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Pat Robertson

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Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is a Christian televangelist in the United States, and founder of the Christian Coalition. He is the host of the popular TV show The 700 Club, which airs on many cable channels including ABC Family. His Christian views have made him the subject of much controversy, especially his statements in favor of the dissolution of the barrier between church and state. He is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, although he holds to a Pentecostal theology.

Life and Career

Pat Robertson was born into a Democratic political Virginia family. His father, Absalom Willis Robertson, was a Democratic United States Senator. Pat Robertson enrolled at Washington and Lee University in 1946, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1948 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. After graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1950, Robertson served in the Korean War.

Robertson was promoted to first lieutenant in 1952 upon his return to the United States. Robertson then went on to receive a Juris Doctor degree from Yale University Law School in 1955 and a master of divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1959.

In 1960, Robertson established the Christian Broadcasting Network. It is now seen in 180 countries and broadcast in 71 languages. Robertson also founded International Family Entertainment, Inc. in 1990, with its main business as the Family Channel, which was sold to the Fox network in 1997 and is now owned by Disney. A condition of the sale was that the station would continue airing Robertson's television program The 700 Club twice a day.

Robertson founded Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1977 and serves as its Chancellor. Robertson is also founder and president of the American Center for Law and Justice, a public interest law firm and education group that defends the First Amendment rights of people of faith, holding the view that separation of church and state is superseded by an individual's right to worship as he or she chooses. The law firm, headquartered in the same building that houses Regent's law school, focuses on "pro-family, pro-liberty and pro-life" cases nationwide.

Robertson was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1988. His campaign did not last beyond the primary elections, as George H. W. Bush was nominated instead. Robertson's best showing in the primaries was winning the Washington state Republican primary.

While he is primarily popular among American evangelical Christians, support for Robertson extends beyond the Christian community. In 2002, he received the State of Israel Friendship Award from the Zionist Organization of America for his consistent support for Greater Israel. In that year the Coalition for Jewish Concerns also expressed its gratitude to Robertson for "unwavering support for Israel" and "standing up to evil."

A Prominent Public Figure

Outspoken in both his faith and his politics, Robertson has made plenty of headlines and enemies. The major controversies surrounding him include:

  • Robertson's support of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. In various episodes of his 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Liberian Civil War in June and July of 2003, Robertson repeatedly supported Liberian President Charles Taylor. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying "as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia." Robertson has been criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mine.
  • Robertson's political statements. On his The 700 Club television program, Pat Robertson has sharply criticized elements of the United States government. In interviews with the author of a book critical of the United States Department of State, Robertson made facetious suggestions that the explosion of a nuclear weapon at State Department Headquarters would be good for the country, and repeated those comments on the air. "What we need is for somebody to place a small nuke at Foggy Bottom," Robertson said during his television program, referring to the location of the State Department headquarters. State Department officials said they believed the comments to be in extremely bad taste, and have lodged official complaints against Robertson for his remarks.
  • Robertson's Korean War record. In the late 1980s, Pat Robertson sued Congressman Pete McCloskey and Representative Andy Jacobs for libel. McCloskey, who served with Robertson in Korea, made claims that Robertson was spared combat duty when his powerful father intervened on his behalf. Jacobs repeated these statements publicly. During pre-trial depositions, another veteran who had served with Robertson, Paul Brosman, Jr., spoke of rumors during the war that Robertson had been carousing with prostitutes and hassling Korean women. Brosman stated that Robertson himself talked about his exploits with prostitutes. In the end, Robertson dropped his lawsuit because of scheduling conflicts between court dates and his 1988 presidential campaign, and he was ordered to pay part of McCloskey's court costs.

Pat Robertson Quotations

  • "It is clear that God is saying, 'I gave man dominion over the earth, but he lost it. Now I desire mature sons and daughters who will in My name exercise dominion over the earth and subdue Satan, the unruly, the rebellious. Take back My world from those who would loot it and abuse it. Rule as I would rule.'"

The Secret Kingdom

  • "There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore."
  • "I think 'one man, one vote,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights." (talking about apartheid in South Africa)
  • "If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality."
  • "We're importing Hinduism into America. The whole thought of your karma, of meditation, of the fact that there's no end of life and there's this endless wheel of life, this is all Hinduism. Chanting too. Many of those chants are to Hindu Gods -- Vishnu, Hare Krishna. The origin of it is all demonic. We can't let that stuff come into America. We've got the best defense, if you will -- a good offense."
  • "The media challenged me. `You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, `Yes, they are.'"
  • "We're undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country. And how dare the president of the United States say to the duly elected president of another country, 'You've got to step down,'." (talking about Liberia)
  • "I have never met Taylor in my life. I don't know what he has done or hasn't done. I do know he was elected by the people, and he has maintained a relatively stable government in Liberia; and they observe the rule of law; they have a working legislature; they have courts. And though he may have certain dictatorial powers, so do most leaders in Africa." (talking about Liberia)
  • "We have allowed rampant secularism and occult, et cetera, to be broadcast on television. We have permitted somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 to 40 million unborn babies to be slaughtered in our society. We have a Court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye and said, 'We're going to legislate you out of the schools, we're going to take your Commandments from off the courthouse steps in various states, we're not going to let little children read the Commandments of God, we're not going to let the Bible be read -- no prayer in our schools.' We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. And, then we say 'why does this happen?' Well, why its happening is that God Almighty is lifting His protection from us." (in response to the 9/11 attacks)
  • "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history." (Interview with Molly Ivins)

Books by Pat Robertson

Honors given to Pat Robertson

  • 1975 The Distinguished Merit Citation from The National Conference of Christians and Jews.
  • 1976 Faith and Freedom Award in the field of broadcasting.
  • 1978 Department of Justice Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 25th FBI Vesper Service.
  • 1979 National Conference of Christians and Jews - Distinguished Merit Citation.
  • 1982 Humanitarian of the Year by Food for the Hungry.
  • 1984 Man of the Year Award from the Women's National Republican Club.
  • 1984 Citation from the National Organization for the Advancement of Hispanics.
  • 1985 National Association of United Methodist Evangelists.
  • 1988 Man of the Year by Students for America.
  • 1989 Christian Broadcaster of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters.
  • 1992 One of America's 100 Cultural Elite by Newsweek Magazine.
  • 1994 Omega Fellowship Award by Food for the Hungry for Operation Blessing's fight against worldwide hunger.
  • 1994 Defender of Israel Award from the Christians' Israel Public Action Campaign for those who have made major contributions in strengthening U.S.-Israel relations.
  • 1994 John Connor Humanitarian Service Award from Operation Smile International.
  • 2000 Cross of Nails award for his vision, inspiration, and humanitarian work with The Flying Hospital.
  • 2002 State of Israel Friendship Award from the Zionist Organization of America.

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