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The Republicans are upset now!
Jan. 6th, 2006 09:03 pmApparently, TV evangelist Pat Robertson has declared that Ariel Sharon's stroke is God's punishment for Sharon's deciding to remove Israeli settlers from the West Bank and Gaza. (Many conservative Christians believe that God wants Israel to hold the entire Holy Land in preparation for Armageddon and subsequent events.) The assertion Sharon's stroke is God's punishment for his political policies has been strongly repudiated by the White House and by congressional Republicans (who usually are big fans of Robertson).
This raises some interesting theological questions:
Are Republican politicians claiming that they know more about God's will than the big-time TV evangelist? Or are they repudiating God's will because it is politically inconvenient?
If they know more about God's will than Pat Robertson does, how does this come to be? Does the Republican Party have some sort of direct line to God which bypasses their religious leaders? Or do they see Robertson and similar conservative Christian religious leaders as simply being guys who are expressing their personal opinions without any special insight into God's will?
If Pat Robertson is right in asserting that Sharon's stroke is God's punishment for government actions which oppose God's will, what will God do to Republicans who repudiate God's actions? I hope their health insurance is paid up.
This raises some interesting theological questions:
Are Republican politicians claiming that they know more about God's will than the big-time TV evangelist? Or are they repudiating God's will because it is politically inconvenient?
If they know more about God's will than Pat Robertson does, how does this come to be? Does the Republican Party have some sort of direct line to God which bypasses their religious leaders? Or do they see Robertson and similar conservative Christian religious leaders as simply being guys who are expressing their personal opinions without any special insight into God's will?
If Pat Robertson is right in asserting that Sharon's stroke is God's punishment for government actions which oppose God's will, what will God do to Republicans who repudiate God's actions? I hope their health insurance is paid up.
