I Agree- He's Not My Kind of Christian
Earlier this past week Pat Robertson got himself back into the news. Then Sojourners founder and author Jim Wallis responded in this week's SoJo email. I agree with Bro. Wallis...

Pat Robertson is an embarrassment to the church and a danger to American politics.

Robertson is known for his completely irresponsible statements - that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were due to American feminists and liberals, that true Christians could vote only for George W. Bush, that the federal judiciary is a greater threat to America than those who flew the planes into the World Trade Center Towers, and the list goes on. Robertson even took credit once for diverting a hurricane. But his latest outburst may take the cake.

On Monday, Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Robertson is worried about Chavez's critiques of American power and behavior in the world, especially because Venezuela is sitting on all that oil. We simply can't have an anti-American political leader who could raise the price of gas. So let's just kill him, the famous television preacher seriously suggested. After all, having some of our "covert operatives" take out the troublesome Venezuelan leader would be cheaper than another $200 billion war, he said.

It's clear Robertson must not have first asked himself "What would Jesus do?" But the teachings of Jesus have never been very popular with Robertson. He gets his religion elsewhere, from the twisted ideologies of an American brand of right-wing fundamentalism that has always been more nationalist than Christian. Apparently, Robertson didn't even remember what the Ten Commandments say, though he has championed their display on the walls of every American courthouse. That irritating one about "Thou shalt not kill" seems to rule out the killing of foreign leaders. But this week, simply putting biblical ethics aside, Robertson virtually issued an American religious fatwah for the murder of a foreign leader - on national television no less. That may be a first.

I find this whole thing so frightening and also so frustrating. We Christians wonder why people don't pay attention to us. We wonder why non-Christians will ignore (at best) or downright revile the teachings we hold to be true. There is not a very big gap between militaristic fundamentalism of any religion. Only the professed "god" of worship changes.

I don't know the Jesus that Robertson is listening to. It doesn't match what I find in the Bible of his teachings and life. Nor does the over identification with American politics as THE politics of God, make any sense. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I've been reading the Bible the wrong way for fortysome years. But I am more convinced than I ever was that what Jesus is about has nothing to do with Venezuelan oil or power politics.

It has everything to do with how we live and move and have our being. It has everything to do with making disciples. It has everything to do with leading us all closer to God.

And no one is ever going to convince me that assassinating someone will do that.