Pat Robertson

Rev. Pat Robertson is worried that the nation is too divided at the present time to solve some of the major issues that confront the United States.  He says that the good ol’ days when republicans and democrats got together to decide what is right for the American people are gone.

“Today there is this bitter partisanship, bitter division in Washington,” Robertson said.  “We need to get statesman who are only interested in solving the problems of this nation instead of sniping at one another and attempting to destroy the leader of one party.”

Robertson is a televangelist and is known for being the founder of various corporations such as the Christian Broadcasting Network, the Christian Coalition and the 700 club.  He spoke in a video conference session to students from George Mason University, Denver University and Pace University about the relationship between religion and politics. 

Robertson is known for being a strong supporter of the Republican Party and although he considers himself to be a southern Baptist, many feel that he tends to believe in a charismatic theology that is more extreme than other Southern Baptists.  It did not take long for many students to understand that Robertson holds what they perceived to be somewhat radical viewpoints.

Tension Rises

The bitter partisanship that Robertson referred to during his opening comments, in large part is due to the current war in the Middle East.  This led Robertson to explain why he believes all Muslims are told in the Quran to wage war on the rest of the world until the world falls under Islam and the Muslim religion. 

“The word Islam means submission, not peace, submission,” Robertson said.  “It’s not really a religion, it’s a political system because what they believe is that they are destined for world wide domination.”

Challenging Rev. Robertson

Some of the students, particularly at George Mason University, one of the most diverse universities in the United States, were offended and challenged Robertson’s beliefs.

“Where do you get your information from, Islam does not mean submission, it means submission to God,” said Duha El-quesny a Muslim and online journalism student at George Mason University.  “Islam is a spiritual faith and by no means does it mean wage war against non Muslims. Where did you get your information from?” 

Professor Steve Klein at George Mason University defended his student, by saying that he “would much rather receive his definition of Islam from a Muslim than from a Christian.”

Questions, answers and more debates between Rev. Robertson and the students continued on other topics, such as whether or not the U.S. should start using assassination in an attempt to avoid wars like the current one in Iraq.  Prayer in schools, the foundation of the constitution and the new age of multimedia were all topics of conversation.  The video conference can be found in it’s entirety on C-SPAN3.