Nicholas Kristof – An Eulogy to Stott and NonFundamentalist Evangelicals

Nick Kristof, writes in the Sunday Review of New York Times a superb eulogy to the noble decency of John Stott as compared with bullies of the Religious Right in the US, like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Here is what he writes:

In these polarized times, few words conjure as much distaste in liberal circles as “evangelical Christian.”

That’s partly because evangelicals came to be associated over the last 25 years with blowhard scolds. When the Rev. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson discussed on television whether the 9/11 attacks were God’s punishment on feminists, gays and secularists, God should have sued them for defamation.

True Stories

The last issue of Sightings deals, how else, with Robertson’s thoughtless statements on Haiti. Here is what Martin Marty writes about this:

You know the old joke:  When someone absolutely diabolical died, the rabbi asked if anyone wanted to say anything about him at the funeral.  No one dared, as there was nothing nice to say.  Eventually one stood up and said, “His brother was even worse.”  Was anyone worse than Pat Robertson, who credited the earthquake in Haiti to “true story” of the Haitians having “made a pact with the devil”?  Say something nice about Robertson now?

Latest news on Haiti – ‘Satan’ writes to Pat Robertson

Dore – Satan Falling

James McGrath informs us on his blog that, supposedly, Satan sent a letter to Pat Robertson, complaining about his ‘insightful’ comments on Haiti. Here it is:

Fundamentalist Stupidity. Again – UPDATE

Pat Robertson has done it again. It seems that some people never learn.

First, he speaks without thinking, and then, what else, he retracts. How can the world take Christianity seriously with such “leaders’?

Note 1: By the way, did you fall for this? No, Robertson did not retract. These people never do. This was a comedian imagining things.

Nevertheless, we finally have a statement from Robertson. Not that it clarifies anything.

The Great Evangelical Rebranding

Sarah Posner, The Guardian

In the early part of the noughties, Rev Jerry Falwell declared on national television that the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US were the result of “throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked.”

“We have sinned against Almighty God, at the highest level of our government, we’ve stuck our finger in your eye,” agreed Pat Robertson, who was hosting Falwell on his 700 Club programme.