Robertson warns Pennsylvania voters of
God's wrath
CNN
November 10, 2005
Eight 'intelligent design' school board members lost election
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Conservative Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson
told citizens of a Pennsylvania town that they had rejected God by voting their
school board out of office for supporting "intelligent design" and warned them
Thursday not to be surprised if disaster struck.
Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate and founder of the
influential Christian Broadcasting Network and Christian Coalition, has made
similar apocalyptic warnings and provocative statements before.
Last summer, he hit the headlines by calling for the assassination of
leftist Venezuelan Present Hugo Chavez, one of President George W. Bush's most
vocal international critics.
"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in
your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city," Robertson
said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, "The 700 Club."
"And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they
begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted
God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he
might not be there," he said.
The 700 Club claims a daily audience of around one million. It is also
broadcast around the world translated into more than 70 languages.
In voting on Tuesday, eight Dover, Pennsylvania, school board members up for
re-election lost their seats after trying to introduce a statement on
"intelligent design" to high school biology students.
Adherents of intelligent design argue that certain forms in nature are too
complex to have evolved through natural selection and must have been created by
a "designer." Opponents say it is the latest attempt by conservatives to
introduce religion into the school science curriculum.
The Dover case sparked a trial in federal court that gained nationwide
attention after the school board was sued by parents backed by the American
Civil Liberties Union. The board ordered schools to read students a short
statement in biology classes informing them that the theory of evolution is not
established fact and that gaps exist in it.
The statement mentioned intelligent design as an alternate theory and
recommended students read a book that explained the theory further. A decision
in the case is expected before the end of the year.
In 1998, Robertson warned the city of Orlando, Florida that it risked
hurricanes, earthquakes and terrorist bombs after it allowed homosexual
organizations to put up rainbow flags in support of sexual diversity.
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