News

Religious right-wing leader Pat Robertson dies aged 93. : NPR


Pat Robertson speaks during a forum at Regent College in Virginia Beach, Va., in 2015. Robertson is a religious broadcaster who turned a small station in Virginia into a worldwide Christian Broadcasting Network. bridge, tried to run for president and made religion central to the political Republican Party in America through its Christian Coalition.

Steve Helber/AP


hide captions

switch captions

Steve Helber/AP


Pat Robertson speaks during a forum at Regent College in Virginia Beach, Va., in 2015. Robertson is a religious broadcaster who turned a small station in Virginia into a worldwide Christian Broadcasting Network. bridge, tried to run for president and made religion central to the political Republican Party in America through its Christian Coalition.

Steve Helber/AP

For generations of conservative Christians, Pat Robertson is a familiar face on television, guiding them through domestic politics and international affairs on his long-running talk show, Club 700.

But the controversial evangelist is best known as the architect of religious rights, who frequently put forward anti-gay commentsas a pioneer in Christian broadcasting will elevate many Republican politicians, and shortly, as a politician in his own right with the aspirations of the system.

In a statement on Thursday, the Christian Broadcasting Network said Robertson died at home on June 8, surrounded by family.

From pastors to political forces

The son of a powerful U.S. senator, Robertson’s roots are in the evangelical white Christian church, as an ordained minister. In 1960, he founded Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, of Virginia, holding the phone to pay bills. The network and its programs will eventually spread around the world.

CBN’s success prompted Robertson to found a Christian college, now known as University of Regentin Virginia Beach in the late 1970s. A decade later, he set his sights higher, running for Republican presidential nomination in 1988 as a social and financial conservative.

Although his campaign was unsuccessful, it enhanced Robertson’s reputation among politically engaged white Protestants. The following year, Robertson founded Christian Union in an effort to mobilize those voters.

At that time, another group with a similar mission was disbanding. The moral majority was founded in the 1970s by another politically conservative, Virginia-based minister, Jerry Falwell. His son, Jerry Falwell, Jr., is president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. In an interview with NPR in 2017, Falwell Jr. said Robertson was influential in uniting the voting rights of the Christian right.

“They’ve had a huge impact,” he said. “I guess their main effect was to bring Christians together as a political force, to work together.”

A charismatic, divisive leader

Robertson’s critics, such as Terry Heaton, also commented on his ability to command followers. Heaton was a television producer for Robertson in the 1980s, eventually becoming an executive producer for Club 700.

“People didn’t realize how brilliant Pat Robertson really was at the time,” Heaton said.

Heaton is the author of The Gospel About Himself: How Jesus Joined the GOP, a book critical of the Christian right. Heaton told NPR in 2017 that Robertson wrote the book that many others in the conservative media would later follow.

“We’ve been guiding people into Republican politics, because Pat Robertson is outspoken, [was] a politician who happens to be a missionary,” Heaton said.

Robertson’s reach extends to the White House, where he interviews presidents including Ronald Reagan. Decades later, like many leading figures of the Christian right, Robertson became a supporter of Donald Trump. While visiting Regent College during the 2016 campaign, Trump called Robertson a “great gentleman” and added, “the work he’s done is incredible.”

In the last years of his life, Robertson continued to host Club 700where he continues to cause controversy because of comments that are generally considered anti-gayAnd no racist.

In a 2017 interview with NPR, his son Gordon Robertson said criticism of his father was politically motivated and fueled by left-leaning websites.

“That drumming… I think has really shaped the public perception of him in a way that I, to be honest, think is unfair,” said the younger Robertson. “It doesn’t take into account all the things he’s done. And by any standards, he’s done some incredible things.”

news7g

News7g: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button