July 18, 2003 – Pat Robertson – Intolerance Hiding Behind God
Pat Robertson – what a freak – but hey, he makes it easy for me to rant. And this week’s rant is all for you, Pat. If ignorance is bliss, then ignorance caged within religious fanaticism must be orgasmic. This week, Pat Robertson authored an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times basically saying “I want God’s help in making sure that three specific Supreme Court Justices go away, so that the United State’s Supreme Court is made up by right-thinking justices.” He then asks all like-minded sheep to pray for the removal of these three justices. For the record, I got the vibe that like Malcolm X, the terms “by any means necessary” i.e., death or retirement, would be equally acceptable – he just wants the three of them gone. For those of you who have not read the article, I was going to provide a link, but believe it or not, the column on Pat Robertson’s own website did not have some of the most offensive language contained in the LA Times piece. So, let me just repeat one of his omitted sentences: “Now the Supreme Court has declared a constitutional right to consensual sodomy and, by the language in its decision, has opened the door to homosexual marriage, bigamy, legalized prostitution and even incest.” Wow. All that because we keep the bedroom doors closed. For the abbreviated version of this nonsense, see: Pat Robertson's Tirade.htm. For a copy of what appeared in the LA Times, see: Appealing to a Higher Power. While I too would like to see three Supreme Court Justices go, specifically, Justices Rhenquist, Scalia, and Thomas, I sincerely doubt they are the same three Justices Pat Robertson is praying for God to remove. As if God does not have enough crap to deal with. All this, because the Supreme Court said in response to state sodomy laws - “if you want to commit consensual sodomy in the privacy of your own home, and are a legal adult, well, then, it’s not our business.”
So here is my first question – if Pat Robertson is a true Christian in his heart and in his actions, why does he care about what someone else does in the privacy of their own home? What, is Pat worried that he may be tempted by the fruit of another? I don’t think so. Or, is he just so intolerant that he cannot stomach those who do not follow the same path as he? Yeah, that sounds right. Apparently, Pat Robertson is not comfortable in his own morality, he has to get into yours and mine as well - he just does not like the fact that folks are doing things in their own homes that he personally finds immoral or disgusting. Well guess what Pat, I find much of what you stand for and advocate immoral and disgusting, but I am not asking the Supreme Court or anyone else for that matter to intervene. I guess I am just more “Christian” in how I treat my fellow man than you. Imagine that, since I am a nice, Jewish girl.
Pat Robertson then proceeds to attack the underlying utility of the Supreme Court, questioning why we need to have a bunch of jurists get in the way of the legislation advanced by our “moral” i.e., Christian leaders. Excuse me while my gag reflex kicks in. While the Supreme Court’s recent activities do call its agenda into question, it is clear that if it swings in any direction, that it is straight toward the Republican Party and the Immoral Majority. That being said, the Supreme Court is fundamental to our system of checks and balances, and a very necessary barometer of the laws and regulations enacted by good, Christian, moral, men, to make sure that our Constitution and its Bill of Rights remain at least partially intact (we won’t even get into the USA PATRIOT ACT – that is for another rant or four). But for the Supreme Court, silly things like desegregation laws, put on the books by the same “moral” white men Robertson wants us to rely on, may still be in place.
The truth is that we are just not bright enough as a people to enact laws and regulation without first getting a chance, or two, at a judicial “do-over.” This is especially true when talking about religion creeping into where it does not belong – into our government. I wish Pat Robertson would explain to me why my anus is any of his business. I mean, why does he care – I have not invited him to share it with me, so why would he care about what I do with it? What I do with my anus, my mouth, my hands, and the rest of my body is no one else’s business so long as I doing whatever with another consenting adult. Can someone, anything, explain to me why this is a big deal. Live your life, and let me live mine. I guess that only works for me, and not for Pat Robertson and men and women like him.
When push comes to shove, Pat Robertson seems objects to the Supreme Court recognizing your and my right to personal privacy. Sorry Pat, the right to personal privacy is implicit in our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. Pat Robertson just doesn’t get it: the entire Bill of Rights just reeks of the right to personal privacy. Lets recap, we all have the right to religious freedom, the right to free speech, the right to a speedy trial, the right to due process under the law, the right to avoid unreasonable searches and seizures, hell, even to arm ourselves with weapons. We have the right to brush our hair anyway we want, wear the clothes that makes us comfortable, hold and speak whatever opinions we have – and, use our bodies in the way see fit. All the Supreme Court did by striking down state sodomy laws was state, and restate the obvious.
Apparently, this mantra of live and let live is tantamount to a full frontal attack on the Immoral Majority and their ditto heads. I guess their right to personal and religious freedom does not extend to the rest of us: they have the right to believe what they believe, and conduct themselves accordingly, and the rest of us, well, we suck and are sinners. I guess that takes the whole notion of free will and throws it right out the window. You know what I would like – Pat Robertson and all of his minions to live anywhere but the US, especially in a country where they are the minority both ethnically and religiously. Then, maybe they would understand the importance of separation of church and state. The whole point of this country is that no one’s individual religious beliefs can dictate the beliefs or actions of another. You can be a Christian, I can be a Jew, or a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or an Atheist. Those are the rules – you cannot tell me what religion to follow, or what moral code to adopt in my everyday life. None of us can use government and its infrastructure to further religious beliefs. Case closed. This is the reason the Supreme Court found state sodomy laws to be unconstitutional – because they are rooted in personal religious beliefs, and they infringe on your and my right to be left alone.
Pat Robertson apparently cannot accept the fact that all religions, not just his, get Constitutional protections. All I can say, once again, is what are you scared of Pat? If you are fight, well, then you are going to heaven anyway, and the rest of us personal privacy embracing sodomy tolerating sinners are going down to a perpetual heat wave. If God has a sense of humor, which I am sure she does, she should pull a fast one on good old Pat Robertson: Scalia, Thomas and Rhenquist would find that they can no longer handle the pressure of being on the Supreme Court and retire.
When you go to sleep tonight, just before turning out the lights, do me a favor – to whatever or whomever you pray to, ask her not to be to upset by the likes of Pat Robertson. You know and I know that this mess we keep on creating here on earth has nothing to do with God, just men pretending to speak for her. But be warned, there is going to be a day of reckoning, when folks like Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, Bob Jones, Radical Muslims, Radical Jews, and the rest of the intolerant, narrow minded fools currently parading around in the name of God get bitch-slapped for their sins. When that time comes, I will be sitting back, with some freshly popped popcorn and a glass of red wine, nodding and laughing my anus off.