Televangelist Pat Robertson "Predicts" Major Attacks in U.S.

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<p>Pat Robertson predicts "mass killing"</p>

<p>January 3, 2007</p>

<p>VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. --In what has become an annual tradition of prognostications, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would result in "mass killing" late in 2007.
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<p>"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network. "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."</p>

<p>Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.</p>

<p>Robertson said God also told him that the U.S. only feigns friendship with Israel and that U.S. policies are pushing Israel toward "national suicide."</p>

<p>Robertson suggested in January 2006 that God punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.</p>

<p>The broadcaster predicted in January 2004 that President Bush would easily win re-election. Bush won 51 percent of the vote that fall, beating Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.</p>

<p>In 2005, Robertson predicted that Bush would have victory after victory in his second term. He said Social Security reform proposals would be approved and Bush would nominate conservative judges to federal courts.</p>

<p>Lawmakers confirmed Bush's 2005 nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. But the president's Social Security initiative was stalled.</p>

<p>"I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."</p>

<p>In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America's coastline in 2006. Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring's heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction. "</p>

<p>I don't buy this at all. This guy has a track record of spewing out BS, such as his prediction that in 2006, a tsunami would strike the coastal United States. Obviously, this didn't happen. He has also had the nerve to insult other religious faiths, all the while believing that he is some sort of "divine gift." I can't believe that they acutally let this story reach mainstream media. This will create an unnecessary sense of fear amongst naive readers who will believe anything. The worst part is, my religion teacher (a super-conservative) is shoving this crap down his students' throats. It is getting really annoying.</p>

<p>If you want to see more of the "spiritual" Pat Robertson's history, here are some of his not-so-holy comments:</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson#Controversies_and_criticisms%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson#Controversies_and_criticisms&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>What do you think about this story?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Robertson suggested in January 2006 that God punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh, how silly of me to think that it was advanced age, hardening of the arteries, and stress. Jeez. It's so much simpler with Pat.</p>

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<p>^^lol</p>

<p>Yeah, it had nothing to do with the fact that Sharon weighs 300 lbs.</p>

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<p>Well, to be fair, Sharon gained a lot of the weight after he got older, so it's not like it was likely to have been a huge factor. You need a lifetime of bad health to really say that it's weight usually.</p>

<p>But he's an old man who had a lot of stress. Ascribing it to God, while a useful rhetorical tool, is just silly.</p>

<p>
[quote]
major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Unless the reporter was vague on the details, this is horoscope-esque vague. Millions will be affected. In what way? Everyone in the US was "affected" by 9/11 in some way. </p>

<p>Oh, and predicting that an attack will happen in the future is like predicting that water will fall down Niagara Falls. It's a matter of when...not if.</p>

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<p>I read somewhere that Robertson said the attack is going to happen late in 2007, like after September. It is still vague though, to say the least.</p>

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<p>It's all part of the "Rapture" fantasy that fundamentalist Protestants are so obsessed with. Major attacks and wars mean that the End Times are near, and that Jesus is coming back soon. </p>

<p>Robertson is basically fantasizing. He wants it to happen.</p>

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<p>I think that psychic from Montel Williams would probably be more accurate toward predicting the future than some old guy going on some useless rant. Got to give him credit...publicity increased his show's ratings which was suffering greatly. Hmmmmm........Do you guys see the trend here????????</p>

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<p>Although Robertson is a Protestant, he has Catholic followers. My religion teacher, a Catholic clergyman, is the one who told this story to the class. He also believes that Robertson correctly predicted the Sharon stroke, and Bush's reelection. What he failed to mention was that the comments about Sharon were AFTER his stroke and that Robertson predicted a landslide victory in the 2004 election. I'd hardly call 51% of the vote a landslide. </p>

<p>Robertson and people like him give a bad name to Protestants everywhere. News flash: not all Protestants are like this guy. He actually criticized 3 Protestant groups: the Episcoplaians, Presbyterians, and Methodists, calling them the "antichrist." </p>

<p>My Catholic clergyman teacher seriously believes that the world is going to end very soon, probably within our lifetimes. All of the students think he is nuts and I can't argue. Keep in mind: he is Catholic. Therefore, Protestants aren't the only ones with this sentiment.</p>

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<p>Is your school "traditionalist" Catholic (like, SSPX)?</p>

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<p>by predicting it late in the year it does a couple things for him:
1. gives people time to forget the prediction
2. if it doesn't happen this year, he can say he wasn't off by a year, becuase it was only a couple months away from next year and that's only a small error.</p>

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<p>Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy. It's people like him that gives Protestants a bad name.</p>

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<p>all i can say is I hope that the general population is intelligent enough to think for themselves and see that that Robertson is not to be believed.</p>

<p>urgh...i've had my share of super-conservative and extremely liberal catholic teachers. it's a huge pain listening to them talk. my solution? annoy them to death by challenging them w/ logic. failing the student who aced the written tests would look bad... ^_^ (the tests are really no-brainers that's why...)</p>

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<p>^^I do challenge his logic, as do other students. However, it is all in vain as he will never change. It is his way on the highway. He always calls us students ingorant just because we've never heard of these obscure religious retreats where you're supposed to be healed and stuff. </p>

<p>One student brought in an atricle about Pat Robertson and his erroneous tsunami prediction. He mentioned it to my teacher and questioned Robertson's credibility. The teacher just sat there for about 30 seconds without saying anything, until another student said "Got'em." This made him bring up all of Robertson's "correct" predictions, all the while completely ignoring the tsunami prediction Talk about being ignorant.</p>

<p>This exchange prompted me to do some research of my own and I found out some of Robertson's other bogus predictions, such as the Bush landslide and the social security reform. I plan on presenting them to my teacher, but they probably won't do any good.</p>

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<p>lol, you should give up changing their minds and settle for making their blood pressure rise. =P</p>

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<p>I am a fundamentalist baptist, but I also think that if God spoke to Pat Robertson as much as he says I'm suprised God has time to do anything else! :) just kidding!</p>

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<p>Perhaps Pat Robertson has a special GodPhone.</p>

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<p>that's it!</p>

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<p>Big and red, with a nice shiny cord!</p>

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<p>He employs the use of an iGod. :)</p>

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<p>It's GODPHONE! Now featuring free nights and weekends. For an extra $5/month, you can get ConnectJesus service.</p>

<p>What they don't want to tell you, however, is that they have spottier service than T-Mobile and you will constantly have dropped calls as well as scrambled calls. Maybe that's why Pat's predictions are wrong... He just has an improper connection. Yeah, that's it.</p>