HiddenMysteries: "The Lord didn't say nuclear..."

These days, it’s all too common for public figures or politicians to claim to support a particular cause or uphold a belief, and then take action suggesting the polar opposite.

But Americans are generally optimistic, and they still have hope they’ll come across a person who holds true to his stated position, polls show. And polls also indicate that despite the tendency of public figures to appease the noisy (and often radical) minority, Americans as a whole tend to travel on the middle of the road.

Some national leaders, though, must not pay attention to polls. Otherwise, they wouldn’t keep putting themselves in the cross-hairs of the “get-a-life” gun.

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, for example, continues to claim he’s getting messages from God that indicate the United States will reel under the onslaught of a “mass killing” during the second half of 2007.

“The Lord didn’t say nuclear, but I do believe it’ll be something like that,” said Robertson, adding that casualties could run into the millions.

Of course, Robertson has made similar predictions before, and thankfully, none have come to fruition (except in hindsight). For instance, last May, he said, “If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by vicious hurricanes.” He was a few tsunamis short on that one. He also wrongly predicted a “blowout re-election” for President Bush in 2004, and unless a 51 percent victory counts as a blowout, he was wrong on that one, too.

Had Robertson accurately predicted the horrors of 9-11, a lot of money, lives and general paranoia could have been salvaged. But given his sketchy track record at prognostication, would anyone have really listened?

On the other hand, the odds – if Robertson would even admit to playing them – are good that eventually, he’ll hit it spot-on. It’s pretty safe to say that if he predicts a disaster of some sort every year, eventually, one will occur, thus substantiating his direct pipeline to God.

Even in that event, though, he would have no concrete proof that a message from God hadn’t been just a lucky guess, or that the message came from the same source as, say, a deck of Tarot cards or an astrologer’s chart, both of which he would undoubtedly condemn as heretical.

If Robertson really believes catastrophe is imminent, he should try to do something about it, instead of assigning himself a role as prophet of doom. True, the biblical prophets did go around shouting, “Woe to you!” in Robertson-like fashion, but none of them had particularly cushy berths in society, and those who did forsook them to embrace the level of the people they were trying to warn back on the straight and narrow.

With his millions, Robertson could perhaps take a delegation to the Middle East and meet with moderate leaders, extending a hand of Christian fellowship in an effort to fight terrorism. Or he himself could visit the war-torn and volatile areas of the world – like a much more exemplary Christian, Jimmy Carter, would do – and lead by good example. He could try to spread Christ’s message of love of neighbor, and doing good to others.

Or, he can just keep making noise and sewing the seeds of hatred and suspicion. It’s the wider path, and the one easiest to navigate.

Any bets on what he’ll do?

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"The Lord didn't say nuclear..."

Friday, January 12 2007 @ 01:02 PM CST