VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (ABP) — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson set off another wave of blogger reaction Nov. 10 after warning residents of Dover, Pa., that disaster may strike them because they “voted God out of their city.”
Robertson made his comments after the small community voted out eight members of its school board, which just a year ago voted to require biology teachers to mention the theory of “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution. The school policy brought national attention and a high-profile court case.
“I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city,” Roberts said on the CBN's 700 Club. “And don't wonder why he hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for his help because he might not be there.”
Later Robertson issued a statement saying he was simply trying to point out that “our spiritual actions have consequences.”
“God is tolerant and loving, but we can't keep sticking our finger in his eye forever,” Robertson said. “If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.”
Because of the Veterans Day holiday, most of the initial response came from Internet bloggers, who harshly condemned Robertson's comments.
“When he says kooky things like this, it makes the entire Christian Right look downright ignorant. Or rather, it reveals the Christian Right as downright ignorant. So please, Pat, keep it up,” said Elrod on themoderatevoice.com.
“The God I know in my life and the God I preach from the pulpit looks nothing like the God I hear Pat Robertson talking about,” said a Methodist pastor on gomorris.net. “… Jesus preached more about greed and tearing other people down than what kind of science was taught. I believe that true believers are more involved with living the love of God in their own communities than they are talking about it (or even preaching about it).”
Adam S. responded to the Methodist pastor's comments: “The evangelical community and their ties to politics almost dealt a fatal blow to my faith a few years back. I'm starting to come around and realize that the evangelical community doesn't necessarily represent the teachings of Jesus or the Christian faith, and encouraging posts like this one which call into question motivations and legitimacy of far-right comments are helping me to find the God I know is hidden out there, somewhere beyond anti-gay and anti-evolution politics.”
Intelligent design holds that evolutionary theory alone cannot account for all of the complexities found in earth's life forms, and that such complexities suggest a higher power at work in the development of life. The Dover school board policy is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by local residents who believe it violates the Constitution by teaching a religious theory in public-school science classes.