Televangelist Pat Robertson on Tuesday said that he was praying for the Boy Scouts of America because “predators” and “pedophiles” could infiltrate the organization if the ban on LGBT members and leaders was dropped.

During his 700 Club television show, Robertson incorrectly stated that Congress was behind the Boy Scouts of America national board’s decision to consider a proposal that would allow local organizations to have control over whether they accept gay scouts.

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“Congress gets involved and they have no business fooling with the Boy Scouts, and the Boy Scouts ought to be free to do what they want to do,” he explained. “And the board should feel free to do what it wants to do, and that’s just the way it is.”

“And this organization has done so much for so many young men, and the question is, are there predators as Boy Scouts, pedophiles who would come in as scoutmasters?” he added. “And if they are then, of course, parents wouldn’t want their sons being involved in the Boy Scouts or their daughters in the Girl Scouts. That’s not a pleasant situation, but it’s private organization.”

“So, our prayers are with them that they will do what they feel is right for them, not what the political-correct crowd thinks is right for them.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Southern Baptist leader Richard Land predicted that lifting the ban on gay members would be a “catastrophe” for the Boy Scouts because excluding homosexuals represented the “heart and soul of scouting.”

“What they’re doing is to appease their left coast and right coast appendages, they’re cutting out the heart and soul of scouting in the rest of the country,” Land told CNN.

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“Now, I’m not accusing homosexuals of being pedophiles, but I’m accusing homosexuals of being what they say they are: attracted to males,” he insisted. “Do parents really want to allow their teenaged boys to go on camp outs with men who are attracted to the same sex?”

“This verges on being beyond the realm of the rational, and it’s going to lead to human tragedy. And the human tragedy is going to be, sadly, boys and men who are going to end up in relationships that are going to be tragic.”

Watch this video from CBN’s The 700 Club, broadcast Feb. 5, 2013.

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(h/t: Right Wing Watch)