Pat Robertson, of 700 Club fame, is again in the news for making inflammatory comments that shame the rest of us Christians. On his show yesterday, Robertson essentially said, “God smote Ariel Sharon as divine punishment for dividing God's land." (My interpetation.)
That is one of the stupidest comments ever.
Of course, Robertson has a business he is running, and plenty of crazy followers to bilk money out of, so sure, he is going to make a statement like this because the Kool-Aid drinkers will like it.
For the rest of us, it was a damaging, thoughtless statement.
Sure the Old Testament is full of stuff like this, but the last time I checked, we aren’t playing by those rules anymore.
At the risk of being like one of those people you see at sporting events and such that hold up a John 3:16, I am going to quote the verse. There really is no other way to sum up the gospel message and describe what God is really like.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
God didn’t cause Ariel Sharon to have a stroke as some sort of retribution for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. Robertson completely misrepresents God and God's plan for us. God is not cruel and vengeful, but loving and desires nothing more that to reconcile us to Himself, not strike us down.
Mr. Robertson's words and deeds don't reflect the true nature of God, but he certainly isn't helping unbelievers come to the realization that a relationship with God isn't all that bad. He should be spreading God's love and good news, not judging his fellow man in the guise of "God's will."
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