The Cultural And Political Legacy Of Christian Broadcaster Pat Robertson
Lisa Desjardins:
Robertson was born in Virginia in 1930 and saw politics early.
His father, a conservative Democrat, spent decades in Congress. After serving in the Korean War, he went to law school, then a turn. A religious awakening took him to ministry. And he uprooted his wife and young family for a leap of faith.
In 1960, he purchased a small TV station in Virginia Beach, saying the lord told him to start the Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN.
Reaction To Robertson’s Legacy – It’s Complicated
© Provided by WAVY NorfolkVIRGINIA BEACH (WAVY) – Reaction to the death of the Rev. Pat Robertson Thursday at 93 underscores the complicated life he led on social issues and his lasting impact on politics.
Robertson was more than a televangelist with a worldwide reach, radiating from the campus of Regent University that he founded in 1977. 11 years later he ran for president, and although he didn’t win, he remained in the race until the end, and his impact affects the way Republican presidential hopefuls campaign to this day.
Former WAVY anchor/reporter Joel Rubin remembers the presidential campaign of 1988.
“I felt like I had one of the big stories in the country, reporting on a guy who was basically from our hometown,” Rubin said.
Robertson grew Regent University into a powerhouse in evangelical education, and his 700 Club became a pipeline to political supporters. But he dove into controversy headfirst, speaking out against gays, Islam, and people who were pro-choice, and then blaming 9/11 and hurricanes on God’s anger.
“Sometimes he would look like a fool with some of the things he would say, but there was a large audience out there that was obviously contributing to what he was doing, listening to what he was saying,” Rubin said.
Although Robertson was a frequent combatant in the culture wars, Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer says he should be remembered for his contributions. Dyer and Robertson were close friends, with Dyer often seeking his advice.
“Everybody’s controversial at some point in time,” Dyer said. “At least he spoke the truth, at least you always knew where he stood. I’ll tell you what, Pat deserves to be judged by the good deeds and the organizations that he built.”
Those organizations that he either founded or assisted in establishing included Operation Blessing, American Center for Law and Justice, the Christian Coalition and the platform that helped launch him into the political and evangelical consciousness, Christian Broadcasting Network.
Rubin remembers how Robertson harnessed the power of evangelicals early in the ’88 race, doing better in Iowa than the man who would go on to become president, George H.W. Bush.
“I think certainly from 1988 on, the voters that Pat Robertson brought into the party continue to be within the party,” Rubin said. “And they can’t win elections without them.”
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Pat Robertson Dies At 93, Leaves Behind A Striking Far-right Legacy
For many years, TV preacher Pat Robertson’s name was synonymous with the religious right political movement. Today, as NBC News reported, he died at age 93.
Pat Robertson, the conservative evangelist and media mogul who galvanized the modern Christian right, cultivated a massive national following and regularly drew criticism for his incendiary political statements, died Thursday, according to his official broadcasting network.
To know anything about Robertson is to recall his decades’ worth of hateful rhetoric toward, well, pretty much anyone who didn’t look, act and think as he did. My friend Rob Boston at Americans United for Separation of Church and State summarized the televangelist’s record in striking fashion this morning:
He repeatedly attacked non-Christian faiths, once calling Hinduism a “cult” that is “in touch with Satan and demon spirits.” In 1991, he penned The New World Order, a book anchored in antisemitic conspiracy theories. He once signed a fundraising letter asserting that feminism teaches women to “leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.” In 1991, he asserted that you don’t have to be nice to Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists and others because they reflect “the spirit of the Antichrist.” In 1990, he asserted that being gay is “a pathology. It is a sickness, and it needs to be treated” and went on to assert, “Many of those people involved with Adolf Hitler were satanists, many of them were homosexuals. The two things seem to go together.”
Reading this brutal summary, it’s tempting to think someone who said and believed such things would be kept at arm’s length by major American political parties, elected officials and candidates who sought the public’s trust.
But as Robertson exits the stage, that’s what stands out most for me about his adult life: The TV preacher’s radicalism didn’t prevent him from becoming, at least for a time, one of the most powerful and influential figures in conservative politics.
In recent years, several presidential candidates, after coming up short, have talked about taking their political infrastructure — mailing lists, donors, operatives, etc. — and creating powerhouse organizations. Only one failed candidate actually managed to pull it off in a meaningful way.
Robertson ran a competitive race for the GOP nomination in 1988 — he finished second in the Iowa caucuses, outpacing the sitting vice president — and soon after, he managed to parlay the partisan effort into a veritable empire. He created the Christian Coalition, which in the 1990s was a group that Republicans were eager to pander to — and afraid to cross. He created the American Center for Law and Justice, which has advanced the religious right’s agenda in the courts.
Robertson also created the Christian Broadcasting Network. He founded Regent University. He headlined “Road to Victory” conferences. He hosted “The 700 Club” television program.
Robertson, in other words, took full advantage of the available opportunities, led an ugly movement, and became a political giant who helped fundamentally alter the direction of the Republican Party for a generation while sparking culture wars that much of the country is still fighting.
The televangelist changed American politics, but not for the better.
CORRECTION (June 8, 2023, 1:54 p.M. ET): An earlier version of this post misspelled the late TV preacher's surname in the headline. He is Pat Robertson, not Roberson.
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