Pat Robertson, and Selling the Church on Arms Sales

Recent remarks by Pat Robertson have signaled a flurry of journalists and online publications to point out, yet again, a morally and politically confused Christian sentiment from a prominent evangelical leader. Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, is no stranger to the intermingling of Evangelical America and politics, or to criticism from “progressive” publications. He’s written books on politics and the Christian faith, and campaigned for the Republican Party. The latest headlines are as partisan as it gets, as he puts aside any semblance of sanity or virtue, while essentially calling for his viewers to hold a party line.



The Backstory

The story doesn’t start with his remarks, though. Days prior, Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, a Saudi born Journalist, went missing. With varying reports of his kidnapping, torture, and dismemberment, we can only assume it has had something to do with his self-imposed exile from Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi was an outspoken critic of the Saudi government, and opposed the Saudi led intervention in Yemen. Though educated in, and at the time a resident of, the United States, he was last seen at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. This is where we find the media reporting on the questions surrounding his disappearance, the murder accusations from Turkey, and Pat Robertson’s remarks.



The Pitch

On his CBN program, The 700 Club, Robertson expressed in reference to the Khashoggi murder,

“For those who are screaming blood for the Saudis — look, these people are key allies,”

He went further to call violent actions from the courts of the Wahhabi based monarchy, even referencing their record on the treatment of women, as merely “obnoxious.”

“We’ve got an arms deal that everybody wanted a piece of…a $190 billion.. it’ll be a lot of jobs, a lot of money come to our coffers. It’s not something you want to blow up willy-nilly.”



The Conflicts of Interest

To the discerning Christian, this can be extremely confusing. Here we have a man that is exalted as a figurehead of Christian values, seemingly devaluing the life of a United States resident in contrast to weapons sales. On the other side, we have publications rightfully pointing out these contradictions. However, while these publications vehemently rally against fundamental Christian moral messages, they would firmly make the same defenses for a candidate of their own stripe. What’s more, Saudi Arabia’s violations of human rights and funding of terrorism, within and outside of their own borders, is well documented and appalling. The conflicting messages from Christian leaders, regarding weapons sales and disregarding human lives, show how the entangling alliance Jefferson warned of, applies to the church as well.



The Separation of Church and War State

When Evangelical leaders are more concerned with blowing up arms deals with the Saudis than they are with the blowing up of Yemen’s school buses by the Saudis with the arms in said deals, the Church has a glaring problem. Additionally unfortunate is that the problem is easily seen by everyone outside the church, no matter how confused and inconsistent they are in their own outrage. But that shouldn’t discourage Christians from having resentment for Robertson’s statements. The role of a Christian leader can vary depending upon place and time, but it should never be as a mouthpiece for the Military Industrial Complex. Excusing any death, be it one or one million, for the sake of dollars, and what amounts to federal jobs programs, is inexcusable.

It’s no longer surprising that the nationally televised pulpit Robertson built is used to preach all manner of nationalism. But it is my hope that this escalation of using that pulpit to sell Christians on arms sales will be a moment that will stir Christians to question how far we’ve moved away from the teachings of Christ.

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