Dear God, Another Pat Answer

This past Tuesday, Pat Robertson was responding to a letter sent to his TV show The 700 Club which asked how to help comfort a grieving mother who had lost her baby.
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This past Tuesday, Pat Robertson was responding to a letter sent to his TV show The 700 Club which asked how to help comfort a grieving mother who had lost her baby. The Most Reverend Mr. Robertson had his answer ready. It's that God sees all and sees the end, so sometimes He "terminates" a baby to keep it from being another Hitler.

Actually, to be fair to Pat Robertson (a courtesy he doesn't seem to extend to others, but then when you're holier-than-thou, it's probably not necessary, being above it an all) let's let the good fellow speak for himself.

"As far as God's concerned, he knows the end from the beginning and He sees a little baby and that little baby could grow up to be Adolf Hitler, he could grow up to be Josef Stalin, he could grow up to be some serial killer, or he could grow up to die of a hideous disease. God sees all of that, and for that life to be terminated while he's a baby, he's going to be with God forever in Heaven so it isn't a bad thing."

Or you can watch it here yourself, just to know it wasn't all a bad dream,

Okay, so a bunch of thoughts immediately pop into mind and come flooding in. Like --

So, seriously, you're telling a grieving mother than she may have just given birth to the next Adolf Hitler??? What do you add after that? "Here, let me give you a hug."

Or you're telling this grief-stricken mother that her child that just died might have been a serial killer or have had a "hideous disease"? (How about adding to the list, "It could have been the next Pat Robertson.")

Or how about this -- if it's okay for the baby's life to be "terminated" by God, what would you say about a mother who has an abortion, and explains it was God's will. Because she God told her that her baby might grow up to be the next Josef Stalin. Or play for the New York Mets.

But towering above all the questions, high at the top of the list is this question --

Because God knows all and sees the beginning and end of everything, and can tell that a "little baby could grow up to be Adolf Hitler" and therefore will often "terminate" the life of that baby...WHY ON EARTH, then, didn't God terminate the actual baby who did, in fact, grow up to become Adolf Hitler??!!

To be clear, I am not chiding God. I am chiding Pat Robertson.

It should be clear by now, from all his gaffs and finger-pointing that revels when some disaster or mass death occurs (unless it overlaps his base), Pat Robertson does not have the pipeline to God and insight into His mysterious ways that he thinks he has. Since God is all-knowing, if He wanted a spokesman on earth, he wouldn't have chosen Pat Robertson, where He could see His word would be ridiculed and ignored from a guy who couldn't even get the GOP nomination for president when he ran. He'd have picked Taylor Swift. Or Stephen King. Or Jennifer Lawrence. Or The Beatles. Or for that matter, Ed Sullivan who could have put them all together on one really big show.

And whoever God did pick to carry His word, he certainly wouldn't have chosen a TV venue like The 700 Club. God has a far better sense of showmanship than that. This is the Supreme Being who parted the Red Sea. Who flooded the entire world. Who smote villages, turning people into pillars of salt. Who brought forth plagues of locusts, frogs and death to all first-born. You really think the best God could have come up with if He wanted His message spread on TV is Pat Robertson sitting behind a desk reading letters on a network with the viewership that probably gets beat by Comedy Central and QVC. This is the Almighty Creator who, when He wanted Man to pay attention, had a bush burst into flames and talk. At the very least, God would have made sure His show went on the air after Seinfeld -- and then made sure Seinfeld stayed on the air -- for eternity.

No Pat Robertson for you.

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To read more from Robert J. Elisberg about this or many other matters both large and tidbit small, see Elisberg Industries.

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