Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson of Chesapeake has lost his place on the board of directors of the National Religious Broadcasters, following a recent vote at the NRB’s annual meeting.
NRB officials declined to say whether the voters may have been influenced by Robertson’s recent controversial remarks, including that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke could be God’s judgment for making a deal with the Palestinians to pull out of the Gaza Strip. Last August, he intimated that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated. Robertson, 75, later apologized for both remarks.
“In this year’s highly competitive race for the 33 board positions, five candidates, including Pat Robertson, did not receive enough votes to be named a member of the board,” the organization said in a statement released March 1.
The NRB announced shortly before its annual meeting, held Feb. 17-22 in Grapevine, Texas, that Robertson had “asked to be excused” from speaking at the organization’s closing banquet “due to scheduling complexities.”
It noted at that time that Robertson, a longtime NRB member, had spoken at previous conventions, had “faithfully served many years on its board of directors” and was inducted into the NRB Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1986.
A spokeswoman for Robertson could not be reached for comment.
During the meeting, Robertson’s The 700 Club show was named winner of the “Best Television Talk Show” award from the NRB.
Among those elected to three-year terms on the board were Jack Hayford, president of the Los Angeles-based International Church of the Foursquare Gospel; D. James Kennedy, senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice, which was founded by Robertson.
Religion News Service