# Pat Robertson has prostate cancer ... and I'm glad! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 13, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921 "2003-02-13T21:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/81 "2003-02-14T05:40:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BURNER \* > \*\*Look on the bright side, I limit my hate to a few specific targets. I dont hate huge swatches of society for the crime of being different. IMHO Pat Robertson is in the category as Hitler. They both hate the Jews and Gays.The only real diffrence between the two is that Hitler had his aryans and Robertson has his fundamentalist christians. \*\* I think your analogy leaves something to be desired. Frankly, I was wondering how soon someone would pull out the “Pat Robertson is just like a Nazi” card (apologies if someone’s mentioned it here already). ---
**Author:** ![BURNER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@BURNER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BURNER)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/82 "2003-02-14T05:44:47Z")
Yeah, Hitler had a funny moustach and balls enough to take over half the world. I guess that would put him a few steps above Pat Robertson. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/83 "2003-02-14T05:45:36Z")
Actually, Hitler only had one ball. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/84 "2003-02-14T05:48:29Z")
I fight it. I fight it every day. I try to be a human being, in the higher sense of the concept. When I hear that Pat Robertson has prostate cancer, my first conscious thought is one of sympathy for him and his family. If I were to hear that Fred Phelps had turned up HIV positive, it’d be the same thing. The problem is, it’s the first thought I have as a human being. There’s another thought, from deep down someplace in my reptile brain. I could expand on it, I could make sophisticated arguments about the number of poor people who’ve gone hungry so that Pat could keep up his ministry, or the number of pagans, homosexuals, women who’d had an abortion and whoeverall else who lost loved ones on 9/11 and turned for spiritual support only to hear that they’d helped to cause those deaths, according to Pat and his friend Fallwell. It’d all be rational, and make good debating points, but it all refers back to that reptile section of my brain. That part of me doesn’t care. That part of me identifies Robertson and Fallwell and their ilk as enemies. It doesn’t matter to that part of my brain that they’d rip off a 9 second soundbite about how awful it was that somebody who was a member of a number of groups on their list of enemies was brutally murdered by one of their followers, should I die at the hands of their followers and that death be brought to their attention. It doesn’t even care if they’d really care. That part of me just realizes that something bad has happened to an enemy, and is happy about it. One level up, you get the ironic. “Don’t worry, Pat, you’ve been telling us all along that there is a God, and if you’ve got cancer then it must be part of his plan, so lay back and enjoy it, no matter what suffering it may cause in this world it’s sure to be made right in the next”. I try to exist and act as much as possible above those levels. I don’t always succeed. If I were (since we’re sharing deep personal stories here) to run into the guy who raped my ex-wife, I doubt I’d make a citizen’s arrest and call for the police to come and subject him to the full force and majesty of the law. I think I’d probably just break bones until the cops showed up to pull me off. I’m sure I’d feel bad about it later, and that the best part of me would be appalled by my actions, since a civil society has ways of dealing with such transgressions that doesn’t involve corporal punishment, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it would go. So, I guess the point here is that I’m sorry to hear that Mr. Robertson has cancer. I’m also not going to jump on the bandwagon of slagging off the OP for his horrible, horrible opinions. Before I realized I was sorry, I shared them pretty deeply. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/85 "2003-02-14T05:53:22Z")
The whole cancer thing – nobody we know _gave_ Patty the cancer, hell there’s no earthly way we know of to wish, install, or tilt the scales so that anyone we don’t like gets cancer – so it’s ALL SCHADENFREUDE. That’s OK, right? I mean if we were all mild demigods with the ability to cause cancer – I can’t imagine giving cancer to anyone; it’s a pointless punishment that doesn’t fix or right anything. But if you’re in a position where someone who has made you suffer suffers himself, albeit in an unrelated, entirely random way, it’s human nature to enjoy (shamefully) the near-justice. How is it morally better, as several have suggested, for **Spiff** to publically weep for Pat Robertson while cheering his illness in private? I think at least **Spiff** is honest – that’s something, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/86 "2003-02-14T05:57:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by super\_head_ > And while I think Spiff’s OP was rather over the top, I also think those clinging to the “I’d never wish a painful death on anyone!” mantra are also a bit full of it, have never had serious trouble in their lives, or are willingly self-employed as human doormats. > > YMMV. As one of the people repeating the “I’d never wish a painful death on anyone!” mantra, I have to say that another dynamic may also be at work. I’ve seen the aftereffects of suffering enough that I can’t handle seeing any more suffering, even in retribution. Unless additional suffering would undo previous suffering, I just don’t want to see any more suffering at all. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/87 "2003-02-14T06:31:58Z")
> [@](#): > > **YMMV.** It does vary, and greatly. What would anyone have to gain from wishing pain on someone, or celebrating existing pain? It doesn’t seem to solve anything in itself. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/88 "2003-02-14T07:33:28Z")
If you want to do something nice for Pat, you can do what I did back when he and Falwell made their assinine comments about the real cause of 9/11: I donated $25 in his name to [Americans United for the Separation of Church and State](http://www.au.org/). I also donated $25 to the ACLU in Jerry Falwell’s name. Least I could do, really. At 72, Robertson is no spring chicken; given that it’s not outside the prostate, he’s probably far more likely to die with this cancer than of it. I hate for anybody to have to go through it, but I have to admit that my first thought upon seeing the news story was that somehow, as a godless liberal hippie, this would be my fault. I also have to wonder about the protein pancakes and shakes and such–will he stop selling them, or will he credit them with preventing his cancer from spreading further than it has? Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/89 "2003-02-14T07:42:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe K \* > \*\*It does vary, and greatly. What would anyone have to gain from wishing pain on someone, or celebrating existing pain? It doesn’t seem to solve anything in itself. \*\* They have nothing to gain by it. But some people, this jerkass **Spiff** apparently among them, like to trumpet their superiority and enlightenment over others to such a degree that they feel competent to judge who deserves to live and who to die. It gives them a little bit of sadistic glee to say, “haha, this guy is such a buttwad, and he’s dying, he deserves it”, as if any of us had a leg to stand on in deciding who deserves life. **Spiff** , what makes you so high and mighty, what makes you so f_cking enlightened and superior to us that you have all the f_cking answers? I hope there’s someone out there someday who says about you “man, I’m glad **Spiff** has cancer” so that you know what it feels like to be judged _unworthy of continued existence_. That’s pretty f\*cking harsh. Our society does judge some people unworthy to live (something I wish they wouldn’t do), but only murderers. Evidence that Robertson has personally murdered anyone or ordered anyone to commit murder? No. So under no standard can I see any way that judging him to deserve death is appropriate, warranted, or anything other than pure unadulterated hatred. Which is probably just what the OP thinks Robertson is about. So I guess they’re the same after all. **Spiff** is a dick, that’s all there is to it. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/90 "2003-02-14T07:44:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BURNER \* > Look on the bright side, I limit my hate to a few specific targets. I dont hate huge swatches of society for the crime of being different. IMHO Pat Robertson is in the category as Hitler. They both hate the Jews and Gays.The only real diffrence between the two is that Hitler had his aryans and Robertson has his fundamentalist christians. What an odious Godwin’s… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/91 "2003-02-14T09:12:29Z")
Burner wrote: > [@](#): > > Look on the bright side, I limit my hate to a few specific targets. So does Fred Phelps. * * * Ace wrote: > [@](#): > > I think at least Spiff is honest – that’s something, anyway. So is Fred Phelps. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/92 "2003-02-14T11:25:48Z")
Cancer causes Suffering for all surounding the patient. An anvil from heaven bugs bunny style dosen’t. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/93 "2003-02-14T11:48:21Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Spiff \* > Yess! I think this S.O.B. is so evil that I’m glad he has this kind of cancer that fucks you up so bad. I hope it kills him soon, although the doctors say it hasn’t appeared to have spread (I hope the docs are wrong):_ You unmitagated fucking asshole. My sister-in-law died of cancer about 6 months ago. It was horrible for her and those around her. As disgusting as Pat Robertson is, you’ve proved yourself to be just as bad. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/94 "2003-02-14T11:52:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BURNER \* > \*\*. You can all tell me that I am wrong, but I will make a special trip to go dance on his grave if this thing kills him. \*\* So you’re exactly like those fuckheads who go and dance on the grave of Matt Shepard and picket funerals of gay people who died of AIDS, so they can torment the family/survivors? And you want to do the same to Robertson’s family? You are a diseased person and I hope you seek help. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/95 "2003-02-14T12:10:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*Cancer causes Suffering for all surounding the patient. > > An anvil from heaven bugs bunny style dosen’t. \*\* True enough. However, were that to happen, I think I’d spend less time gloating and more time looking nervously upward… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/96 "2003-02-14T12:55:30Z")
I think we scared **Spiff** away… ---
**Author:** ![Kiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/97 "2003-02-14T13:03:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Prostate cancer has good survivability rates – it isn’t bone cancer \*\* I’m just a lurker who never thought I’d be posting, but I have to say something. Prostate cancer is not a joke. It is not “ass-cancer”. It is not something to be taken lightly. It is the 3rd leading cause of death in men. I know this because I’ve seen what it can do firsthand. My father DIED from prostate cancer. It metastasized into bone cancer and it killed him - slowly and painfully. When we first found out he had it, I thought the same way some of you do - it was JUST prostate cancer. He’d get treated and we would go on. I was in denial up until the time I watched him take his last breath. I couldn’t believe he was really gone. He was an active guy, always healthy but he was too stubborn to get the test. 2 years after he was diagnosed he looked like a concentration camp victim. He couldn’t do anything for himself anymore, he was bedridden, and even morphine couldn’t control the pain he was in. I’m crying just thinking about it. Cancer doesn’t just affect the victim. It has no mercy for the family either. I found his digital camera after he died. On it were pictures spanning the 2 year period from diagnosis to a month before he passed. There are even pictures of him getting radiation treatment. I will show them to people who don’t believe that prostate cancer is a big deal - they will change your mind. It does have good survivabilty rates IF it is diagnosed early. Get tested. If this message saves one person, it was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/98 "2003-02-14T13:24:46Z")
Thank you, Kiger. God go with you. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/99 "2003-02-14T13:34:15Z")
Word, Kiger. Well said. And welcome aboard! ---
**Author:** ![Kiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921/100 "2003-02-14T13:40:07Z")
Thank you. It was hard to write, but I felt it had to be said. Sorry for the slight hijack. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-has-prostate-cancer-and-im-glad/154921.md?page=6)