From .

[Guest guest]

Robertson, Falwell: U.S. Vulnerable

By CHRIS KAHN, Associated Press Writer

 

The Rev. Jerry Falwell and religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said the

United States was vulnerable to this week's terrorist attacks because the

nation has insulted God and lost divine protection.

 

``God Almighty is lifting his protection from us,'' Robertson said in a

four-page statement issued Thursday by his Christian Broadcasting Network.

 

``We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the

pursuit of ... health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality.''

 

Falwell, a Baptist minister and chancellor of Liberty University in

Lynchburg, Va., said Thursday on Robertson's religious TV program ``The 700

Club'' that he blames the attacks on pagans, abortionists, feminists,

homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) and the

People for the American Way.

 

``All of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in

their face and say, 'You helped this happen,''' Falwell said.

 

He added later, ``God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of

America to give us probably what we deserve.''

 

``Jerry, that's my feeling,'' Robertson responded. ``I think we've just seen

the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to

the major population.''

 

Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay

rights organization, said Friday the comments of Falwell and Robertson

``were stunning. They were beyond contempt. They were irresponsible at best,

and a deliberate attempt to manipulate the nation's anger at worst.''

 

Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition and unsuccessfully ran for

the 1988 Republican presidential nomination, said in his statement Thursday

that Americans have insulted God by allowing abortion and ``rampant Internet

pornography.'' He also chided the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) for,

among other things, limiting prayer in public schools.

 

``We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye,''

Robertson wrote. ``We have insulted God at the highest level of our

government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?'''

 

Robertson was among conservative religious figures who backed President Bush

(news - web sites) in last year's election. A White House official called

the remarks ``inappropriate'' and added, ``the president does not share

those views.''

 

Falwell said Friday that he didn't mean to blame any one group.

 

``But I'd say this is a wake up call from God,'' Falwell told The Associated

Press. ``I feel our spiritual defenses are down. If we don't repent, then

more events might happen in the future.''

 

Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in

Winston-Salem, N.C., compared Falwell's and Robertson's comments with

militant Islamic rhetoric that has been condemned worldwide.

 

``It trivializes theology. It trivializes the dead,'' Leonard said.

 

 

Email this story - View most popular | Printer-friendly format

Archived Stories by Sep 13 Sep 12 Sep 11 Sep 10 Sep 09 Sep 08 Sep 07

Sep 06 Sep 05 Sep 04 Sep 03 Sep 02 Sep 01 Aug 31 Aug 30