Those are words I never thought I would utter, much less here. But the fact is that Pat Robertson has come out against locking up marijuana offenders. Reason‘s Mike Riggs has more, and calls Robertson’s remarks “heartening” even though he thinks they don’t go far enough.
Personally, I wish Robertson had also pointed out that there is no Biblical justification for the Drug War (“Jesus never condemned pot!” or something like that) but we can’t have everything.
It’s progress.
Comments
9 responses to “God bless Pat Robertson”
Indeed. I never thought I’d agree with such a statement, either.
I too am heartened by the Reverend’s statements. From what I’ve gathered, Pat’s involvement with some prison ministries opened his eyes to the harsh realities and injustices of our drug laws. It seems that when people finally get to see the results of the WOD up close, they find the drug laws wanting.
Now, to help the good Reverend and other believers feel better about choosing the drug law reform path, bear in mind these things:
1. Functioning in a morally pluralistic world is part and parcel of Christianity. The Golden Rule is the blue print for this. Reforming our drug laws is fully congruent with Christianity and required by the GR. For instance, you wouldn’t jail yourself for buying/selling/using drugs, therefore the GR forbids you/me from jailing others who do the same.
2. The Bible condemns bearing false witness against thy neighbor. Labeling drug users and sellers as criminals violates this rule, as there is nothing truly criminal in their actions. Repealing these laws is the only moral choice here, otherwise you are supporting laws based on immoral statements.
I could go on (and usually do) but my point here is that while many believers think supporting the WOD is the moral thing to do, the items above (and others not mentioned) indicate that the moral thing for believers to do is support re-legalization of drugs. Once believers understand these things, I think it will make it easier for many believers to join the reform movement.
I’ve only seen the show a couple of times, but Robertson isn’t as crazy as the mainstream media makes him out to be.
I posted Pat’s statements in a place where there is usually a LOT of debate on the subject. (Thanks Eric for the heads up at my post) So far the bit has had 35 views and no comments. That is rather unusual. Normally on a contentious subject 10 or 20 views is enough to elicit a response.
In the last minute or two it has gone up to 36.
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Pastor Corbin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahVgl0nHXJg) told me that marijuana should be illegal because it’s made from hops and the bible bans hops. Didn’t make any sense, but there you are, the word from a genuine man-o’-god.
I suspect the (or “a”) reason that Jesus didn’t mention pot might have been that he would have considered it self-evident that the state has no business meddling in the matter — and so would the state of the time — and the subject never would have come up.
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