* document that CREATED his country.

And, his statements are further encouraged and protected as free speech under the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Is that schizo? yes. Crazy? yes. American? absolutely.

Thankfully, the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights never claim Americans are sane or sensible (at least I don't remember reading that anywhere in them).

So why does the rest of the world expect us to be?
We don't expect it of ourselves, thats obvious enough :)

Perhaps your confusion about Pat Robertson is this: he's really a politician using religion as a way to avoid the more onerous legal burdens the American legal system levies against politicians...

Does any of that help?

Americans are so misunderstood :)