Posted by G on September 19, 2001 at 23:40:18:
In Reply to: From the 700 club (long) posted by kat on September 19, 2001 at 22:27:39:
So, what! Sadaam wrote a letter too.
: I wrote a letter to The 700 club expressing disapproval about the comments made by Rev Falwell and recieved this back .
: so I thought I would share it, it's rather long so skip over it or forget it. does it really matter?
: *********************
: PRESS RELEASE
: Pat Robertson Addresses Comments Made By Jerry Falwell
: September 17, 2001
: PatRobertson.com -
: VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., September 17, 2001 -- On Thursday of last week, as The
: 700 Club continued its coverage of the tragic attack on the World Trade
: Center by radical extremists, Pat Robertson not only was reporting the news,
: but was also asking his audience to pray for the survivors and their
: families, as he had been doing for the previous two days.
: In addition, he personally issued a statement that indicated that the church
: and all of America should come in repentance before God so that He would not
: lift the protective covering that has graced our land since its founding.
: Toward the end of the program, The 700 Club producers had booked Jerry
: Falwell for a satellite interview. Rev. Falwell's initial remarks were
: completely in accord with what had been said in preceding parts of the
: program, and then, unexpectedly, he uttered a political statement of blame
: directed at certain segments of the population that was severe and harsh in
: tone, and, frankly, not fully understood by the three hosts of The 700 Club
: who were watching Rev. Falwell on a monitor.
: It was this brief interchange with Rev. Falwell that was picked up by People
: For The American Way, who for approximately the past fifteen years have
: taped every single telecast of The 700 Club and unfortunately take
: statements out of context and spin them to the press for their own political
: ends. Rev. Falwell has issued a pointed clarification of his statement, and
: Dr. Robertson said on Fox News' The Edge that he considered the remarks
: "totally inappropriate." He does not wish to comment further on something
: that is not personally in keeping with the spirit of prayer and sorrow that
: has been evidenced by the staff of the Christian Broadcasting Network over
: the past several days.
: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: ------------------------
: Jerry Falwell Apologizes
: By Jerry Falwell
: September 18, 2001
: Jerry Falwell Ministries - Last Thursday during an appearance on the 700
: Club, in the midst of the shock and mourning of a dark week for America, I
: made a statement that I should not have made and which I sincerely regret. I
: apologize that, during a week when everyone appropriately dropped all labels
: and no one was seen as liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican,
: religious or secular, I singled out for blame certain groups of Americans.
: This was insensitive, uncalled for at the time, and unnecessary as part of
: the commentary on this destruction. The only label any of us needs in such a
: terrible time of crisis is that of 'American.'
: I obviously did not state my theological convictions very well and I stated
: them at a bad time. During the difficult weeks ahead there will be much
: discussion about the judgment of God. It is a worthy discussion for all of
: us at a time when we are reminded of the fleeting nature of life itself, but
: it is a complicated discussion.
: I do not know if the horrific events of September 11 are the judgment of
: God, but if they are, that judgment is on all of America--including me and
: all fellow sinners--and not on any particular group.
: My statements were understandably called divisive by some, including those
: whom I mentioned by name in the interview. This grieves me, as I had no
: intention of being divisive.
: In conclusion, I blame no one but the hijackers and terrorists for the
: barbaric happenings of September 11.
: We know, as Abraham Lincoln anguished in his second inaugural address, that
: "The Almighty has his own purposes," but as he said, "The judgments of the
: Lord are true and righteous altogether."
: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
: ------------------------
: Pat Robertson's Statement Regarding Terrorist Attack
: September 14, 2001
: We must ask God to send a mighty, powerful revival in the midst of His
: people.
: PatRobertson.com - America has enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity
: throughout its history. Though we have been involved in wars on our own soil
: -- the last was the Civil War -- the United States of America has not
: experienced the anguish of invasion by a foreign power since the War of
: 1812.
: We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the
: pursuit of financial gain. The focus of many in America has been on the
: pursuit of health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality. Sadly, those in
: the churches have been as self-indulgent as those in the world.
: We have allowed rampant pornography on the Internet, and rampant secularism
: and the occult, etc. to be broadcast on television. We have permitted
: somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40 million unborn babies to be
: slaughtered by our society.
: We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye and said,
: "We are going to legislate You out of the schools and take Your commandments
: from the courthouses in various states. We are not going to let little
: children read the commandments of God. We are not going to allow the Bible
: or prayer in our schools."
: We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say,
: "Why does this happen?" It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His
: protection from us. Once that protection is gone, we are vulnerable because
: we are a free society.
: We lie naked before these terrorists who have infiltrated our country. There
: are probably tens of thousands of them in America right now. They have been
: raising money and preaching their hate. Overseas, they have been spewing out
: venom against the United States for years.
: All over the Arab world there is venom against America being poured into
: peoples' minds, and the only thing that is going to sustain us is the
: umbrella power of Almighty God. That is the only thing that we have going
: for us.
: Yes, we can put up a nuclear shield, but they are not coming in with
: missiles. We can beef up marshals on airplanes, but then they will come in
: with car bombs. There is always some way they can get at us. The means of
: these rogue states are awesome.
: Yes, we will mobilize now and our country is moving together. But I want to
: say as firmly as I can, the Scripture for this time is -- "If My people who
: are called by My name will humble themselves, pray, seek My face and turn
: from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and
: heal their land."
: Now, I am filled with compassion. It just tears my heart when I think of the
: families of these suffering. But I want to say as surely as I am sitting
: here today, this is only a foretaste, a little warning, of what is going to
: happen.
: We have not seen the massive destruction of life in our urban centers that
: can take place with sarin gas and with the biological and chemical warfare
: that is available to these rogue people, not to mention, suitcase nuclear
: bombs that they probably have available as well. We must come back to God as
: a people.
: So what we say to you today is, if you are not right with God then get your
: life right with God. Think of the things in your life that are wrong. Think
: of the careless indifference. Think of the poor who you could have helped.
: Think of the Scripture you have ignored. Think of the time you should have
: been spending in prayer, when you were watching television or focusing on
: pornography or tuned into the Internet. Think of the things you have done in
: your own life and think of the indifference to the sin of this nation that
: you have just passed by and said, "Well, that is just the way it is. We have
: to have freedom." Think of it!
: Don't ask why did it happen. It happened because people are evil. It also
: happened because God is lifting His protection from this nation and we must
: pray and ask Him for revival so that once again we will be His people, the
: planting of His righteousness, so that He will come to our defense and
: protect us as a nation. That is what I want to see and why we say we must
: have revival.
: We must have a spiritual revival. The churches need to be full. We must pray
: for our pastors. We must pray for the churches. We must ask God to send a
: mighty, powerful revival in the midst of His people. That is what is needed
: for this land.
: I want us to pray right now for America. I want us to pray for you and your
: families. I want us to pray particularly for those mothers, those fathers,
: those husbands and wives, those brothers and sisters who have lost loved
: ones. Their hearts are breaking right now. As they see this thing happen and
: they say "Why, Why?" And their hearts are broken.
: We may find that as many as 20,000 innocent civilians have been killed in
: this tragedy. We don't know what the full number is yet. It may not be that
: high, but that is one estimate.
: Please join with me as we all pray right now.
: Father, we come before You, and we share the pain and the grief of those who
: are suffering. We saw those people with their little posters held up before
: TV cameras with the pictures of their loved ones. Surely, you have seen this
: man. He is 5'10" and he weighs so and so and he's got a cute smile. Oh, God
: in heaven, we pray that You would comfort them -- that You will comfort
: those who suffer and grieve in this manner.
: And Lord, we pray for our nation. We have sinned against Almighty God. At
: the highest level of government we have stuck our finger in Your eye. The
: Supreme Court has insulted You over and over again, Lord. They have taken
: Your Bible away from the schools. They have forbidden little children to
: pray. Organizations have gone to court to take the knowledge of God out of
: the public squares of America. Then people say, "Why isn't God looking after
: us."
: We have sinned against You, Lord. We ask that You might forgive us. And that
: You might bring us to the place where we are truly sorry for our sins, and
: as a Nation we repent before You. And Almighty God, we ask for a spiritual
: revival, a cleansing of our Nation, a cleansing of the hearts of Your
: people.
: We pray for pastors, anoint them, Lord. We pray, oh God, for the churches.
: Give them the fire of God. And Lord, may millions come to the knowledge of
: Jesus Christ. Do a miracle in this land, we pray, that Your name might be
: honored. And Lord, we ask that you would bind up our wounds and heal our
: land. We receive this, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.