Would that it were so. Pat has been exposed (Eww, horrible mental image) many times before. His followers continue to trust in his magical powers. It’s denial at its finest.
As Dave Barry said about this, the damage on Long Island wasn’t Pat’s fault. He wasn’t driving then.
And the Pat Robertson quote can be found here.
Thanks, Jeff.
When I posted the link, the Pat Robertson quote was on the MSNBC site. They seem to have edited it since that time.
Isabelle - I absolutely am not knocking the value of prayer. What irritated me was that Robertson’s words seems less a prayer and more of an order: he commands the hurricane to turn. I’d be satisfied, myself, with asking God to spare life and property, and remembering that, regardless, He has a plan and His will be done.
Isn’t Pat’s Regent University actually next door to Chesapeake in Virginia Beach?
(I note that QVC is based in Chesapeake [it’s next to the Greenbriar Mall, IIRC]–at least with them, you might actually get something for the money you send in!)
Look, I don’t care much for the guy, or his program, but that’s not a fair accusation. Pat Robertson does not claim to have magical powers. In fact, I happened to see him on TV last night, and he specifically said that human beings do NOT have this power. Rather, the power rests solely in God.
Where Pat Robertson errs is in saying that we have the authority to command nature and the powers of this world. Sadly, this is an all-too-common misapplication of the Scriptures. The Scriptures don’t say that we can command nature; rather, it simply says that we can lift up petitions to God. Because these are petitions (i.e. requests for favor), they should be done with humility and supplication, not through commands.
Like Bricker said, Robertson’s prayer was really more of a command. You’ll hear a lot of this thing in Pentecostal circles, unfortunately. Still, it doesn’t mean that Robertson claims to have any special magical powers of his own.
Ever since Disney has been openly gay friendly storms have made abrupt right turns and slammed into this asshole.
Hmmm?
Remember his little predictions back then?
Hmm, with a name like yours (Isabel(le)), I’m suspicious you might e in collusion wuth this storm
I’d say that’s better than storms coming out of that asshole. 
Correction to a post to DtC above, all of Pat’s stuff, with the exception of the Christian Coalition (which moved to DC about 5 yrs ago), is in VA Beach. The CC was in Chesapeake.
Wait - isn’t God still mad at us? September 11 was when he turned his back on us, remember! Since then the silent treatment - I HATE it when he pouts. Now, we’re OK?
Our father who art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
May Thy Hurricane come
And Pat will be done
on earth and just in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive his trespass against us
And lead us not into his church:
To wit, deliver us from evil.
Amen.
I hate to be a pain in the neck, but it says here in Luke 17:5-6:
Not that that excuses Pat. Matthew 6:5-6:
Yes, it would’ve been better. And I’m not saying that I think good ol’ God (by whatever name you wanna call him/her/it/them) is necessarily going to listen to him any more than he did to the Koreans or the Bahamainians (sp?) or the Bermudans or the people who lived in Homestead in '92 or anyone else. But you can’t blame the guy for trying.
He’s a dick; that much is given. But, bloody hell, everything he does doesn’t merit a Pit thread, you know? Not that Bricker isn’t entitled to his opinion, and not that he shouldn’t express it, but the prayer of Pat Robertson for this purpose isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He does a whole crapload of worse stuff.
To quote Buffy: “He blinked. The man moistens his eyeballs, and we’re having a meeting about it.”
I could claim that it’s a matter of semantics, or that I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but you have a good point. I stand corrected.
Why does Robertson think it’s necessary to make his prayer publicly. Why can’t he just make a private petition without announcing it? Doing it in public is pure self-aggrandizment. It serves no other purpose.
Diogenes, while I agree with you with that regarding most prayers (Matthew 5:5 and all), he is, in his mind, trying to convince God to turn aside a hurricane. If he does so publicly, he gets more people to do the same.
Does the number of people praying actually make a difference? Will God move the hurricane for a million prayers but not for a thousand? What is the magical number of prayers which will elicit a divine response?