Cruise Director On The Slow Boat To Hell

God really needs to police His fan club, starting with this guy:

From JTA:

The Rev. Pat Robertson said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was punished by God for dividing the Land of Israel.
Speaking on the "700 Club on Thursday, Robertson suggested that Sharon, who is currently in an induced coma following a massive stroke and cerebral hemorrhage, and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, assassinated by an Israeli extremist in 1995, were being treated harshly by God for dividing Israel.

"He was dividing God's land," Robertson said. "And I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations or the United States of America.' God says, 'This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'"

Ariel Sharon is 77 years old, has suffered from heart problems for years and just recently left the hospital because of a stroke. I'm not a betting man, but I'm willing to wager that age, weight, poor diet and possibly stress may be what has really afflicted Mr. Sharon. Plus, when was Robertson appointed God's property manager? Of course, why let good sense and medical science get in the way of a good Jonathan Edwards-style rant...

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Ariel Sharon. He's been on Amnesty International's watch list for many years and has quite a number of things to answer for from both his military and political career. I'm no expert on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but I do know that Sharon and his former party, Likud, have rarely been good partners in peace for the country. Never the less, no man deserves to have the indignity of being cursed by God's most punch drunk holy warrior while on what is likely to be his deathbed.

My biggest problem with Robertson, and this applies to all other radical rightwing Christians like him, is their complete hijacking and perversion of what can be a beautiful faith. Robertson, Phelps, Reed, Terry, Falwell and Dobson, just to name a few, use their positions of prominence to twist Christianity into a religion of narrow-minded bigotry, superstition and hatred. They've tried to replace the Republican elephant with Republican Jesus and their efforts have served to turn a spiritual faith into a battle cry for theocratic fascism.

These men, Robertson and Phelps especially, strike me as fearful bullies, willing to strike out at any set of values that don't conform to theirprimitivee authoritarian morality. Their's is a faith of spiritual warfare; of attacking those whose beliefs and lifestyles are different. They hate the sinner and glorify the sin as some sort of spiritual, visceral catharsis. They mock and insult the downtrodden, disadvantaged and dead for political and monetary gain.

How many days has Matthew Sheppard been in Hell, Reverend Phelps? I'll bet your website says. How many innocents did your God kill with Hurricane Katrina, Pat? I guess America didn't hate gays enough for God to spare them this year. How many children would Jesus beat into meekness, Dr. Dobson? At least they'll inherit the earth. Have you slandered any other loyal husbands publicly, Mr. Terry, or is Michael Schaivo alone in that club? I guess his marriage wasn't so sacred to your kind after all.

The Slow Boat to Hell is boarding and you bastards have luxury cabins waiting.