He endorsed Bush for the general election. In 1993, for example, he was criticized when CBN invested $2.8 million of its nonprofit, donor-given monies in a for-profit vitamin and skin care company in which Robertson also had a substantial personal investment. "Televangelism" refers to the specific style of religious broadcasting identified with conservative Protestantism and the Religious Right. On a number of occasions he credited his public prayers for steering hurricanes away from Virginia Beach, though he was unsuccessful with Hurricane Isabel in 2003. American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy, It's Not a Crisis. Political historians may view it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate ever did.. We want to hear it. When the Reagan administration belittled those suffering from AIDS and slow-pedaled research to stop the deadly plague, it was because of Robertson and the Christian Right, who regarded it as divine punishment against gay people. The Rev. Robertson often said. But unlike Jerry Falwell, Paul Weyrich, and other pioneers of the Christian Right, Robertson was also batshit, with his endless conspiracy theories, claims of faith healing, and prophesies of the end of the world. Robertsons media and real estate holdings expanded worldwide, his net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine at more than $100 million. Instead, he became a management trainee and lived in the New York City borough of Staten Island, where he was chairman of the 1956 presidential campaign of Democrat Adlai Stevenson. A popular early host was Jim Bakker, who had a religious puppet show with his wife, Tammy Faye. Robertson often boasted of his patrician roots. Robertson grew up largely in Lexington, finishing high school at the elite McCallie School in Chattanooga and then returning home to attend college at Washington and Lee University. He married Dede (Adelia) Elmer in 1954. Lisa Marie Presleys Cause of Death Revealed Although he bristled at the term televangelist, Rev. . He gave Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker their first break, doing a childrens programme, and started the breakfast-time show The 700 Club, its title taken from a fundraising drive for 700 subscribers. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Pat Robertson, the prominent televangelist who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, made the Christian right a powerful political force and unsuccessfully ran for president in 1988, died on . All right, enough. That move quickly led to the formation of the Christian Coalition, a powerful political lobbying organization that advocates for socially conservative Christian ideals. The Associated Press contributed to this report. He expanded his mission to education in the late 1970s, founding CBN University (later renamed Regent University) in Virginia Beach with the aim of training Christian leaders to change the world. Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) was a graduate of Regents law school, and hundreds of alumni worked in the administrations of presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. ." Why Anti-Trafficking Experts Are Torching 'Sound of Freedom' Robertson received a master's in divinity from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then drove south with his family to buy a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. Robertson advocated a conservative Christian ideology and was known for his involvement in Republican Party politics. The Murdoch Family: All About the Real-Life People Who Inspired 'Succession', The Biggest Midterms Surprises, from Lauren Boebert's Neck-and-Neck Race to the Red Wave That Wasn't, Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2023, seek his party's nomination for president. 30 Jun. So when Robertson spouted conspiracy theories, homophobia, racism, and misogyny on his cable TV show, huge swaths of America and politicians listened to him. Marion G. "Pat" Robertson (born 1930) was a television evangelist who founded and led the Christian Broadcasting Network. More than anyone, Pat Robertson succeeded at mainstreaming the craziest fringes of Christian fundamentalism, and his descendants are, today, the base of the Republican Party: religious extremists motivated by rage, fear, and conspiracy theories. Yet left out of the accounts of Robertsons life was a basic fact: He was an antisemitic conspiracy theory nutter. Robertson reverted to his self-appointed role as Gods prophet. He often predicted doom for those he deemed insufficiently righteous and attributed natural disasters and other calamities to perceived political and moral failings. He said he was descended from two presidents, William Henry Harrison and his grandson, Benjamin Harrison. Auxiliary enterprises were added as CBN grew. Without the Christian Coalition in the 1980s, thered be no Leonard Leo and Federalist Society in the 2010s, and women would still have authority over their own bodies in the 2020s. Its roots, Jerry Falwell Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. A long investigation by Virginias Office of Consumer Affairs recommended Robertson be prosecuted for fraud, but the states attorney general, Mark Earley, brought no charges against him. Pat was educated at two military academies: McDonogh, near Baltimore, and McCallie, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Pat Robertson shaking hands with supporters at the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Robertson, however, was never seriously damaged by controversy, and CBN continued its diverse operations in good health. Its no differentIt is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-biased media, and the homosexuals who want to destroy all Christians. This was a foul and hysterical comparison: Democrats were the equivalent of Hitler and committing genocide against Christians. Robertson the worlds most-watched TV preacher. Steve Helber/AP Images. ASMA KHALID, HOST: The. His campaign embraced themes commonly voiced in conservative America, promoting, for example, fiscal conservatism, opposition to most abortions, moral conservativism on such issues as sexual conduct and pornography, and the return of religious observances to the public schools. Later that year, he warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town not to be surprised if disaster struck them because they voted out school board members who favored teaching "intelligent design" over evolution. Local news, weather, sports, events, restaurants and more, Pat Robertson, televangelist who mixed politics and religion, dies at 93, The 21 best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week, Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz is trying to get his confidence back. June 8, 2023 5:48 am Evan Agostini/Getty Images Share Televangelist Pat Robertson, best known for his five decades as host of The 700 Club, has died. Many of Rev. He insisted the 9/11 attacks happened because liberals, feminists, and gay rights advocates had angered God. Pat . 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 8 2023, Published 11:15 a.m. By Jennifer Tisdale Jun. Most notoriously, on his TV show The 700 Club, he agreed emphatically with his fellow evangelist Jerry Falwells theory that the 9/11 attacks were caused by pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the American Civil Liberties Union, and [the progressive advocacy group] People for the American Way. Robertson's large legacy, which later included endorsing campaigns like Rudy Giuliani's 2008 presidential bid, comes with its stains. At times, his on-air pronouncements drew criticism. Bush had unwittingly carried out the mission and mouthed the phrases of a tightly knit cabal whose goal is nothing less than a new order for the human race under the domination of Lucifer and his followers.. Looking at the US military action Bush had launched earlier that year that had repelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait and interpreting it according to the Book of Revelation, Robertson maintained that the Persian Gulf War was a sign that demonic spirits would soon unleash a world horror that would kill 2 billion people. In 2014, he angered Kenyans when he warned that towels in Kenya could transmit AIDS. As I noted in my recent book,American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy,it was a pile of paranoia that amassed assorted conspiracy theories of the ages. Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $14.95. ET Source: Getty Images Pat Robertson The coalitions lobbying exerted immense influence, helping spearhead the rights assault on President Bill Clinton, and provided both a fundraising and ideological template for Bush. Along with Falwell, hes most responsible for turning Christianity into Christian nationalism and Christian nationalism into insurrectionism.. It emerged that Robertson had an investment in a Liberian gold mine, which he claimed was intended to help pay for Operation Blessings humanitarian efforts in the country, but which was allowed to go bankrupt after Taylors departure from office. I dont think being a Christian means just spending time in the confines of the church, behind stained-glass windows, singing hymns, he said, adding that God had told him to run. By the time of his resignation as the coalition's president in 2001 Robertson said he wanted to concentrate on ministerial work his impact on both religion and politics in the U.S. was "enormous," according to John C. Green, an emeritus political science professor at The University of Akron. Tim Ballard, Inspiration Behind 'Sound of Freedom,' Quietly Leaves Anti-Trafficking Group, Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Eligible to Face Death Penalty, Elon Musk, Twitter Sued for $500 Million in Severance Benefits, Ozempic Users Found a Workaround. Republicans began to shy away from seeking his public endorsement, Sabato told The Post. For decades, he was the host of The 700 Club, a casual talk show that combined hard-right politics, faith healing and lifestyle news. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Presumably, Bushs alliance with Satan was not mentioned. In search of political support and money, they validated an antisemitic and paranoid zealot and signaled to his followers and the world that he was worth heeding and that his dangerous and tribalist propaganda ought to be believed. The tactic gave him an army. Pat Robertson announcing his endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for the Republican presidential nomination at the National Press Club in Washington in 2007. In 1988 he ran for president, doing well in several primaries and caucuses and succeeding at getting his religious agenda into the arena of public discussion. Critics pointed out that God seemed to speak through Robertson while taking programme cues from the director. Furthermore, Robertson was largely resposible for galvanizing the right-wing Christian movement, particularly the Christian Coalition. He founded (1960) what became the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which aired his talk show, The 700 Club. When banning abortion became a litmus test of fealty to God and/or America, that, too, was the doing of Robertson and his ilk. He prayed for the deaths of liberal Supreme Court justices. We invite you to share condolences for Dede Robertson in our Guest Book . Gift Article The Rev. Advertisement. In 2003, Robertson used The 700 Club as a platform to argue on behalf of the Liberian president Charles Taylor, who had been indicted by the UN for war crimes. Their tearful appeals helped the station garner donations from viewers until the Bakkers left to begin their own ministry in the early 1970s. CBN issued a correction, saying Robertson "misspoke about the possibility of getting AIDS through towels.". Dede Robertson, the wife of the religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and a founding board member of his Christian Broadcasting Network, died on Tuesday at her home in Virginia Beach. Although the concept of separation of church and state is entrenched in the US constitution, the influence of churchmen in political affairs is an American tradition dating back to the colonial era. (The storm hit elsewhere.). Robertson was saying that the first President Bush was a Satanic dupe and fronting for a nefarious global elite that was in league with Beelzebub. His Christian Coalition aided a great many GOP politicians in getting elected. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rev. He worked on his fathers early campaigns, but during a hard-fought race in 1966, Rev. Following military service in Korea he enrolled at Yale Law School, where he met Adelia "Dede" Elmer. Robertson also was founder and chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc., parent of The Family Channel basic cable TV network. He insulted other religions and had a long history of divisive statements that created international friction. Pat Robertson delivers a closing prayer during celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the on-air debut of the Christian Broadcasting Network, in Virginia Beach, 2001. Please check it out. Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. Unlike many evangelists, Rev. Pat Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, the son of A. Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson, in Lexington, Virginia. His sole foray into electoral politics, a short-lived effort to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, signaled the modern melding of fundamentalist Christianity with the Republican Party an association that has continued right up to the present day, Larry J. Sabato, a politics professor at the University of Virginia, told The Washington Post. His father served for 36 years as a congressman and U.S. senator from Virginia. Black swans swam in a pond, a harpist played, and Bush warmly greeted members of the televangelists inner circle. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. After extensive negotiating Robertson managed to buy the station and raise enough money to begin operations on WYAH-TV, the first television outlet for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). He was present at the theatrical fund dinner in Edinburgh on 23 Feb. 1827, when Sir Walter Scott acknowledged the authorship of the Waverley novels; owing to the rotundity of his figure, Scott named him "Peter o' the Painch" for his rotund figure. But after President Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020, Robertson said Trump was living in an "alternate reality" and should "move on," news outlets reported. The people who have come into [our] institutions [today] are primarily termites. The Christian leaderwho was fervently courted by Republican politicians who yearned for campaign cash, volunteers, and votes from the Christian Coalitionoffered an apocalyptic view of the future. He was educated at Edinburgh high school, and was called to the Scottish bar on 27 May 1815, along with his friend John Wilson.He soon obtained a practice, both in the Court of Session and before the General Assembly. Urgent, for sure. Leaving that business as well, in 1956 he enrolled at what is now New York Theological Seminary. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. By the time he was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1961, he had bought his first television station, in Portsmouth, Virginia, and established the Christian Broadcasting Network. She died in 2022 and Robertson is survived by their sons, Tim and Gordon, and daughters, Elizabeth and Ann, 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. Well never know. Under federal tax law, the o, Ronald W. Reagan Encyclopedia of World Biography. He blamed natural disasters on feminists and LGBTQ people. The Family Channel, as the holding company became known, proved to be a cash cow and was sold in 1997 to one of Rupert Murdochs Fox broadcasting divisions for $1.9 billion. In the 1970s, CBN became one of the first networks to expand into satellite and cable broadcasting, a move Rev. Talking again about 9/11 on his TV show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that wants to "dominate" and "destroy," prompting President George W. Bush to distance himself and say Islam is a peaceful and respectful religion. It paved the way to the divisive politics of Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, the tea party, and, yes, Donald Trump. He said on The 700 Club that he wished Facebook had a vomit button for when he came across a picture of gay people kissing, equated gay people with Nazis and Satanists, and suggested God unleashed hurricanes and other natural disasters as punishment for homosexuality. Robertson faced a series of health challenges in recent years including an embolic stroke in 2018 that put his health in decline, according to an announcement by his legacy media empire, the Christian Broadcasting Network. He purported to have prayed away a hurricane from striking Virginia Beach. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. The longtime '700 Club' host was influential in Republican politics throughout his career a controversial tone-setter for Christian conservatism in the U.S. Pat Robertson, an influential religious broadcaster whose career blurred the line between Republican politics and evangelical ministry, died in his Virginia home early Thursday morning. Bush, but members of his old Marine Corps unit including former congressman Pete McCloskey (R-Calif.) came forward to say he had exaggerated his record in the Korean War. Pat Robertson is said to have suffered and died from a stroke. In 1994, it was claimed in his local newspaper, the Virginian-Pilot, that Robertsons impassioned fundraising for Operation Blessings refugee airlift in Rwanda and Zaire was at least partly a cover for the use of his aircraft to transport diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation. Robertson suggested that his apparent success in averting bad weather helped confirm his decision to run for president: "It was extremely important because I felt, interestingly enough, that if I couldn't move a hurricane, I could hardly move a nation.". The obituaries duly noted that he transformed Christian fundamentalism into a potent political force with the Christian Coalition that he founded in 1990 and that became an influential component of the Republican Party. But for more than a half-century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his "700 Club" television show, and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God's judgment on America for everything from homosexuality to the teaching of evolution. Robertson later endorsed Bush, who won the presidency. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? Robertsons provocative comments and condemnations of what he considered rampant moral depravity pushed him to the cultural margins. Throughout the years, Robertson's intolerant comments on topics like women's rights, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of non-Christian faith drew heavy backlash for putting others down in the name of his religion. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, You helped this happen,' Falwell said, to which Robertson said I totally concur and that the agenda has been adopted by the highest levels of our government., Robertsons bigotry toward gay people was boundless. 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