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Evangelist Opposes Freedom of Religion, Says It's Time
To Convert India and Wants to Keep Hinduism Out of US
It's not
that unusual for Pat Robertson's daily Christian TV show, the "700 Club," to
portray other religions in less than a complimentary light. Jews, Muslims and occasionally
Hindus are singled out for a scathing recounting of their spiritual errors. Still, I was
shocked to see Robertson on his March 23th show label Hinduism as "demonic" and
advocate keeping Hindus out of America. My concerns intensified when President Clinton
later implicated hateful talk in the fatal Oklahoma City bombing.
Robertson was already a well-known figure in the
conservative Christian community when his 1988 bid for the US presidency shot him into
national attention and effectively anointed him leader of the Christian right wing.
Talented and industrious, he is head or founder of numerous organizations, including a
1,400 student university. His political action group, the 1.4-million-member Christian
Coalition, has decided influence in a new Republican-controlled Congress.
Christian evangelists regularly slander Hinduism with
little impact beyond their own flock [see Hinduism Today, February, 1989]. But when a
national figure like Robertson does it on a widely-watched TV program, that's different.
The March 23rd episode details Robertson's conversion of some Hindu people of Rajahmundry
in Andhra Pradesh, India, to the Christian religion. In the course of the show, Robertson
makes shameful, unChristian accusations against the Hindu faith, the world's oldest
religion. When contacted, Mr. Robertson's office told us he was "unavailable for
comment."
To begin, Robertson's experiences in Rajahmundry are
described by a narrator. The scene is of a poverty-stricken people, bathing in the river
at the head of which rests a statue of Lord Siva. Water is pouring out of Siva's head and
a snake is wrapped around his head as well. Robertson and his son are found in the midst
of the scene, observing and mocking the early morning prayers of Hindus. As they witness
the scene, they make incorrect reference to the river as "Siva's sperm," and
claim that the people "were supposed to wash away their sins in the sperm of the
God."
Robertson
goes on to characterize Hinduism as having evil tendencies toward random spiritual worship
and polytheism. Mr. Robertson's son and fellow evangelist, Gordon, stated disparagingly,
"Whenever [Hindus] feel any sort of inspiration, whether it's by a river or under a
tree, on top of a hill, they figure that some God or spirit is responsible for that. And
so they'll worship that tree, they'll worship that hill or they'll worship anything."
What was even more regrettable was Robertson's assertion of some connection between idol
worship and the poverty in India. Robertson does not deny his son's claim that
"Wherever you find this type of idolatry, you'll find a grinding poverty. The land
has been cursed."
But if the argument of poverty as the curse of India is
not enough for the American audience of "The 700 Club," they next hear Hinduism
boldly labeled "demonic." Robertson says, "Siva [is] the God of
Destruction, and his consort, the Goddess of death [Kali]-that black, ugly statue there
with all those fierce eyes." He then suggests that the evil tendencies of death and
destruction can be found in those who worship the deities: "I mean these people are
out to kill other human beings in the name of their God." They mention in support of
this conclusion the Aum Shinrikyo sect in Japan. This eccentric Buddhist-based
organization was likely responsible for subway gas attacks in Tokyo earlier this year.
Their icons, unfortunately, included Siva-sure proof, goes the Robertson thinking, of
demons at work.
"Although Hinduism admits that different beings and
entities can perform what we might consider evil acts," corrects Dr. Arvind Sharma,
Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University, Toronto, "there does
not seem to be a single entity such as the Christian devil in Hinduism." And since
there is no practice of evil or concept of the devil in Hinduism, "To call Hinduism
demonic," concludes Dr. Sharma, "is really demonic."
By accusing Hinduism of being demonic, Robertson is
merely reinforcing the age-old stereotype that has been placed on the Indian culture by
the West. "That's been standard operating procedure missionaries have used ever since
they invaded India in the 19th century," explains Dr. Gordon Melton, Director of the
Institute for the Study of American Religions. "In approaching Eastern religions and
African religions, it has been the stance of most conservative Christians that the deities
of those religions are, in fact, personified demons. And that perspective goes back to the
Jewish encounter with the Caananite culture a millennia ago as described in the
Bible."
Dr. Kusumita Pedersen, Director for the Project on Human
Rights and Religion, similarly observes that Robertson has employed "almost every
negative image and cliché that has been used about Hinduism since the 18th century."
As the show unfolds, we finally we arrive at the real
intention of Robertson's missionary trip to India: to convert Hindus to the Christian
faith. A narrator describes the scene of the conversion in which thousands of Hindus were
"set free from a lifetime of fear and demonic oppression. The scene was
overwhelming." Actually, the scene is oddly over dramatic. Why would thousands of
people in a split second throw away their entire way of life that has been passed down
over the centuries, because of a brief speech given by a stranger from another country?
Although Robertson mentions the naturally deep devotion of the Hindus, he apparently fails
to appreciate that any religious preacher in India gets the same reception, whether
Christian, Hindu, Jain, Sikh or Buddhist-though it does help to be white, American, famous
and rich.
It is also apparent he was frustrated with the Hindu
ability to just absorb one more God. "I preached to them the second commandment about
idolatry. You know, `They shall hold no other Gods before me,' and number two, `You shall
not fall down or make any idols of anything.' Many people accept Christ, but they still go
with those processions down to those riverbanks. We followed along with the crowd and I
said, `You've got to give that up.'"
Political Agenda
The program used
common stereotypes of Hinduism (as well of as other prominent non-Christian religions in
America) to create fear among the American people of non-Christian religions. What is the
purpose behind those tactics?
Judging from Michael Little's, President of the
Christian Broadcasting Network comments on the show-"There are so many opportunities
for us to take programs which will reach the people of India," and "Help us
carry the light to a nation in darkness"-it is obvious that one strategy of "The
700 Club" is to gain support and money. "Give us a hand on this [India],"
pleads Robertson at one point, "because it's a big one." But that is just part
of the plan.
Robertson's true thinking is revealed in his 1991 book
The New World Order. That novel discloses a secret plan being followed by the present
political leaders of the world. Robertson labels that plan the "New World
Order," which he sees as the formation of a one world government, one police force,
one judicial system, and one economic market. Robertson claims that in this "new
world government no one could speak out against the beliefs of a Muslim, a Hindu, or an
animist. What we know as the freedom of religion would be taken away, and Christians would
be muzzled."
But Robertson has a vision of another future, one is
which "God sweeps away the pretense of the satanic and man-made counterfeits and
announces His New World Order, and His anointed leader, Jesus the Messiah." Robertson
stated in The New World Order: "The media challenged me. `You're not going to bring
atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe the
Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My
simple answer is, `Yes, they are.'" Mr. David Cantor, Senior Research Analyst of the
Anti-Defamation League, points out that such "religious tests for office are
unconstitutional. It's not just a purely a religious statement. It's a political
statement."
The Human
Rights Issue
"In the discussion of human rights, there are
different positions on the right to free speech or freedom of expression. The extreme
position, that is sometimes called the `American position,' is total freedom of
speech," explains Dr. Pedersen. "As Americans, we believe that even the most
offensive and the most incendiary statements should be allowed in the name of freedom of
expression, because once you start to legally restrict the freedom of speech, you are on a
slippery slope of restricting all kinds of speech on different political or ideological
ground."
Dr. Pedersen feels that such anti-Hindu statements may
refer back to the 1920s, at a time when the Ku Klux Klan (a Christian white-supremacist
group advocating violence against Black Americans) was on the rise, and the national
belief was that all Americans must be Christians. During the 1920s, immigration laws
prevented European immigrants from entering the United States. Eventually Europeans were
allowed to immigrate and by 1965 Hindus were included in immigrant quotas.
However, in the 1990s, some feel that the multicultural
immigration has caused a backlash in American society in the form of racial discrimination
between various cultural groups. In the wake of such discontent, Peter Brimelow has
recently written a book called Alien Nation which attacks multiculturalism and its
negative effects on American society. Something must be done, Brimelow advocates, to
prevent white people from becoming a minority in America.
"What Robertson is really saying is that Hindus
shouldn't be allowed to come to the United States," evaluates Dr. Pedersen. "All
of the Hindu engineers, doctors and computer experts who are living here should go home.
This is a very big statement that he has made."
Even Christians are concerned with Robertson's manner of
preaching Christianity. Sister Mary Elizabeth Moore, a Professor at Claremount's School of
Theology, feels that Robertson may be overstepping his boundaries as a Christian. "I
have been very distressed that Pat Robertson and others like him have used the gospel to
preach condemnation of others, to judge harshly, to demonize people in other faiths and to
demonize some Christians with whom they don't just happen to agree," expresses Sister
Moore. "I think that's absolutely counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ."
Hinduism is not the only religion under Robertson's
extremist attack; The New World Order is filled with anti-Semitism. However, Ms. Nancy
Israel of the American Jewish Committee, notes that Robertson is slowly transforming.
"He's being very careful now," observes Ms. Israel, who is from the Pittsburgh
chapter of the American Jewish Committee. "Up until now he's been able to say what he
wanted to say, and I think that those people who don't watch `The 700 Club' and don't read
his materials have no idea what he's saying. He's been forced to back off because of this
public spotlight and because he's decided to make the Christian Coalition a more
mainstream organization."
Sri Anutama Das, Director of Communications at ISKCON
feels that Robertson's actions should send a message to devotees of Hinduism. "It's
unfortunate that such an influential religious and Christian leader as Pat Robertson
demonstrates disdain for the world's oldest religious culture. As a Vaishnava, I see his
emphasis in trying to spread Christianity in India, specifically among Hindus, as a
reminder of the need for all of us to delve deeply into our own faith's traditions,"
notes Anutama, who is from ISKCON's branch in Rockland, Maryland. "As Krishna says in
Bhagavad Gita, `Raja Vija, Raja Guyam.' This knowledge of the soul, of Sanatana Dharma, is
the highest spiritual knowledge. However, if we do not educate ourselves and our children
and abide by the teachings, materialists will find us easy targets for conversion."
Excerpts from the March 23rd broadcast of the
700 Club:
Robertson: "India is not what you normally think
of anymore. In the last five years, it's burst into the 20th century with modern
technology, capitalism and, especially, television. They're breaking free from the old,
and they're moving into the Western culture. But what that leaves is a spiritual vacuum.
And yet there seems, finally in India, an opening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout
this whole land. There is a huge population of teen-agers. These people are not locked
into the old ways. They're looking for something new and better."
Cohost: "You know, Pat, we've seen in other
countries where there's a certain period of vulnerability, or spiritual vulnerability.
Now's the time to use the media to talk to them about what their future could really be
like."
Robertson: "They have thousands and thousands of
earth stations picking up satellites. It's a window of opportunity [for Christian TV
programs]. Of all of India's problems, one stands out from the rest. That problem is idol
worship. It is said there are hundreds of millions of Hindu deities. All this has put a
nation in bondage to spiritual forces that have deceived many for thousands of
years."
Gordon Robertson (his son): "Wherever you find this
type of idolatry, you'll find a grinding poverty. The land has been cursed. The Bible
talks in terms of the land being cursed on behalf of what the inhabitants have done to it.
You erect all these idols under every green tree, on top of every hill, you're going to
curse your land. And the oppression, we see it in evidence."
CBN Reporter: "[At the religious services Robertson
conducted in India] they came, by the hundreds, even thousands, to a makeshift altar to
confess their faith in Christ and receive a touch from heaven, and be set free from a
lifetime of fear and demonic oppression.
Robertson: "I [told] them to renounce idolatry, but many people accept Christ and
still go with those processions [of Hindu deities]."
Cohost: "You said there's a connection between the
New Age, as it is in America, and Hinduism."
Robertson: "It's the same thing. You see, the whole
concept of Hindus is based on karma; that people have a karma attached to them when they
are born, and they go through a cycle of life and they come back in the next world as
something else. So the whole thought of reincarnation is karma-you come back as a cow, a
pig, a goat, a dog, a snake or an untouchable. We're importing Hinduism into America. The
whole thought of your karma, of meditation, of the fact that there's no end of life and
there's this endless wheel of life, this is all Hinduism. Chanting too. Many of those
chants are to Hindu Gods-Vishnu, Hare Krishna. The origin of it is all demonic. We can't
let that stuff come into America. We've got the best defense, if you will-a good
offense."
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