Alone, in his television studio
… he can say almost anything he wants. Alone, in his studio, airing his
own show, he can spew venom and make up facts. If I were to say such
things, you would walk out, or stand and turn your backs in protest.
And well you might.
But, alone in his studio on his own show, he can make up what he wants.
He can make it up out of whole cloth, claim it to be true and broadcast
it around the world. Alone, from his studio in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, he can - he has! - claimed that Hurricane Katrina is God's
punishment for a liberal America.
Just the other day, sporting a green suit jacket and orange tie, he
said - and this was broadcast around the world and quoted and re-quoted
in print, and television and blogs - that the country of Haiti brought
down upon itself the wrath of God. Alone, in the isolation of his
television studio, he said that Haiti swore a pact to the devil; that
the earthquake was God's vengeful response. He claimed that the
catastrophe of that earthquake is the fault of the people of Haiti,
that they asked for it, they had it coming.
Alone in his television studio with no one to contradict him, Pat
Robertson, televangelist, gave his version of a thumbnail sketch of the
history of Haiti. In order to get out from under the heel of the
French, said Robertson, the people of Haiti swore a pact to the devil.
The earthquake, he said, was there punishment. "True story," he said.
And there was no one to contract him.
There was no one to tell him that Haitians rose up against slave
masters and threw them off. No one to say that Haiti is the only nation
whose independence was gained as a part of a successful rebellion of
enslaved persons, throwing off and overcoming cruel oppressors. There
was no one to challenge his racism, or his Christian triumphalism, or
to turn their backs and walk out on him.
In addition, because what he said was so shokcing, it has been quoted
and quoted and quoted. The Youtube video has massive amounts of hits. I
suspect that in the past few days the words of no other Christian or
minister have been quoted more than those of Pat Robertson.
Robertson can say whatever he wants and make it up because he is
isolated in a complex of luxurious buildings in Virginia Beach,
Virginia.
Now, here's the contrast; here is the difference; it is all the
difference in the world:
The people of Israel are returned home to Jerusalem after hundreds of
years of Babylonian captivity and exile. Their great city, Jerusalem,
lies in ruins and their homes are rubble. But they are home. They are
back. They are free. They start to rebuild. They rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem … they rebuild the great Temple, the center of their lives,
the home and house of God. Stone upon stone upon stone they begin to
rebuild.
Slowly and steadily, the rubble begins to take shape. Slowly, slowly by
the sweat of their brows and the strength of their backs and the
courage of their spirits the city begins again to take shape: out of
the rubble arise walls, homes, shops, streets … the Temple.
And then, as their first act of community, they all gather together.
Everyone comes together. Old and young. Male and female. Rich and
poor. Wise and foolish. Forlorn and hopeful. Broken and whole. They all
come together. Everyone!
They come together at the Water Gate … right under the walls of the
great city of Jerusalem. Everyone is there. This free people who are
just returned home to their land, they are all
there.
And they say to Ezra (now Ezra is a scribe, so he reads and writes
better than most; he was voted the best out-loud-reader in all of
Israel! But there is something else about Ezra. Ezra has a James Earl
Jones voice, or a Martin Luther King, Jr. voice. He has the kind of
voice that simply has to say the word "Freedom" to send chills down
your spine)" "Ezra", they say, "Go get it, Ezra. Bring it here. Go get
the book Ezra, the one that tells about Moses, and Pharaoh and freedom.
Go get the book, Ezra, and bring it here and read it to us. Read aloud
to us Ezra. Read aloud the story of our freedom … the story of how God
heard our cries, our moans, our pain, our despair. Ezra, we want you to
read aloud to us the story of how God rescued us …and loved us, and
escorted us through the wilderness, and brought us to a good and broad
land, a land of milk and honey."
Ezra disappears to fetch the book.
While Ezra is away, the people settle in for a good story … a great
story. They lay blankets down and unpack toys for the kids. They open
their picnic baskets and the settle in. They wait for Ezra, and as they
wait they look around at the city they have rebuilt from rubble. They
see how beautiful it is.
Ezra returns. He opens the book. The guy with the James Earl Jones
voice … or maybe the Martin Luther King, Jr. voice … opens the book.
An amazing thing happens. They stand. As if on cue. Everyone last one
of them stands: the old ones and the young ones, the male and the
female, the wise and the foolish, the poor and the rich, the goatherd
and the high priest, the mothers and the barren ones, the forlorn and
the hope-filled, the broken and the whole …. Every last one of them
stands in the presence of the story, their story, of freedom … in the
presence of God, whose story this is … who is their story's hero.
Here's the thing … here is where Pat Robertson failed. It says it so
clearly in the eighth chapter of the Book of Nehemiah. It says it so
clearly: all the people gathered together read from the book, from the
law of God, with interpretation. And, it says right there in the Book
of Nehemiah, the passage that tells this story, that they gave the
sense of it so that the people understood it.
It's not easy understanding God. God's ways are mysterious … sometime
inaccessible, impenetrable. It takes a community, a whole community to
read and understand this book that is at our center.
The book can be complicated. It needs to be approached carefully. In
the wrong hands it can be dangerous. That's why we do it together …
that's why we study it, discuss it. If I get it wrong, badly wrong, you
will let me know. You will turn your back or walk out.
God and God's word require our communal attention. It can't be read or
understood from the isolation and privacy of a TV studio.
Let me give you an example. Imagine a bunch of slave owners getting
together for a prayer breakfast. (Powerful men seem to like prayer
breakfasts … have you noticed this?) A bunch of slave owners are
gathered together for a Power Prayer Breakfast. They are enjoying eggs
scrambled by their slaves, and crisp bacon cured and fried by their
slaves (yum … so good) and orange juice just squeezed by their slaves.
They are at a prayer breakfast and they open the book, the Bible, and
they read that slaves shall be subject to their masters (they all nod)
and that women shall be ruled by their husbands (they nod).
Those slave owners taste those words … they are to them as sweet as
honey. But to the enslaved person who is refilling their cups with
steaming coffee, the words are bitter. More than bitter … worse than
bitter … they taste rotten, putrid.
That's the point of this story from the Book of Nehemiah: it takes
everyone to understand. Everyone one was there: rich and poor, male and
female, young and old … everyone was there and it takes everyone, the
whole community, to read and understand this book together.
If something tastes sweet in my mouth and rotten in yours, then we have
a problem.
The word of God, when it is rightly interpreted … it will be sweet for
everyone. That's the trick, the interpretive key we need to know … if
it is only sweet for a powerful few and if it is bitter, poisonous,
killing for a majority, we don't have it right. (Pat Robertson doesn't
have it right.) We need to work at it together, study it together in
the context of our varied and disparate lives. When we arrive at a
place where everyone can agree it is sweet as honey, then we are
hearing God.
Maybe you know this. Maybe you know that some years ago Pat Robertson
sold his Christian Broadcasting Network to ABC, which in turn, is owned
by the Walt Disney Company.
So, in fact, while Robertson owns his own studio and while the 700 Club
is his program, it airs courtesy of ABC. Here's another way of putting
it: Pat Robertson is a product of Walt Disney.
After Hurricane Katrina - after Robertson proclaimed that the hurricane
was the hand of God lifted against a liberal nation - ABC added a
disclaimer that appears each time Robertson's 700 Club airs: "This show
does not necessarily represent the views of ABC."
I believe, however, that by continuing to air the 700 Club, ABC is
harboring a hateful and dangerous man … a man whose words and views are
poisonous … hateful and racist … a man who is morally criminal.
I have written to ABC … to their chief information officer and board of
directors. This is what I wrote:
Sirs/Madams
of ABC Family's Board of Directors:
It is long past time to sever ABC Family's contract
with Pat Robertson. His words are heinous. No disclaimer
(i.e., "does not represent the views of ABC Family") undoes the harm
and pain he causes. Nor does your disclaimer free or buffer you from
accountability for airing his hateful views.
We live in perilous times. There is so much hate,
ignorance and violence abroad upon the earth. Robertson is among the
purveyors of the kind of hate and ignorance that engenders
violence. ABC Family gives Robertson voice. ABC Family gives him
stature and credibility. ABC Family gives Robertson safe harbor.
I understand that you have contract - a pact - with
Robertson. You know and I know that there is no legal pact that cannot
be broken with the assistance of excellent attorneys and a little
money, both of which I suspect you have in abundance.
Gentlemen and Gentle Ladies of the board of ABC
Family: it is long past time to break the pact you swore to Robertson.
Do the right thing. Rise to the occasion. Muster the moral will.
Sincerely,
Nancy S. Taylor
It is the work of God and the work of the Church, not to add to this
world's pain, but to ease it. Not to add to the divisiveness, but
to heal it. Not to heap suffering upon suffering, but to bear witness
to love. Not to participate in hate … but to stand up to it … and to
practice the arts of gentleness, forbearance, hospitality and grace.
We cannot do these things in solitariness … only in community.
This is our work. This is our calling. This is our purpose. We have
much to do. Let's get to it.
________________________
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 [When the seventh month came - the
people of Israel being settled in their towns] - all the people
gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the
scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had
given to Israel. Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before
the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with
understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. He read
from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning
until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who
could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the
book of the law.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was
standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people
stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people
answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their
heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation.
They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading. And
Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the
Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy
to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept
when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your
way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to
those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord;
and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."
