http://www.themoderatevoice.com/posts/1141365193.shtml
It looks as if religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's foot-in-mouth comments in recent months have come back to haunt him:
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, criticized by some evangelicals for comments about Venezuela's president and Israel's prime minister, lost a bid for re-election to the National Religious Broadcasters' board of directors.
Robertson, founder of the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, was one of 38 candidates for 33 board seats during the NRB's recent convention. The group represents mostly evangelical radio and TV broadcasters.
NRB President Frank Wright said there was no broad effort to distance the group from Robertson. But "there was broad dismay with some of Pat's comments and a feeling they were not helpful to Christian broadcasters in general," he said in Wednesday's Washington Post.
In the past few months, Robertson suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for pulling out of the Gaza Strip.
There were signs that Robertson had crossed the line with his comments, which were, in each case, energetically repudiated by many religious leaders. And, in the cases of the comments about Chavez and Sharon, Robertson basically wound up taking the comments back after the uproar, after some pre-apology spin. In the case of the comments about Sharon, Robertson issued a strong apology after it came out that an angry Israeli government was going to drop him from an impending business deal. And on this story?
There's more spin: A Robertson spokeswoman said Thursday that he had been a board member for 30 years but attended only one board meeting "due to his extensive schedule."
"It was amicable and expected that he would not continue to serve" on the board, spokeswoman Angell Watts said in a statement.
But, basically, it sounds like the board is trying to put some distance between Robertson his foot and his mouth.
It looks as if religious broadcaster Pat Robertson's foot-in-mouth comments in recent months have come back to haunt him:
Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson, criticized by some evangelicals for comments about Venezuela's president and Israel's prime minister, lost a bid for re-election to the National Religious Broadcasters' board of directors.
Robertson, founder of the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, was one of 38 candidates for 33 board seats during the NRB's recent convention. The group represents mostly evangelical radio and TV broadcasters.
NRB President Frank Wright said there was no broad effort to distance the group from Robertson. But "there was broad dismay with some of Pat's comments and a feeling they were not helpful to Christian broadcasters in general," he said in Wednesday's Washington Post.
In the past few months, Robertson suggested that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for pulling out of the Gaza Strip.
There were signs that Robertson had crossed the line with his comments, which were, in each case, energetically repudiated by many religious leaders. And, in the cases of the comments about Chavez and Sharon, Robertson basically wound up taking the comments back after the uproar, after some pre-apology spin. In the case of the comments about Sharon, Robertson issued a strong apology after it came out that an angry Israeli government was going to drop him from an impending business deal. And on this story?
There's more spin: A Robertson spokeswoman said Thursday that he had been a board member for 30 years but attended only one board meeting "due to his extensive schedule."
"It was amicable and expected that he would not continue to serve" on the board, spokeswoman Angell Watts said in a statement.
But, basically, it sounds like the board is trying to put some distance between Robertson his foot and his mouth.
