United Methodist bishop denounces televangelist's remarks
Aug. 24, 2005
By United Methodist News Service
A prominent United Methodist bishop has called on televangelist Pat Robertson to apologize for remarks that suggest the United States "take out" Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.
"I join the mounting Christian protest against Rev. Pat Robertson's recent statement proposing to 'take out' Venezuela President Hugo Chavez," said Bishop Peter D. Weaver, who heads the denomination's Boston Area and is president of the church's Council of Bishops.
"Rev. Robertson's stand calls us to perpetuate the Cold War, urges us to join the terrorism we reject and pushes this world into a deepening spiral of violence," Weaver said. "On the basis of the Bible, the spirit of Jesus Christ, and Christian tradition, I urge Rev. Robertson publicly to apologize and renounce his misguided statement."
In an Aug. 24 letter sent to the White House, Weaver also asked President George Bush to reject Robertson's call for violence against Chavez.
Two days earlier, Robertson said on his CBN program, "The 700 Club," that if Chavez thinks the United States is "trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it." It would be cheaper than starting a war, Robertson said.
The Bush administration and Chavez have been at odds with each other in recent years, exchanging criticisms over the other's policies. The Venezuelan president has claimed that the Bush administration has tried to depose him-a charge denied by the White House. U.S. officials have taken a dim view of Venezuela's ties with Cuba and have accused it of meddling in the affairs of neighboring countries. The relationship is complicated by the fact that Venezuela is a major supplier of oil to the United States.
After a firestorm of criticism, Robertson said Aug. 24 that his comments were misinterpreted. "I didn't say 'assassination,'" he said on that day's "700 Club" program, later quoted in news reports. "I said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him."
His Aug. 22 comments were rejected by U.S. government officials and denounced by other organizations. The Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist serving as top staff executive of the National Council of Churches, called Robertson's remarks "appalling to the point of disbelief."
"It defies logic that a clergyman could so casually dismiss thousands of years of Judeo-Christian law, including the commandment that we are not to kill," Edgar said. As a former congressman who served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1976 to 1979, Edgar said he was "convinced of the immorality of political violence."
Assassination is against U.S. law, a fact noted by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after Robertson's initial remarks.
The National Council of Churches includes 36 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African-American and peace communions, representing 45 million people in the United States.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
Robertson: Chavez remarks misinterpreted
Robertson's remark ignites uproar
Resources
Council of Bishops
CBN
National Council of Churches
|
