Subscribe to Breaking NewsLowenstein: It’s time to stop fighting with Pat Robertson
I should begin by saying I’m all for reasonable disagreement and debate. I think people who refuse to acknowledge that any viewpoint besides their own might be valid or worthwhile obviously don’t have any faith in their own points of view. If your opinion can’t stand up to a little questioning, how strongly can you really believe it?
But there’s a difference between honest disagreement and attempting to debate with someone who is coming from a place of hate or disrespect or misinformation.
And Pat Robertson embodies all three of those things.
In his most recent rant, Robertson declared on the radio yesterday that most gays are “made homosexual because of a coach or a guidance counselor or some other male figure who has abused them.”
Setting aside the fact that Robertson apparently believes all gay people are male, his statement reeks of dishonesty and absurdity. Surely he can’t actually believe that gay people are created through acts of abuse? Surely he can’t actually believe that only, as he says, a few gays are a result of “biological problems?” But whether he believes the untruths he’s spraying or not, Pat Robertson says them, and says them frequently.
And that level of discourse– one that stems from his refusing to acknowledge the most basic truths about homosexuality– is about what I’ve come to expect from him.
Given that I know, you know, we all know, how unreasonable Pat Robertson is, why do we continue to engage with him? And by we, I mean MSNBC who has a long-term contract with Robertson to provide commentary, and specifically, Rachel Maddow who frequently invites Robertson on her show as a sparring partner.
Engaging with Robertson doesn’t mean you agree with him,but it does certainly imply that you believe his viewpoint belongs within the bounds of rational discourse. And that’s dangerous.
So I’m all for engaging with conservatives. I’m confidant our arguments will win every time, but not if we are willing to lower the debate to acnowlege and engage with base misinformation promulgated by the likes of Pat Robertson.
When I look at Pat Robertson and others of their ilk, you can understand why I threw out the bible in the trash.
If he was a Muslim, he would do Osama proud.
My post was way too long. Re: Dobson, Robertson, Phelps etc:
One foot in the grave, and the other in their mouths. In a few short years, these won’t be guys to care about.
You never hear anyone under 65 saying these disgusting things. Father Time is going to correct Nature’s grim mistakes for us.
I have to concur with prior commenters. I’ve never seen Robertson on MSNBC – it’s Pat Buchanan who almost never mentions “gay” and thus shows he is smart enough to shut up once he knows he’s lost the argument.
Buchanan is the jerk who said of AIDS, “The poor homosexuals delcared war on Nature and now she is exacting her revenge.” So it’s no less awful to pay him for commentary.
At any rate, Pat Robertson is a tired, cranky, malicious, confused old coot. The people who listen to him are similarly confused, old, angry, and out of touch.
Using him as a debating foil is good, in my opinion, since it reminds younger people of all political stripes who might not remember just how hateful and stupid conservatives were in the 1980s. A bit like Hitler speeches remind young Germans that hate speech can quickly lead to insane policies.
His time in the spotlight was over in 1992 and he and Falewell ended any lingering claim to credibility after blaming gays and lesbians for the Sept 11 attacks.
The more he talks, the less people listen to that point of view. So let him yammer.
I would agree with the general sentiment of this article. Society has progressed to the point where he’s no longer remotely connected to the mainstream, when it comes to his ideas about gay people.
Unfortunately a lot of folks understand Pat Robertson’s language very well while ours is foreign to them. They vote and donate big time. Heaven is their reward and a few bucks is good insurance. Don’t underestimate your enemy. If you haven’t heard Pat chat on his program you miss how personable and like a dear old uncle he can sound. Reaganesque. An upbeat voice is seductive.
The right has often been able to define the debate and create euphemisms and one liners that coalesce their troops while we often play steamroller to their swamp—Ole brer Rabbit an the Tar Baby. Turn the tables….If Rachel wants to lead em on to rant and rave and recruit the moderates- Yeah! Let the dinosaurs wade right in to our tar pit. Challenge them to some public match with our best chess players and know what moves they’ll make so they can be set up. But watch out! Some of them are hardly stupid. The culture war is made up of values, beliefs, science, religion, interpretation of democracy….and the ability to tell a good story. Dump the jargon and go for the emotions. I wanted to say jugular but from experience, no matter how right you might be if you’re mean you won’t win votes.
Nice comment. But you need to do a spell check before posting.
Pat Robertson is an abomination before God.
It’s clear to me that he’s slowly sinking further into dementia.
its that type of stupid thinking that has destroyed my relationship with my father.