Who Speaks for Evangelicalism?

Pat Robertson is at it again. Sparking worldwide controversy, Pat Robertson has recently called upon the United States to assassinate the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

This statement is worrisome for several reasons. First, from a political standpoint, it's absolutely absurd to think that the United States could benefit from the political assasination of an inflammatory South American leader. Robertson compared the United States' relationship with Chavez with our military action in Iraq, which not only is a poor argument, but also offers an interesting glimpse into the extreme right's conception of what justifies military action. The war in Iraq, of course, was justified primarily because of a perceived threat due to the stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction. Bolstering these considerations were various references to Saddam's despicable human rights record, and the need for a fresh change in Iraq. This, of course, is simply not the situation in Venezuela. There are no allegations of weapons of mass destruction, and no allegations of mass graves. Instead, the United States' difficulties with Chavez center on complaints of region destabalization and illicit support of Castro's regime in Cuba. In sum, Robertson believes that political assasination, as a cheap and easy alternative to preemptive war, is justified simply as a means of batting away a gnat. This is not only politically absurd but also a frightful support for unbridled American hegemony.

From a spiritual standpoint, these kinds of comments are terrible because they cast a terrible shadow over evangelicalism. Does this man speak for Christians? What are intelligent people supposed to think when they hear a Christian make such awful comments? God help us.

My hope, though, is for a high-profile Christian to stand up and condemn the arguments. It doesn't have to be political, even. The response need only point out the obvious. Political assasination is, at this point at least, illegal. Encouraging the military to violate United States law is not only unethical, it's unchristian.