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Dear Michael you said:

I say:

I sort of resent what you said about Pat Robertson. As far as I'm concerned, and I have watched him throughout the years, he is not a fundamentalist. He is a highly devout man that has sacrificed his whole life for his love of Christ, and not once has ever condemned another Christian denomination. In fact, he has many time praised the Pope for his stances and positions....so in that sense, we could say that Pope John Paul II in taking the same stances as Pat Robertson, is a fundamentalist? Well I think not. :p

Pat Robertson does involve himself in politics, and has always done so because the immorality that exists now in society, was forseen by him decades ago. That those with a homosexual agenda sit and watch him in order to catch something in order to denigrate him, does not mean he is guilty of anything except giving opinions that usually coincide with opinions given by most people in the know.

Actually, that those with those agenda's are not able to find anything really detrimental to say, works in Pat Robertson's favor. Just imagine what they would find in everyone else. :rolleyes:

The best thing about Pat Robertson though, is CBN News. It tells you what our main media does not...and that believe me, is highly beneficial. I try not to miss it.

Zenovia

Zenovia,

I think we may have to agree to disagree. Personally I feel people like Pastor Robertson, Falwell, and others are the biggest threat to Christianity as they are the most vocal and many non-Christians consider them the voice of the mainstream.

I remember when the evangelicals started calling Hinduism and their gods "evil", the Hindus in India were asking why the Pope didn't denounce them. They didn't understand that these guys have nothing to do with the Pope and would probably say the same about him if they could get away with it.

Here's an example of Robertson's strange and vindictive god, this is when the residents of Dover decided to oust the intelligent design advocates from their schoolboard: C'mon - that statement is fearmongering and makes Christianity seem like a kooky, lightening-and-thunderbolt driven cult.

Here's another Robertson feaux-p�s Here's another tidbit about Pastor Robertson's questionable business dealings:

Dear Michael Thoma,

My husband is reading a book in Greek called: 'The Guru, the student, and the Elder' (a true story about Mt. Athos)...and there is strong and frightening evidence in the book that the Hindu gods he embraced were indeed demons.

All pagan deities are considered demons, and thus, are intrinsically 'evil'. (I know this may sound politically incorrect, but it is true.)

This does NOT mean, however, that Indian/Hindu people are evil, nor do we consider ancient Roman, Greek, or Mayan persons as having been evil, despite their worship of deities that were essentially demons.

The Orthodox elders and saints of Mt. Athos will go so far with this train of thought, infact, as to tell you to purge your home of any Hindu artifacts you may have. Evangelical pastors are not alone in their assessment.

Sincerely,
Alice

Dear Michael,

I would like to respond to the Hindu gods thing, since I myself consider all gods outside of our own to be demons. In ancient Greece, the famous oracle was in a demonic state when answering questions, and no doubt had subjecated herself to a demon. Miracles, (magic) did abound in pagan times, although all miracles that are not a complete cure, such as the one's Rasputin performed on the Czarvich, are not from God.

You're calling Pat Robertson a televangelist. By that you are insinuating that his income comes from his broadcasts. Well it doesn't. Actually, he gives most of his income to his broadcast and charities...but then again, I know that one cannot follow Jesus without being slandered and calumnized no end, so rather than adding yourself to those that persecute the innocent, try to find out the truth. But then again, one can only perceive others through their own eyes...which is quite a bad reflection on you.

I know that Pat Robertson's father was a senator and Pat attended Yale university. He served in the Korean war and became an investment banker. His mother was highly devout and constantly prayed for him, and his life turned around. Undoubtably after he was married, for as his wife said, she couldn't leave him because her family was in Lebanon at the time.

He had three children, (so I believe), and became a missionary in the black Bedford Styvenson section of Brooklyn. He considered buying a house there that was formerly a house of prostitution in order to continue his ministry, but was quite worried about the situation of his three red headed children in an all black neighborhood at a time when there were racial problems.

He prayed about it and said that he was made to know that he should not 'suffer his family' to live there and was given to impression that he should buy a radio station in Virginia.

He left with his family and $75 in his pocket. Now remember he was a Yale graduate, an investment broker and the son of a well known senator so the sacrifices made were quite great. Especially considering he had a family to support. At the time he lived with his family in a house that could not go above 55 degrees in the winter, and if I recall correctly lived on soy beans...starting him on his health food kick. Yet he refused to even consider making his missionary work only a part time effort. He gave it his all to his wife's chagrin.

He bought the radio station and named his program the 700 club because he felt that if they had 700 members giving $10 a month, they would be able to carry it. This went on for 15 years, until he started the second cable station. I believe HBO was the first. Again I might be wrong, since I'm depending on my memory...and it's going back about two decades.

Pat Robertson was never a Pentacostal although he did have them on his program. And he also had Mother Angelika on his program before EWTN was formed. Does that make him a Catholic? At one time he stated that he chastized the Pentacostals for falling into a certain heresy which later caused them to lose tens of thousands of members.

As for the hurricanes, he did mention years ago that one was headed for Virginia Beach, and that they all prayed and a wind came down from W. Virginia and the hurricane shifted course. The power of prayer my dear boy. :p

He is not paid on the 700 club, and he is quite a wealthy man, after all he is an investment broker. He has given investment tips to the main supporters of his charities, and from what I've heard, some have made quite a bit.

Operation Blessing has a hospital plane with volunteer doctors and nurses, and enormous trucks with donations of food from companies with excess food that travel to poverty stricken areas of the country. He also has people all over the world, and because of that, when disasters strike, such as the sunami, they are the first one's with the know how and organizational abilities to respond. The government has also used Operation Blessings organizational abilities to help the people after hurricane Katrina. It managed where the government failed.

The reason he has always been so successful is that he unites his efforts with local churches, and that keeps the cost down. No government with it's beauracracy could be able to accomplish what he does. I should think then, that what Robertson does would be a good thing, don't you?

Pat Robertson founded The Christian Coalition, which the RCC was also a member. It was found in order to make the voters aware of how their representatives and Senators stood in regard to social and moral issues. Of course in our society that is a no-no. We're supposed to remain in ignorance. He also founded Regent law school, and I recall the time when he wrote a book in order to acquire the funds to help it. Let's be grateful for that since it will produce the lawyers and judges needed to correct our decadent and immoral society.

He also has a hotel and I believe a retirement complex of homes, etc. for his members. He is also an author, and the books were usually written in order to support certain projects of his, such as the hospital airplane, etc.

Shouldn't we be thankful for people like him? As I said, he foresaw where this country was headed, and tried to enlighten the people as to the politics that were going on. Of course that was bound to give him some formidable, if not 'evil' enemies. But of course, that is my opinion...formed by the conditions of our society and what I see around me today.

Zenovia

hmmmmmmmmmmm, from what I learned, the Oracle of Delphi was sniffing natural gas from a naturally occuring fissure in the ground, thus her 'revelations'. sorry to demystify that one.
Much Love,
Jonn

Dear John you said:

I say:

I gather from that, that you don't believe in demons. That's okay, although it's not part of the Church's teachings. I on the other hand, have had experiences that would tell me otherwise. And that's part of the Church's teachings. :p

Zenovia

Dear John,

I recall when visiting ancient Corinth, that there was a secret room where I was taken. In it were little miniatures of body parts, similar to the one's that hang on icons in Greece. They are placed there, when a miracle for a cure is asked for, and it is answered.

The curator of the museum said that there were certain doctors that were able to magically cure people, and were then worshipped as a god. Now that shouldn't seem to strange, after all Rasputing was able to stop the Czarvich's bleeding, and he certainly was not a saint.

I would think that maybe the difference between a cure from God and one from a demon is that one is permanent and the other is not. Yet I have heard more recently of occultic means being used to cure people, and it seems they did work. I have no reason to believe that these people would lie about it.

Zenovia

The difference I would imagine between being healed by God and a demon is that the former doesn't have nasty spiritual side effects. Being touched by a demon in ANY way is deadly, which I can sadly personally attest to. I'm sure those people found out when they died...