09-14-2001, 06:12 PM
September 14, 2001
Robertson, Falwell: U.S. Vulnerable
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:35 p.m. ET
The Rev. Jerry Falwell and religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said the United States was vulnerable to this week's terrorist attacks because the nation has insulted God and lost divine protection.
``God Almighty is lifting his protection from us,'' Robertson said in a four-page statement issued Thursday by his Christian Broadcasting Network.
``We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of ... health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality.''
Falwell, a Baptist minister and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., said Thursday on Robertson's religious TV program ``The 700 Club'' that he blames the attacks on pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way.
``All of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen,''' Falwell said.
He added later, ``God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.''
``Jerry, that's my feeling,'' Robertson responded. ``I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.''
Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said Friday the comments of Falwell and Robertson ``were stunning. They were beyond contempt. They were irresponsible at best, and a deliberate attempt to manipulate the nation's anger at worst.''
Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition and unsuccessfully ran for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination, said in his statement Thursday that Americans have insulted God by allowing abortion and ``rampant Internet pornography.'' He also chided the U.S. Supreme Court for, among other things, limiting prayer in public schools.
``We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye,'' Robertson wrote. ``We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?'''
Robertson was among conservative religious figures who backed President Bush in last year's election. A White House official called the remarks ``inappropriate'' and added, ``the president does not share those views.''
Falwell said Friday that he didn't mean to blame any one group.
``But I'd say this is a wake up call from God,'' Falwell told The Associated Press. ``I feel our spiritual defenses are down. If we don't repent, then more events might happen in the future.''
Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., compared Falwell's and Robertson's comments with militant Islamic rhetoric that has been condemned worldwide.
``It trivializes theology. It trivializes the dead,'' Leonard said.
Robertson, Falwell: U.S. Vulnerable
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:35 p.m. ET
The Rev. Jerry Falwell and religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said the United States was vulnerable to this week's terrorist attacks because the nation has insulted God and lost divine protection.
``God Almighty is lifting his protection from us,'' Robertson said in a four-page statement issued Thursday by his Christian Broadcasting Network.
``We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of ... health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality.''
Falwell, a Baptist minister and chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., said Thursday on Robertson's religious TV program ``The 700 Club'' that he blames the attacks on pagans, abortionists, feminists, homosexuals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the People for the American Way.
``All of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen,''' Falwell said.
He added later, ``God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve.''
``Jerry, that's my feeling,'' Robertson responded. ``I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror. We haven't even begun to see what they can do to the major population.''
Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights organization, said Friday the comments of Falwell and Robertson ``were stunning. They were beyond contempt. They were irresponsible at best, and a deliberate attempt to manipulate the nation's anger at worst.''
Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition and unsuccessfully ran for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination, said in his statement Thursday that Americans have insulted God by allowing abortion and ``rampant Internet pornography.'' He also chided the U.S. Supreme Court for, among other things, limiting prayer in public schools.
``We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye,'' Robertson wrote. ``We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say, 'Why does this happen?'''
Robertson was among conservative religious figures who backed President Bush in last year's election. A White House official called the remarks ``inappropriate'' and added, ``the president does not share those views.''
Falwell said Friday that he didn't mean to blame any one group.
``But I'd say this is a wake up call from God,'' Falwell told The Associated Press. ``I feel our spiritual defenses are down. If we don't repent, then more events might happen in the future.''
Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University Divinity School in Winston-Salem, N.C., compared Falwell's and Robertson's comments with militant Islamic rhetoric that has been condemned worldwide.
``It trivializes theology. It trivializes the dead,'' Leonard said.