I was wrong. It is just easy enough to start there and fill in the blanks later. I was wrong. When I was being brought up, I was taught that the default position on every politician was to start from the assumption that everyone was a patriotic American. They wanted what was best for America and we simply disagreed with them on what that looks like. Therefore, political prosecutions were generally bad because it would devolve into a tit for tat game and nothing would ever get done.

I was wrong. Then again, I wasn’t wrong about all of it. I wasn’t wrong about how the other side would react. At the end of the day, all of this stems from a misunderstanding about what this is ultimately all about. One side is interested in the rule of law. The other side really isn’t. Oh sure, they say they are interested and no one would ever say they are against the rule of law, but that’s not what this is all about and it never has been.

Buried in all of the Trump nonsense was the death of Pat Robertson. I’m not for making even idle talk about what happens to other men’s souls. That’s not for me to decide and it never has been. However, legacies are something else entirely. The religious right swallowed the Republican party whole and turned it into something even Richard Nixon wouldn’t recognize. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote his now famous words in “The Prince”. “The ends justify the means.” Now, we see the ultimate intersection of warped faith and craven self-interest wrapped up into one simple line.

The right is entitled to lead. They are entitled to lead because they are “the party of God.” Obviously, this label is self-appointed, but they have browbeat the general public into believing it is true. So, people of God have three very distinct choices. They can acquiesce and become a member of the religious right, they can fight back and try as best they can to maintain their faith and their political truth, or they can shun God. The battlefield of the last 40+ years tells the tale. Church attendance is down. Faith professions are down. At the same time, the makeup of the church and the church itself doesn’t jive with the church many of us experienced in our youth. Pat Robertson was not the only one to bring this forward, but he definitely is one of the leading suspects.

When the ends justify the means it doesn’t matter what your guy (or gal) does. It can’t be illegal if it is done to forward our political ends. Nothing we do is illegal because we were born to lead and anything in the furtherance of this leadership is righteous. Meanwhile, anything you do is the opposite. That one phrase (the ends justify the means) ultimately separates us and explains our divide. They threaten investigations of Hunter Biden and Hillary Clinton as if we care. They talk about locking her up or locking him up as if it matters to us. It comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding about the rule of law. We use the rule of law because HOW you do things is just as important if not more important than WHAT you do. They use the rule of law as a means to power. Power is the end. The end justifies the means. I was wrong. I just don’t know how many people on the other side even grasp the concept here.

Pat Robertson ended his run as the head of the 700 club after 55 long years. For those that don’t want to go through the pay wall you can also view the news here. I couldn’t imagine lasting 55 years doing anything and there are moments where I’m not sure if I will last 55 years period.

There are some religious scholars that classify heresy as the worst of the sins. Others would simply say that everyone is allowed to believe what they want. While that is true, there can be nothing worse than wrapping up your heresy and selling it as religious doctrine. So, those religious scholars are really talking about blasphemy. It’s hard to disrespect a God one does not believe exists. It’s only those that know and then choose to pervert it anyway that get into the real trouble.

It’s often been said that no one leaves Washington poorer than they came. The same could be said of televangelists. Some reports have Robertson privately worth between 200 million and a billion dollars. I’ll settle for 100 million. Of course, people will often argue as to whether the money was a byproduct of the hate being spewed or if it was the end game. It could just as easily be said that no one got poorer preaching hate.

I could go through a litany of things Robertson has said over the course of 50 plus years and I’ll attach a few here for those that want to go down the rabbit hole. That article obviously doesn’t exhaust them all. Volumes of books would be necessary to tackle his sordid legacy on this front.

Goodness knows that none of us will get it right 100 percent of the time. We are human. Goodness also knows that most of us will get nowhere near that kind of platform. It takes a certain kind of cowardice to know the truth and speak the opposite. It takes a scoundrel to pick the message that will get them the most money and not the message that will make people better than they were before. Robertson is obviously both.

Robertson reduced faith and Christian belief down to a math equation. If you get only ten percent of the population on your side you are still talking about 35 million Americans. If each gives just ten dollars to the cause you are now worth 350 million dollars. Obviously, they have more than ten percent to bank on and their followers certainly donated more than ten dollars a piece to the cause over the years.

And what exactly is that cause? Like Jerry Falwell and others, he somehow married Christianity to the Republican party. He simultaneously managed to soil both at the same time. A small government and low taxes party has somehow melded into one focused on petty slights, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, and racism. Sadly, we’ve watched countless friends become radicalized one by one over the intervening decades.

The pews are also more sparse these days. Sure, a lot of it is pandemic oriented, but even that is a loaded statement. It’s hard to square a benevolent God, peace loving Christ, and what we see people of faith do and say on a regular basis. So, millions still believe but don’t participate. Others simply don’t believe anymore. This kind of erosion took decades to manifest itself and those are decades we can never get back. Robertson is at the life stage where he can exist on the fruits of his labor. He doesn’t have to worry about lack of faith or lack of attendance.

Like Limbaugh and others, Robertson has definitely left his mark. I guess that’s something by itself. Most of us could never dream of having such an impact on people. Most of us are glad about that. When my work here is done I can only hope that people think I made a positive difference. I’m sure Robertson tells himself that. It’s the last lie told by a blasphemer and opportunist.