VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., September 17, 2001 -- On Thursday of last week, as The 700 Club continued its coverage of the tragic attack on the World Trade Center by radical extremists, Pat Robertson not only was reporting the news, but was also asking his audience to pray for the survivors and their families, as he had been doing for the previous two days.
In addition, he personally issued a statement that indicated that the church and all of America should come in repentance before God so that He would not lift the protective covering that has graced our land since its founding. Toward the end of the program, The 700 Club producers had booked Jerry Falwell for a satellite interview. Rev. Falwell’s initial remarks were completely in accord with what had been said in preceding parts of the program, and then, unexpectedly, he uttered a political statement of blame directed at certain segments of the population that was severe and harsh in tone, and, frankly, not fully understood by the three hosts of The 700 Club who were watching Rev. Falwell on a monitor.
It was this brief interchange with Rev. Falwell that was picked up by People For The American Way, who for approximately the past fifteen years have taped every single telecast of The 700 Club and unfortunately take statements out of context and spin them to the press for their own political ends. Rev. Falwell has issued a pointed clarification of his statement, and Dr. Robertson said on Fox News’ The Edge that he considered the remarks "totally inappropriate." He does not wish to comment further on something that is not personally in keeping with the spirit of prayer and sorrow that has been evidenced by the staff of the Christian Broadcasting Network over the past several days.
Preachers of Hate & Intolerance
http://tampabaycoalition.homestead.com/robfal.html
Letter to the Editor:
There has been considerable discussion in your paper, including letters to the editor, concerning the statement of an evangelical leader to the tragedy that struck our land on September 11th. I have seen a great deal of misinformation, misstatements of fact, snippets of conversation wrenched out of context, and vicious criticism of sentiments attributed to me which I have never articulated.
A guest on my program, "The 700 Club," Dr. Jerry Falwell, made remarks that I have disavowed as intemperate and inappropriate, and for which he has personally apologized. On the ABC program "Good Morning America," he categorically stated that he was responsible for those remarks, and that "Pat Robertson did not make them and should not be held accountable for them." In this, he spoke the truth.
Although I have never expressed the statements that are attributed to Dr. Falwell, I have said that in this time of national crisis it behooved us to humble ourselves before Almighty God, to confess our sins before Him, and to ask for His protection as we engage in what could be a ten-year struggle against terrorism.
I believe that criticism leveled at me would not have been so vitriolic had the writers read the words of President Abraham Lincoln written on March 30, 1863 when he said:
"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men to own their dependence on the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon...And insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?...Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us…It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
Why has a statement that was so universally acclaimed in 1863 become the object of scorn and ridicule when made in a slightly different form in the year 2001? I do not know what others will do, but I choose to follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln.
Sincerely,
Pat Robertso
Preachers of Hate &
Intolerance
http://tampabaycoalition.homestead.com/robfal.html