{"id":2041,"date":"2023-06-09T12:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelight.com\/?p=2041"},"modified":"2023-06-12T00:46:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T05:46:32","slug":"christian-media-titan-pat-robertson-dies-at-age-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/09\/christian-media-titan-pat-robertson-dies-at-age-93\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Media Titan Pat Robertson Dies at Age 93"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

R.I.P. \u00a0Pat Robertson.<\/p>\n

\n

\"ChristianPat Robertson, the religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died.<\/p>\n

He was 93.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s death Thursday was announced by his broadcasting network. No cause was given.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s enterprises also included Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; the American Center for Law and Justice, which defends First Amendment rights; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian organization.<\/p>\n

For more than a half-century, Robertson was a familiar presence in American living rooms, known for his \u201c700 Club\u201d television show, and in later years, his televised pronouncements of God\u2019s judgment, blaming natural disasters on everything from homosexuality to the teaching of evolution.<\/p>\n

The money poured in as he solicited donations, his influence soared, and he brought a huge following with him when he moved directly into politics by seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 1988.<\/p>\n

Robertson pioneered the now-common strategy of courting Iowa\u2019s network of evangelical Christian churches, and finished in second place in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.<\/p>\n

His masterstroke was insisting that 3 million followers across the U.S. sign petitions before he would decide to run, Robertson biographer Jeffrey K. Hadden said. The tactic gave him an army.<\/p>\n

\u2033He asked people to pledge that they\u2019d work for him, pray for him and give him money,\u201d Hadden, a University of Virginia sociologist, told The Associated Press<\/a> in 1988. \u2033Political historians may view it as one of the most ingenious things a candidate ever did.\u2033<\/p>\n

Robertson later endorsed Bush, who won the presidency. Pursuit of Iowa\u2019s evangelicals is now standard for Republican hopefuls, including those currently seeking the White House in 2024.<\/p>\n

Robertson started the Christian Coalition in Chesapeake in 1989, saying it would further his campaign\u2019s ideals. The coalition became a major political force in the 1990s, mobilizing conservative voters through grass-roots activities.<\/p>\n

By the time of his resignation as the coalition\u2019s president in 2001 \u2014 Robertson said he wanted to concentrate on ministerial work \u2014 his impact on both religion and politics in the U.S. was \u201cenormous,\u201d according to John C. Green, an emeritus political science professor at The University of Akron.<\/p>\n

Many followed the path Robertson cut in religious broadcasting, Green told the AP<\/a> in 2021. In American politics, Robertson helped \u201ccement the alliance between conservative Christians and the Republican Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marion Gordon \u201cPat\u201d Robertson was born March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, to Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson. His father served for 36 years as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Virginia.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he served as assistant adjutant of the 1st Marine Division in Korea.<\/p>\n

He received a law degree from Yale University Law School, but failed the bar exam and chose not to pursue a law career.<\/p>\n

Robertson met his wife, Adelia \u201cDede\u201d Elmer, at Yale in 1952. He was a Southern Baptist, she was a Catholic, earning a master\u2019s in nursing. Eighteen months later, they ran off to be married by a justice of the peace, knowing neither family would approve.<\/p>\n

Robertson was interested in politics until he found religion, Dede Robertson told the AP<\/a> in 1987. He stunned her by pouring out their liquor, tearing a nude print off the wall and declaring he had found the Lord.<\/p>\n

They moved into a commune in New York City\u2019s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood because Robertson said God told him to sell all his possessions and minister to the poor. She was tempted to return home to Ohio, \u201cbut I realized that was not what the Lord would have me do \u2026 I had promised to stay, so I did,\u201d she told the AP.<\/p>\n

Robertson received a master\u2019s in divinity from New York Theological Seminary in 1959, then drove south with his family to buy a bankrupt UHF television station in Portsmouth, Virginia. He said he had just $70 in his pocket, but soon found investors, and CBN went on the air on Oct. 1, 1961.<\/p>\n

Established as a tax-exempt religious nonprofit, CBN brought in hundreds of millions, disclosing $321 million in \u201cministry support\u201d in 2022 alone.<\/p>\n

One of Robertson\u2019s innovations was to use the secular talk-show format on the network\u2019s flagship show, the \u201c700 Club,\u201d which grew out of a telethon when Robertson asked 700 viewers for monthly $10 contributions. It was more suited to television than traditional revival meetings or church services, and gained a huge audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s a well-educated person having sophisticated conversations with a wide variety of guests on a wide variety of topics,\u201d said Green, the University of Akron political science professor. \u201cIt was with a religious inflection to be sure. But it was an approach that took up everyday concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

His guests eventually included several U.S. presidents \u2014 Jimmy Carter<\/a>, Ronald Reagan<\/a> and Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At times, his on-air pronouncements drew criticism.<\/p>\n

He claimed that the terrorist attacks that killed thousands of Americans on Sept. 11, 2001, were caused by God, angered by the federal courts, pornography, abortion rights and church-state separation. Talking again about 9\/11 on his TV show a year later, Robertson described Islam as a violent religion that wants to \u201cdominate\u201d and \u201cdestroy,\u201d prompting President George W. Bush<\/a> to distance himself and say Islam<\/a> is a peaceful and respectful religion.<\/p>\n

He called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez<\/a> in 2005. Later that year, he warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town not to be surprised if disaster struck them because they voted out school board members who favored teaching \u201cintelligent design\u201d over evolution. And in 1998, he said Orlando, Florida<\/a>, should beware of hurricanes after allowing the annual Gay Days event.<\/p>\n

In 2014, he angered Kenyans when he warned that towels in Kenya<\/a> could transmit AIDS. CBN issued a correction, saying Robertson \u201cmisspoke about the possibility of getting AIDS through towels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson also could be unpredictable: In 2010, he called for ending mandatory prison sentences for marijuana possession convictions. Two years later, he said on the \u201c700 Club\u201d that marijuana should be legalized and treated like alcohol because the government\u2019s war on drugs had failed.<\/p>\n

Robertson condemned Democrats caught up in sex scandals, saying for example that President Bill Clinton<\/a> turned the White House into a playpen for sexual freedom. But he helped solidify evangelical support for Donald Trump, dismissing the candidate\u2019s much-publicized \u201cAccess Hollywood\u201d comments about women as an attempt \u201cto look like he\u2019s macho.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Trump won the presidency, Robertson interviewed him at the White House. And CBN welcomed Trump advisers, such as Kellyanne Conway<\/a>, as guests.<\/p>\n

But after Trump lost to Joe Biden<\/a> in 2020, Robertson said Trump was living in an \u201calternate reality\u201d and should \u201cmove on,\u201d news outlets reported.<\/p>\n

Robertson\u2019s son, Gordon, succeeded him in December 2007 as chief executive of CBN, which is now based in Virginia Beach. Robertson remained chairman of the network and continued to appear on the \u201c700 Club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robertson stepped down as host of the show after half a century in 2021, with his son Gordon taking over the weekday show.<\/p>\n

Robertson also was founder and chairman of International Family Entertainment Inc., parent of The Family Channel basic cable TV network. Rupert Murdoch\u2019s News Corp. bought IFE in 1997.<\/p>\n

Regent University, where classes began in Virginia Beach in 1978, now has more than 30,000 alumni, CBN said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Robertson wrote 15 books, including \u201cThe Turning Tide\u201d and \u201cThe New World Order.\u201d<\/p>\n

His wife Dede, who was a founding board member of CBN, died last year at the age of 94. The couple had four children, 14 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, CBN said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.<\/i><\/p>\n

The post Christian Media Titan Pat Robertson Dies at Age 93<\/a> appeared first on The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This content was originally published here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

R.I.P. \u00a0Pat Robertson. Pat Robertson, the religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93. Robertson\u2019s death Thursday was announced by his broadcasting network. No […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kHU7-wV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thelight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Christian-Media-Titan-Pat-Robertson-Dies-at-Age-93.jpg?fit=1200%2C630","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2041"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2044,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2041\/revisions\/2044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thelight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}