God's American Prophet

"And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword"

- (Deuteronomy 20:13)

Thought I might start with a wee Old Testatment comforting words on such a religious matter.

In my previous post Malaysian Christian Taliban? I expressed my shock at one Steve Oh making such a drastic attack in his letter to malaysiakini on a marginalised group, the gay community.

Oh had spat out venomously: "My second matter relates to the attempts to turn Christianity into some kind of gay circus. The apologists and ‘spinmeisters’ for a gay church paint those who oppose their heresy as unthinking, unkind and uncool Christians who don't know what they are opposing."

"... gay church ..."?

If Steve Oh had taken pains to read a malaysiakini news report on Ouyang Wen Feng, his so-called Christian eyes might have read that Ouyang "... hopes to become a member of the clergy in 2010 and plans to set up a Christian gay community by then."

That was that - (1) Ouyang wants to be a cleric, (2) he plans to set up a Christian gay community!

Steve Oh had allowed his narrow mind to leap to prejudiced conclusion that Ouyang wants to be a cleric only for gays. Well, balderdash, bullsh*t and bugger off. His invincible homophobia is in sheer conflict with Christian values, which he professed to be protecting.

It's people like Steve Oh who gives Christianity a bad Taliban-ish name. Yes, Taliban-ism is not just a monopoly of Muslim fanatics. Unfortunately religious extremism and intolerance exist in Christianity, Judaism (Rabbi Yousef Falay, Baruch Goldstein), Hinduism (whose fanatics burned alive an Australian Christian missionary and his children in a car in India), etc.

Back to Steve Oh's homophobia - In Australia, one of the most respected judges, a man held in high esteem and affection by the public, is Michael Kirby, who has been open about his homosexuality since 1999, when he outed himself in Australia's Who's Who by naming newsagent Johan van Vloten as his long-term partner.

Wikipedia has Judge Kirby saying: "The movement for equality is unstoppable. Its message will eventually reach the four corners of the world."

One of Kirby's most high-profile critics is Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, a close lieutenant of PM John Howard. In 2002, Heffernan used parliamentary privilege to accuse Kirby of trawling for rent boys. However, the evidence Heffernan produced to support this claim was swiftly discovered to be a forgery.

When Heffernan eventually apologised for these allegations, Kirby promptly responded: "I accept Senator Heffernan's apology and reach out my hand in a spirit of reconciliation. I hope my ordeal will show the wrongs that hate of homosexuals can lead to."

And I hope Steve Oh may regain his Christian tolerance and love that his Saviour had imparted to him through Christian teachings.

Also in my previous post on issue, I made the statement:

And I would tell Steve Oh to stop speaking on behalf of God, who incidentally has refused to talk to anyone since Yeshua ben Yusuf died on the cross for humanity, including unfortunately Steve Oh and his ilk.

Well, visitor Anon No 1 to my blog left a comment complaining that I overdid/sensationalise my criticism by describing Oh as a Christian Taliban, to which I replied:

The term Taliban has come to signify anyone religiously intolerant. KT doesn't like such intolerant bullies, regardless of their religious affiliation. So the tiltle is not sensational but rather, quite appropriate.

Then Anon No 2 (can't tell whether he/she is same Anon - doesn't matter) said: KT claims he/she doesn't like "intolerant bullies", but KT himself/herself insults Christian experience by claiming that God "has refused to talk to anyone" since the crucifixion. why can't KT practise tolerance before railing against others?

Well, Anon, according to Judeo-Christian beliefs, God only talks to/through his prophets – any Christian prophets since Christ?

But wait - actually I was wrong on two counts.

One, I was of course referring to the Christian world which I failed to qualify, though the title of my posting was clear it was about a Christian Taliban - I’ll come back to the Christian world shortly. In the Islamic world, the last prophet was of course Prophet Mohamad (pbuh) who came after Jesus Christ (peace also be unto his name).

Two, I could be wrong on a second count in suggesting that there were no more Christian prophet after Christ.

Actually there is one modern day prophet and he lives in the USA. His name is Pat Robertson, a Christian evangelist. Robertson tells his parish that God talks to him, regularly too, which I suppose makes him a modern day Christian prophet.

I don’t know how I could have missed him because I had blogged on him several times, as follows:

(1) Bush Condones US Talibans
(2) Evangelist called Prophet Muhammad a Robber & Brigand
(3) Christian Evangelist says "Kill Chavez!"
(4) Terrorist State Harbouring Terrorists?
(5) US evangelists: "Screw democracy"

There is an article in mediamatters.org/items/200501040010 (sorry, can’t give you the link in my usual way because I am using a friend’s PC and while I can google with it, I can’t open the google link except via the cached info). Anyway, here’s the cached article:

On the January 3 edition of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club, Reverend Pat Robertson, host and Christian Coalition of America founder, made predictions for the New Year based on what he said God told him during a recent prayer retreat.

Robertson said that God told him: "I will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly, and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith."

Robertson also said that he "heard it from the Lord" that President Bush will have Social Security and tax reform passed and that Muslims will turn to Jesus Christ.

Robertson currently features on his official website, under the heading "Operation Supreme Court Freedom", a letter released following the June 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that decriminalized homosexual sodomy.

"... decriminalized homosexual sodomy ..."? Good Lord (excuse my blasphemy), surely that will drive Steve Oh berserk!

In the letter, Robertson asked his supporters to pray for liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justices to retire: "Would you join with me and many others in crying out to our Lord to change the Court? ... One justice is 83 years old, another has cancer, and another has a heart condition.
Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire? With their retirement and the appointment of conservative judges, a massive change in federal jurisprudence can take place."

When asked to clarify his remarks, according to a July 17 Associated Press report, Robertson said that "he was not talking about any particular Supreme Court justices when he asked his television audience to pray that three liberal justices retire."

Robertson stated: "I don't care which three, I mean as long as the three conservatives stay on. ... There's six liberals, so it's up to the Lord." The AP also noted: "Justice John Paul Stevens was born in 1920 [making him 83 at the time of Robertson's remarks] and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had colon cancer surgery in 1999."

"... as long as the three conservatives stay on. ... There's six liberals, so it's up to the Lord ..." There you are - who says he is biased.

On the 700 Club broadcast, Robertson touted his 2004 New Year's prediction that President George W. Bush would win re-election by "a blowout" as an example of a past prediction that turned out to be correct.

On January 2, 2004, Robertson stated: "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way."

As Media Matters for America has noted, Bush's margin of victory was the smallest for a reelected incumbent president since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

Other Robertson predictions have fared less well. According to a February 15, 1988, Washington Post article, Robertson said, "I heard the Lord saying 'I have something else for you to do. I want you to run for president of the United States.'"

The same article noted that during one campaign stop during the 1988 presidential race, Robertson stated: "This is where God wanted me to be. ... Here I am in New Hampshire, before a major primary."

He then said, "I assure you that I am going to be the next president of the United States," according to a February 15 Washington Post article. After trailing George H.W. Bush and Senator Bob Dole in the Republican primaries, Robertson's 1988 presidential campaign ended before the Republican convention.

A February 2004 article in Church & State magazine (published by Americans United for Separation of Church and State) noted several Robertson predictions that turned out to be false, including that Russia would invade Israel in 1982, and that there would be a worldwide economic collapse in 1985.

The article went on to mention that "In his 1991 book, The New World Order, Robertson predicted that U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller would be elected president in 1996."

Robertson's predictions for 2005:

The economy: "Again, 2005 is going to be a year of extraordinary prosperity for this nation and for CBN [Christian Broadcasting Network]. And I think the American stock market is going to surge upward, if I heard from the Lord. Again, ladies and gentlemen, don't go and buy stock on my recommendation, but that's what I feel in my heart. The Lord was saying it's going to be a super good year."

George W. Bush: "Well, the Lord has some very encouraging news for George Bush ... What I heard is that Bush is now positioned to have victory after victory and that his second term is going to be one of triumph, which is pretty strong stuff. ... He'll have Social Security reform passed. He'll have tax reform passed. He'll have conservative judges on the courts. And that basically he is positioned for a series of dramatic victories which I hope will hearten him and his advisers. They don't have to be timid in this matter because the wind is blowing at his back, and he can move forward boldly and get results."

Muslims and others turning to Jesus Christ: "In America, again if I'm hearing God right, we will see a tremendous incident of miracles in the year 2005. ... God's spirit is going to be moving in dramatic power around the world. And his spirit is going to be touching the hearts of many in the Muslim world and they will be turning to the gospel, to Jesus Christ. I think many of them already are, but this is going to be an acceleration that will really amaze the world. ... 'Revival will break out throughout the Muslim world, my [God's] truth will penetrate their hearts. The hold of that falsehood that has gripped them will be broken.'"
Terrorism and global security: "2005 will be another good year for the world. The terrorist threat will diminish. Nations will walk in peace, but it will be an illusion. The peril to Israel is greater now than it has ever been for she will be seduced into a false peace that will leave her vulnerable."

The Supreme Court: "The vendetta against religion in America is about to end. ... 'I [God] will remove judges from the Supreme Court quickly and their successors will refuse to sanction the attacks on religious faith.'"

I apologise for forgetting God's greatest Christian prophet ;-)

And if you think Pat Robertson is the only one devoted to God, think again because some Israeli military people believed in the Deuteronomic punishment for Palestinians

God related matter:
Let there by Darkness & Ignorance!

p/s Today I read that Mother Teresa had dark moments in her life which shook her faith in God - hmmm, I wonder whether she was exasperated with God for not striking down a charlatan prophet like Pat Robertson. ;-)