# Pat Robertson: Sharon's stroke is God's punishment. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652 "2006-01-05T22:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/61 "2006-01-06T15:08:20Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > (IANAD disclaimers, etc.) I don’t think you need to worry so much if you’re on aspirin,. Oh I’m not particularly worried, I just find in curious and another illustration that there’s no escape. God kills everyone and Intelligently Designed the apple of his eye so that we alone of all his creatures know it’s coming. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/62 "2006-01-06T15:10:19Z")
Man, wouldn’t it be a blast to have Robertson sign up to the SDMB (member name: “Patshit Crazy”) and participate in the Celebrity Death Pool? It’d be hilarious! Well, up until the point he gets banned for being a jerk … ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/63 "2006-01-06T16:32:04Z")
> [@Fred Phelps](#): > > fag-infested West Virginia For a moment there you’d think Phred was doing a bad “hillbilly” joke, but of course his one-track mind keeps him from throwing in the requisite bestiality and incest references. > [@David Simmons](#): > > … another illustration that there’s no escape. God kills everyone and Intelligently Designed the apple of his eye so that we alone of all his creatures know it’s coming. Now that’s one quotable line if I ever saw one, Sir. “God kills everyone” – Old Pat oughta think about that one. **Revtim** , from what I recall of him back in his heyday, Robertson was all along kinda flying a bit off-trim, but in more recent years he seems to be getting progressively more loose-lipped and strident. Pat’s always seen God as some sort of Cosa Nostra capo, spreading whackings around to keep folks in their place, but back when he had a hope of becoming a dominant force in society he tried to be polite about it – but the passing of televangelism’s Golden Age, the failure of his attempt to be a viable presidential contender, and the rise of FOX as the real media power on the Right, have him in a position of needing to be louder to let us know he still exists. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/64 "2006-01-06T16:37:20Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > For a moment there you’d think Phred was doing a bad “hillbilly” joke, but of course his one-track mind keeps him from throwing in the requisite bestiality and incest references. No, wait… in the Bible verse quoted it DOES mention bestiality… :smack: _“we know West Virginia”_ :smack: Dammit, Phelps IS making a bigoted “hillbilly” joke on top of his usual fag-bashing… ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/65 "2006-01-06T17:49:22Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > [/end hijack] > > Actually I back off from what I said earlier because it’s dumb - we can’t really know what caused Sharon’s stroke or if being fat had anything to do with it. Maybe it did. My apologies \*\*marymargaret \*\*. No problem. I don’t consider obesity as a sin resulting in punishment from God, I just see it as a health related issue that causes very real problems. My dad (who was obese) died of a stroke at a relatively young age. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/66 "2006-01-06T18:36:23Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Robertson’s comment had little to do with anti-Semitism. In fact, it has to do with Robertson’s support for the state of Israel and feelings of disdain towards Muslims. Support for the state of Israel, but since he believes that all of them will accept Jesus upon his return… it doesn’t count as anti-Semitic in the typical sense, but I wouldn’t call it support for Jewish people either. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/67 "2006-01-06T19:14:55Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Well, fuckola. I’ve got me one of those optional circulatory extras. And here I’ve been wallowing in sin all this time, without ever realizing that the Almighty had left His warning fingerprint of judgement on my cardiac muscle. > > Fortunately, it seems that nothing I’ve done so far has incensed Him enough to trigger my detonator. I guess I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing and hope for the best. Just to be safe, though, I should probably try to avoid turning the administration of Israeli-occupied territories over to Palestinian authorities. Hold it, now I’m confused about cause and effect here. Does God put holes in the heart of people he knows are going to be sinners, or do holes in he heart make otherwise Christian people into sinners? So if my wife all of a sudden got a _patent ductus arteriosis_, she’d suddenly turn into a scarlet woman? Has anyone done a study? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/68 "2006-01-06T19:45:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Support for the state of Israel, but since he believes that all of them will accept Jesus upon his return… it doesn’t count as anti-Semitic in the typical sense, but I wouldn’t call it support for Jewish people either. Sure it is, if you think accepting Jesus is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/69 "2006-01-06T19:55:44Z")
Y’know, I really wonder what anyone really has against Sharon. I won’t claim he’s the greatest thing since sliced better, but it seems to me that he’s done more than anyone to actually work towards a solution to the whole mess. I can see why Hamas wouldn’t like him - he made it harder to smuggle in bombs. But I don’t know why anyone else would have such a hard-on for him. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/70 "2006-01-06T19:59:35Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Jews return to Jerusalem > Muslim temples destroyed > Reconstruction on the Temple Mount > Appearance of the anti-Christ > Jews see the light and embrace Jesus as their saviour > Profit! Err, I mean, Rapture! Here’s my prediciton of how it will actually play out. 1. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religious fanatics all believe that God has promised them the same portion of real estate. 2. Believing they are doing God’s will, the factions start a war that, because it is intertwined with oil interests, escalates into a huge world war. 3. Israel is decimated, the Muslim states look like Lebanon circa 1982 (or Iraq today), and the United States is reduced to a second-rate semi-dictatorship shaking its impotent fists at China. A billion people die in the process. 4. Jesus doesn’t come back. The Jewish Messiah doesn’t show. No muslim caliphate is established. A dark age descends. 5. All three religions make up excuses for why their preferred prophetic scenario didn’t play out. Lather, rinse, repeat. -from the portion of the **Book of Vibrotronica** where the author loses all hope in humanity. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/71 "2006-01-06T20:38:11Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > But I don’t know why anyone else would have such a hard-on for him. Hmm. Maybe something to do with killing civilians in a refugee camp about 20 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![AmericanMaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@AmericanMaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmericanMaid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/72 "2006-01-06T20:50:31Z")
Obesity does increase stroke risk. Think about it. Obesity increases the chance of clogged arteries which increases the risk of an embolic stroke. Taking birth control pills, diabetes and family history are other risk factors. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/73 "2006-01-06T20:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmm. Maybe something to do with killing civilians in a refugee camp about 20 years ago? At a bare minimum, he didn’t. He may have stood by while others did. Whether that was his moral responsibility is another question entirely. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/74 "2006-01-06T20:58:25Z")
> [@AmericanMaid](#): > > Obesity does increase stroke risk. Think about it. Obesity increases the chance of clogged arteries which increases the risk of an embolic stroke. Taking birth control pills, diabetes and family history are other risk factors. eh - but not hemorrhagic stroke. On the other hand I guess he wouldn’t have been on the blood thinners if not for the first stroke which was ischemic and fat could have contributed to that one - on top of the hole in his heart. I’m still putting it down as death by doctor. If he dies, that is. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/75 "2006-01-06T21:06:34Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > At a bare minimum, he didn’t. He may have stood by while others did. Whether that was his moral responsibility is another question entirely. Oh come on. The Israeli government’s \*own commission \* found him personally responsible for Sabra and Shatila. They said “indirect” but even they recommended his firing. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/76 "2006-01-06T21:07:17Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > At a bare minimum, he didn’t. He may have stood by while others did. Whether that was his moral responsibility is another question entirely. Would you make such an equivocation over an assertion that Saddam Hussein or Yassir Arafat had “killed people?” It was Sharon’s moral responsibility. He wasn’t a nice person. There are legitimate reasons not to like him. He’s got blood on his hands, ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/77 "2006-01-06T21:12:24Z")
Is he really that big, though? I mean yeah, he’s a heavyish guy, but he doesn’t look THAT big. Or maybe I’m remembering him wrong. ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/78 "2006-01-06T21:26:29Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > eh - but not hemorrhagic stroke. On the other hand I guess he wouldn’t have been on the blood thinners if not for the first stroke which was ischemic and fat could have contributed to that one - on top of the hole in his heart. I’m still putting it down as death by doctor. If he dies, that is. [This medical study](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/462097) (free membership required) seems to say there is a link, even between hemorrhagic strokes and obesity. ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/79 "2006-01-06T21:30:38Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Is he really that big, though? I mean yeah, he’s a heavyish guy, but he doesn’t look THAT big. Or maybe I’m remembering him wrong. I’ve read that he weighs 260-280 and is 5’ 7". ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652/80 "2006-01-06T21:32:37Z")
> [@marymargaret](#): > > I’ve read that he weighs 260-280 and is 5’ 7". Yikes, that’s pretty big. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pat-robertson-sharons-stroke-is-gods-punishment/338652.md?page=5)