Clean your own house first

In the news, today, I learn that Pat Robertson finally apologized for stirring up a hornet’s nest at the Pentagon, State Department, and Congress on Monday by calling for the Venezuelan President’s assassination.

"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement,” he said in a written statement.

Of course, that was after trying to say that he didn’t actually say “assassination” to his faithful followers on his 700 Club program. I’m pretty sure that would be called compounding the problem with an unmistakable lie.

"I didn’t say ‘assassination.’ 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. I was misinterpreted by the AP [Associated Press], but that happens all the time,” Robertson said on “The 700 Club."

Someone evidently pointed out to Robertson that we live in modern times where the video of him calling for Chavez’s assassination was being widely circulated and he couldn’t weasel out of it. Nothing to do but apologize. And I don’t actually believe that he would have apologized unless he’d been mightily pressured by his more powerful buddies in government. It’s not that he regrets actually saying it or wishing for it, it’s just that calling for the assassination of a duly elected head of state of a sovereign nation is...well, impolitic.

I think it was an unfortunate day when Pat Robertson decided to merge his religion with politics. Politics is a dirty business. We’ve all known that for eons. Politics creates circles of great power. And power corrupts people. Religion and politics don’t mix well. When a politically motivated Christian leader publicly calls for the assassination of anyone, it leads one to think maybe he’s lost sight of his Christian mission. As a Christian leader, I’d think his mission is to save souls, not publicly call for offing them.

Prayer, Mr. Robertson, as they say, moves mountains. And charity begins at home, in your own earthly temple.