# New documentary expose on Pat Robertson's activities in Africa - Pretty astounding charges **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262 "2013-09-07T18:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/1 "2013-09-07T18:33:31Z")
[Re this film](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/07/doc-mission-congo-alleges-pat-robertson-exploited-post-genocide-rwandans-for-diamonds.html) I had no idea he was involved in this sort of thing. I’m surprised it didn’t get more press before this. > [@](#): > > ‘Mission Congo’ Alleges Pat Robertson Exploited Post-Genocide Rwandans For Diamonds - The documentary ‘Mission Congo,’ which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, alleges that televangelist Pat Robertson’s charity in Zaire to help refugees that fled from post-genocide Rwanda, Operation Blessing, really served as an elaborate front for his diamond mining operation. Marlow Stern reports . ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/2 "2013-09-07T18:50:25Z")
Robertson is a pretty slick talker, and as we all know, God is on his side. I can think of a few ways he can talk his way out of this one.[ul][_]The report is a lie and the work of the Devil[_]He was duped[_]He had the best of intentions, but the Devil thwarted him at every turn[_]God works in mysterious ways[_]The people are better off with a mining operation than medicine and doctors[_]The contributors didn’t pray hard enoughWhat mining operation?[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/3 "2013-09-07T20:47:16Z")
[quote=“Musicat, post:2, topic:668262”] Robertson is a pretty slick talker, and as we all know, God is on his side. I can think of a few ways he can talk his way out of this one.[ul][li]The report is a lie and the work of the Devil[_]He was duped[_]He had the best of intentions, but the Devil thwarted him at every turn[_]God works in mysterious ways[_]The people are better off with a mining operation than medicine and doctors[_]The contributors didn’t pray hard enough[_]What mining operation?[/ul][/li][/QUOTE] You forgot [ul] [li]The gays made him do it.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/4 "2013-09-07T21:23:36Z")
I’m going to go with; “We’re doing God’s work in Zaire and we won’t respond to this malicious slander.” ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/5 "2013-09-09T03:50:36Z")
Pat’s a really good guy. [This Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson) lists his usual method of making headlines: [ul] [li]Blaming Hurricane Katrina on abortions being legal in the US[/li][li]Saying the Haitian people are suffering because an earlier deal they made with the Devil went south. It’s always in the fine print with Satan.[/li][li]I’m cutting this list short because his “God told me that if you touch me in the back seat, he’s turning the car around and bringing on the End Times” claims get me into a bad mood.[/li][/ul] Then there’s the prophecies, in which God talks to him: [ul][li]1982: Doomsday\*\* - NOPE\*\*[/li][li]2006: Tsunami in Pacific Northwest\*\* - NOPE\*\*[/li][li]2007: Mass killings in a terrorist attack\*\* - NOPE\*\*[/li][li]2008: Middle East “meltdown” with nukes from Iran and Syria after Russian military action in Georgia\*\* - NOPE\*\*[/li][li]2012: God told him who would beat Obama. God said Obama’s views were at “odds with the majority.” \*\* - NOPE; God fell for the old “unskewed polls” trick\*\*[/li][/ul]… someone else noted on another board that these qualify him as a genuine false prophet, and being a false prophet is apparently contraindicated in some of those bible thingys. He’s been dealing with Charles Taylor for years, and Taylor mentioned old Pat at his war crimes trial in 2010. Additionally, from [ABC News,](http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/pat-robertsons-gold-deal-african-dictator/story?id=9749341): _"Robertson made widely publicized public statements in support of Charles Taylor in 2003. However, Chris Roslan, a spokesman for Robertson, denied to ABC News that Robertson ever discussed Taylor with Bush. "_ I didn’t really notice this in 2010, but ABC news isn’t Pat Robertson, so I’ll trust them about that. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/6 "2013-09-09T15:21:07Z")
This is a sixteen year old story. It was covered at the time. The story even prompted the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs to investigate. They found that deceptive statements were made but there was no evidence that Robertson had intention to defraud givers. Robertson said he reimbursed the charity for the use of the airplanes and that the charity instituted new rules banning involvement with any of the charity’s director’s businesses or their families. Operation Blessing currently has a budget of 200 million a year and was named the sixth most efficient charity in the country by Forbes magazine. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/7 "2013-09-09T16:04:58Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > This is a sixteen year old story. It was covered at the time. The story even prompted the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs to investigate. They found that deceptive statements were made but there was no evidence that Robertson had intention to defraud givers. Right. It was only _after_ he’d collected their money that he thought of using it for his own personal gain in an enterprise with his dictator buddy. At the time he was tearfully pleading for donations, he really _meant_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/8 "2013-09-09T16:50:20Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > This is a sixteen year old story. It was covered at the time. The story even prompted the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs to investigate. They found that deceptive statements were made but there was no evidence that Robertson had intention to defraud givers. Robertson said he reimbursed the charity for the use of the airplanes and that the charity instituted new rules banning involvement with any of the charity’s director’s businesses or their families. > Operation Blessing currently has a budget of 200 million a year and was named the sixth most efficient charity in the country by Forbes magazine. It’s worth noting that the VOCA was under the control of a Republican governor and AG who received large campaign contributions from Robertson. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/9 "2013-09-09T18:50:45Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Operation Blessing currently has a budget of 200 million a year and was named the sixth most efficient charity in the country by Forbes magazine. Of course, Forbes ranks charities by how much profit they made and that disqualifies all those liberal charities that insist on giving stuff away. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/10 "2013-09-10T02:29:17Z")
I miss Robert Tilton. Now _that man_ had class. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/11 "2013-09-10T15:44:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Of course, Forbes ranks charities by how much profit they made and that disqualifies all those liberal charities that insist on giving stuff away. [Here](http://www.forbes.com/companies/operation-blessing-international-relief-dev/)is the Forbes entry on Operation Blessing. Last year it raised 220 million dollars and spent 219 million dollars on charitable activities. It is tied for fourth among the top 100 charities in percentage of funds raised spent on charitable activities. That is not the ideal way to judge a charity but it shows that they are doing their best to give money away. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/12 "2013-09-10T15:47:15Z")
How does Forbes define “charitable services”? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/13 "2013-09-10T15:51:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Of course, Forbes ranks charities by how much profit they made and that disqualifies all those liberal charities that insist on giving stuff away. It does? Wow, I never knew that. Is there another ranking or rating of charities that actually rates the organization’s prowess at giving stuff away? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/14 "2013-09-10T15:58:44Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How does Forbes define “charitable services”? Look-[Operation Blessing International](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Blessing_International) is a charitable organization however you want to define the term. The problem that is mentioned in the OP is that > [@](#): > > Operation Blessing’s planes were transporting diamond-mining equipment for the Robertson-owned African Development Corporation, a venture Robertson had established in cooperation with Zaire’s dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Robertson had befriended earlier in 1993. As it turned out, the actual planes used through the auspices of Operation Blessing International were owned outright by Pat Robertson himself. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/15 "2013-09-10T17:34:08Z")
How does a charity make a profit? Aren’t charities non-profits by definition? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/16 "2013-09-10T17:36:26Z")
“Non-profit” is a shorthand for “not _for_ profit”. Any entity that receives more money than it disburses is making a profit. Charities are distinguishable because their _intent_ is not (supposed to be) to generate profit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/17 "2013-09-10T17:59:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > “Non-profit” is a shorthand for “not _for_ profit”. Any entity that receives more money than it disburses is making a profit. Charities are distinguishable because their _intent_ is not (supposed to be) to generate profit. I don’t think that’s a useful explanation. Charities do not return profits to owners. A charity may well receive more money than it disburses over the course of many years, by design, and then use that money to build itself a new headquarters, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/18 "2013-09-10T18:24:48Z")
Right, but any funds accumulated over liabilities _are_ profits, even if they are intended to cover some future liability. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/19 "2013-09-10T21:44:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Of course, Forbes ranks charities by how much profit they made and that disqualifies all those liberal charities that insist on giving stuff away. > [@puddleglum](#): > > [Here](http://www.forbes.com/companies/operation-blessing-international-relief-dev/)is the Forbes entry on Operation Blessing. Last year it raised 220 million dollars and spent 219 million dollars on charitable activities. It is tied for fourth among the top 100 charities in percentage of funds raised spent on charitable activities. > That is not the ideal way to judge a charity but it shows that they are doing their best to give money away. > [@Bricker](#): > > It does? > > Wow, I never knew that. > > Is there another ranking or rating of charities that actually rates the organization’s prowess at giving stuff away? It was a joke, guys, stand down. Good to see though that in a thread about a conservative Christian leader using his charity as a cover for diamond smuggling, you guys are focused on the real outrage of somebody making fun of _Forbes_ magazine. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262/20 "2013-09-10T22:15:04Z")
somethings are sacred and shouldn’t be joked about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-documentary-expose-on-pat-robertsons-activities-in-africa-pretty-astounding-charges/668262.md?page=2)