[DEBATE] : Pat Robertson's Crusade or the Malkop US Taliban

Fri Aug 11 13:57:47 BST 2006

The Nation
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/thenation/cm_thenation/storytext/15110
367/19928449/SIG=10qa2akrp/*http:/www.thenation.com>  -- The Holy Land
got just what it needed this week. A visit from Pat Robertson
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/thenation/cm_thenation/storytext/15110
367/19928449/SIG=12pkv3mhp/*http:/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2006/08/09/AR2006080901548_pf.html> .

The founder of the Christian Coalition arrived in        Israel
<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Israel>  on Wednesday for a
three day show of solidarity. He prayed for a victory in Lebanon with
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He broadcast the 700 Club from a
hotspot on the Israeli-Lebanon border.

Robertson has not always been so well-received in the Land of Milk and
Honey. Last January he suggested that former Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Ariel+Sharon>
fell into a coma after withdrawing from Gaza, which he termed "dividing
God's land."

Yet Robertson is still an aging reflection of a growing movement of
Christian Zionists
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/thenation/cm_thenation/storytext/15110
367/19928449/SIG=11thk532b/*http:/www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/new_chr
istian_zionism> , who not only back the most far right Israeli policies,
but espouse a disturbingly end-of-days worldview.

Just read an excerpt from Robertson's recent interview
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/thenation/cm_thenation/storytext/15110
367/19928449/SIG=12v2iojs7/*http:/www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=11
54525834303&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter>  with the Jerusalem
Post:

Do you worry that we could be on the verge of some of the apocalyptic
visions that are portrayed in the scriptures?

There was a prophet Ezekiel in the time of the Bible who wrote that in
the last days there would be an invasion of Israel by a coalition that
would include        Iran
<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Iran> , Russia, Turkey and
the Sudan and Libya. God himself is going to defeat that great army that
had come against his people. That is a prophecy of one of the Jewish
prophets that has yet to be fulfilled. It said that it would be in the
later days when Israel has been brought from the nations of the earth
and are living in peace in their land.

Are we on the verge of this apocalyptic vision?

Could be.

And don't forget that Robertson's evangelical followers also believe
that Jews must be in ancient Judea and Samaria when the Messiah returns
for Christians to reclaim their rightful land.

What they really want is the destruction of the people they claim to
love.

<html><body><font face = "verdana" size = "0.8" color = "navy">This communication is intended for the addressee only. It is confidential. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately and destroy the original message. You may not copy or disseminate this communication without the permission of the University. Only authorized signatories are competent to enter into agreements on behalf of the University and recipients are thus advised that the content of this message may not be legally binding on the University and may contain the personal views and opinions of the author, which are not necessarily the views and opinions of The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All agreements between the University and outsiders are subject to South African Law unless the University agrees in writing to the contrary.</font></body></html>