National tragedies are a great time to score cheap political points. And by “great,” I mean wildly inappropriate to the point of possibly being defined as obscene. In the aftermath of the Vegas massacre, Hillary Clinton gave a demonstration on Twitter for why she’s almost universally despised. On the other side of the political spectrum, and sadly surprising no one, Pat Robertson used the horrific shooting in Vegas to publicly flail at some of his hobby horses.
Having killed at least 59 people and wounding over 500 more, the shooter’s motives are still unclear. The authorities’ lack of knowledge at this point hasn’t deterred Pat Robertson from claiming that he knows the overarching motive behind the Vegas shooting and any and all other violence being enacted in our country. According to the founder of the 700 Club, the mass murder in Vegas was caused by disrespect for Donald Trump, veterans, and government institutions, as well as the NFL players’ disrespect of the flag and national anthem.
In his short diatribe, Pat Robertson scolds:
Violence in the streets, ladies and gentlemen. Why is it happening? The fact that we have disrespect for authority; there is profound disrespect for our president, all across this nation they say terrible things about him. It’s in the news, it’s in other places. There is disrespect now for our national anthem, disrespect for our veterans, disrespect for the institutions of our government, disrespect for the court system. All the way up and down the line, disrespect.
Sin begets sin, no doubt. And our country has many sins to answer for. However, out of all the heinous sins committed by this country as a whole that Robertson could’ve rattled off — sins like abortion and same-sex marriage — he picked highly partisan and debatable issues. Not being a fan of the current president, regardless of who is president, is not a sin. Expressing your dislike for the president is not a sin. If it were, Pat Robertson would have quite a bit of sin to atone for himself.
Here’s the thing: Unless it comes out that Stephen Paddock was directly inspired by either his love or his hatred for abortion, the tragedy was not caused by our nation’s grievous sin of murdering babies. The critics of President Trump aren’t responsible. Likewise, the NFL players share zero blame for what happened in Vegas. Stephen Paddock is to blame.
This isn’t the first time that Robertson has used his bully pulpit to drag the name of God into discussions over current events. Earlier this year he declared that anyone who disagrees with Donald Trump is revolting against God.
Pat Robertson frequently plays the part of the dumb, uninspired cousin of Balaam’s donkey. Unlike Balaam’s donkey, Robertson’s speech is not being directed by God. Pat Robertson speaks for Pat Robertson and frequently lies about God in the process.
Speaking without thinking — without regard for the feelings of others — Robertson continues to bring shame to the name of Christ Jesus. Pat Robertson is a divisive bully and a charlatan who needs to repent of his own sins before blaming others for tragedies they didn’t have anything to do with.
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