Preposterous Universe

 
Tolerance

Good catch over at Pandagon -- the Associated Press doesn't know what to make of those scary atheists.

Just how tolerant of Christianity and other religions are the atheists?

“We don’t hate Christians,” said David Fitzgerald, 40, an insurance broker and member of San Francisco Atheists. “People in this country are free to believe in whatever they want.”

Nonetheless, during the Saturday night movie, the crowd booed and hissed when a photo of Pat Robertson was displayed on the screen.

Robertson, the founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and a former U.S. presidential candidate, is a leader in the efforts by some religious groups to return America and its government to Christian values.

Fitzgerald offered no apologies. “Robertson and other theocrats scare the hell out of us,” Fitzgerald said. “They want to turn a democracy into a theocracy. Even Christians are afraid of that.”

Jesse says what needs to be said. So does David Fitzgerald, for that matter. But still -- "nonetheless"? Booing Pat Robertson is supposed to be incompatible with tolerating religious belief? Is tolerance supposed to demand a positive judgment of any religious person, no matter how odious?

And I like how Robertson is identified, for those who don't know him, as "a leader in the efforts by some religious groups to return America and its government to Christian values." Why not say that Robertson is "a leader in the campaign to blow up the State Department"? Really, he's given us so much source material for colorful descriptions. He's a leader in the campaign to, you know, tolerate other religious beliefs:

"You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them."--Pat Robertson, The 700 Club, January 14, 1991

Don't forget his strong feminist credentials:

"NOW is saying that in order to be a woman, you've got to be a lesbian."--Pat Robertson, "The 700 Club," 12/3/97

"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians." -- Pat Robertson, fundraising letter, 1992

A leading Constitutional scholar:

"There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore." --Pat Robertson, November 1993 during an address to the American Center for Law and Justice

And always with an eye to protecting the children:

"I think we ought to close Halloween down. Do you want your children to dress up as witches? The Druids used to dress up like this when they were doing human sacrifice... [Your children] are acting out Satanic rituals and participating in it, and don't even realize it."--Pat Robertson, "The 700 Club," 10/29/82

I guess, when you're as accomplished as Pat, it's hard to be summed up in just a few words.

~ posted by Sean Carroll at 11:10 AM ~ link ~ ~ ~