Pat, my Powerbook, and other thoughts

Ted Olsen from Christianity Today (or a commenter saying he was Olsen--that isn't a shot, just a recognition that it is hard to tell) pointed out that CT has been pretty critical of Robertson in the past. I concede that and hope they continue to address his problematic theology.

I will let this one go, even though Robertson's recent non-apology is frustrating enough (I am sorry, but I meant it and I was right to say it). Pat Robertson is an idiot and a whore. He sells Jesus Shakes and crap like that. He is a shill for the Bush administration and gets his jollies off attention. I understand that.

But he also reveals some underlying problems for AmeriChristians--and most of them probably haven't thought about it. Robertson is beyond help, but many evangelicals are not. When Robertson talks about Chavez and his threat to the US, he talks much about the oil and how cutting off that oil to the US could hurt us badly. As SOF pointed out so very clearly the other day, that is an American issue, not a Christian issue. An issue of policy, not of faith. But, as SOF pointed out, Robertson cannot tell the difference. And that is the problem for the rest of conservative Christianity. If you can't tell the difference between the interests of the faith and the interests of America, then you need to do some thinking.

_______

As I blogged last week, my powerbook died a clanking and noisy death. Here is a plug for Apple, however. I called in the problem on Thursday evening. They overnighted a mailer box for the laptop, but it didn't arrive until Monday (DHL doesn't deliver on the weekends or I would have had it on Saturday). I packed up the box Monday afternoon and dropped it off at my neighborhood DHL center. That was Monday evening. When I returned from class Wednesday afternoon, there was a box at my door. Not too shabby.

______

One more Robertson story, but this one a funny memory. I led backpacking tours in California one summer, long, long ago. It was for a Southern Baptist summer camp, and obviously, was back when I called myself a Southern Baptist. Anyway, my partner was a seminary student at Golden Gate and a hell of a nice guy. He had a great sense of humor and, despite his inability to read a damn map, was a great partner.

His wife, on the other hand, was a little more interesting. I liked her (can't even remember her name now) but she was on her own wave length. Hell, they both were. I remember them telling me that they did no planning for their family and wouldn't use birth control because God would decide how many kids they would have. They already had three, I think, and she was expecting before the summer was up. I remember thinking that seemed a, well, silly theological statement to make. But hey, they were happy.

Anyway, we were sitting in one of the interminable chapel meetings one time and I was sitting next to my partner's wife. She opened the flap of her Bible and showed me a sticker that read "Pat Robertson for President." I laughed and laughed. "That's a good one."

She wasn't kidding. She didn't think it was funny. I did and still do.

______

PS

As my anonymous friend William Walker (the Filibusterer) said about Robertson and Falwell: "it would be cheaper to take them out rather than go thru so much long term political organizing and refraiming of their dumbass arguments."