by Robert
Boston
Copyright 1996
Prometheus Books
This is
written as an expose' and therefore will either be applauded or heavily
criticised. No matter who reads it, the response tends to be strong.
In some ways
the book being almost twenty years old is outdated. Robertson himself will before
long disappear from the scene along with what remains of the first generation
of Christian Right leaders.
Nevertheless
his influence has been profound and his shadow looms large. Even after he's
gone his influence will be felt in the realm of 'Christian' broadcasting and in
particular his most potent legacy, the creation of the ACLJ.
I was
genuinely shocked when I arrived at a Calvinist seminary back in the 1990's and
as somewhat new Reformed Christian, I simply assumed that of course everyone
was against Robertson, Falwell and Dobson. Heretics and frauds all! But I was
mistaken. These men, though representing a different theological grid were
respected, even revered. Only later did I come to a fuller understanding and
realize there's an overarching theological continuity, significantly more than
a mere point of contact. In fact throughout the 1980's and 1990's much of the
Evangelical world came to embrace a sometimes nebulous form of theology that
had its roots in the Reformed tradition. Robertson's a Dispensationalist and
Pentecostal but Dominionism puts him on the same page and on the same quest as
many if not most thinkers in Reformed circles
The book is
pertinent because it outlines something of his background and the rise of the
Christian Right's Second Wave, the Christian Coalition. By the end of the
Reagan administration the Moral Majority had lost its moral authority. Falwell
was a corrupt fool and dupe and had failed in his overall project. Reagan had
used the Evangelical community and proved a great disappointment. This
understanding would be modified in the 2000's as Reagan's legacy would be subjected
to revision and mythologized. The imagined Reagan of today's Right bears little
resemblance to the actual Reagan.
For
starters, see: Tear Down This Myth: The Right-Wing Distortion of the Reagan
Legacy by Will Bunch
Robertson
took advantage of the growing vacuum and created the Christian Coalition and
attempted to run for president in 1988 an event many of us remember well.
The book
also reveals something of his character and I think accurately exposes him for
what kind of person he really is. His business dealings are shady and often
immoral. This book written in 1996, antedates some of his more outrageous
activities, especially his friendships and dealings with African dictators. Of
course to some this is less than controversial as many of the same characters
were supported by the United States during the Cold War. Robertson was a
facilitator and an advocate in US circles for the coinciding interests of his
business dealings and these tyrants.
The worst
chapter in the book is entitled 'The World According to Pat Robertson'. The
author is not a Christian and though that bears little on the rest of the book,
in this chapter it becomes frustrating and problematic. Robertson is a false
teacher, prophet and heretic and yet for all that is not always completely
wrong. Often even when he's right, he's still wrong in terms of how or why he's
saying what he is. It becomes confusing and this is compounded by the author's
misunderstanding and often rejection of Christian teaching.
The best
chapters from my standpoint were on his business dealings and the ACLJ. The
latter focuses extensively on lawyer and radio host Jay Sekulow another fraud
and deceiver cut from the same cloth. A local radio station carries his
program. It's hard to listen to. It is full of distortion, blatant lies and
misrepresentation, fear mongering and theological error. It actually says more
about the state of the church that a programme such as this would be
successful. The audience is necessarily ignorant and possesses little knowledge
of history, political science, Constitutional law, and geo-politics, let alone
Scripture.
The book
is very critical of Robertson and questions whether he really stands for Family
Values, really believes in Democracy or many of the ideals he purports to
uphold.
Again the
book is written by a non-believer and therefore suffers serious shortcomings.
Nevertheless it's worth picking up, especially for those who wish to revisit
the polarization of the 1990's. While in some respects it seems mild compared
to the present, it was a time of great upheaval. Clinton was hated and feared
almost as much as Obama is now. It was time of militias and growing fear, gun
mania, Waco and Oklahoma City. There was definite transition at work within the
Church at large. Seeds were sown which are still bearing fruit.
Reconstructionism
was already in decline. It had gotten too much bad press and was theologically
extreme and easily assailable. And yet it never really went away. It morphed
and in many respects a broader and perhaps slightly milder version of it has
slowly taken over and actually become the new orthodoxy of Evangelicalism.
Pat
Robertson played no small role in that great and terrible feat. Indeed to many
in the 1990's he would have seemed a rather dangerous figure.
The quest
for power has led many down a road of endless compromises. Dominion theology
has worked as a great ecumenical unifier and brought together the likes of
Robertson and figures like DJ Kennedy. I was always rather stunned to turn on
TBN and see the Crouch's in all their tacky and obscene glory sitting alongside
such figures as Kennedy and Jay Sekulow. Like the dog eat dog world of secular
politics, the Christian quest for Dominion has created strange bedfellows and
there's not a little exploitation on all sides. Everyone is using everyone else
but there are powerful figures in the background that help tie the project
together. Robertson is one of these.
I will
tremble when he dies at some point in the near future. I trembled when both
Falwell and Colson died. I remember where I was and what I was doing when I
heard the news of their deaths. These men have devoted their lives to serving a
cause, a cause they thought was the Kingdom of Christ. They never knew Him and
in fact laboured to destroy the Church and the theology of that very Kingdom.
