Receives warm greeting but also challenges from audience at Princeton University.
By: Jeff Milgram
The Rev. Pat Robertson, the controversial founder of the conservative Christian Coalition, came to Princeton University’s McCosh Hall on Tuesday night and really tried to be good.
For 40 minutes, he gave the audience a history on the role religion played in the founding of the United States. He made few references to the war in Iraq, but no mention of Muslims, homosexuals or feminists, groups he has offended in the past.
It was not until the question-and-answer period afterward that he repeated, often verbatim, his comments about Muslims.
When asked why he believed Islam is not a religion of peace, the Rev. Robertson said, "The second-ranking cleric in Iran put a hit on me. Muslims aren’t peaceful."
He spoke of the Battle of Tours in 732, in which the French stopped the spread of Islam in Europe. He was asked by Princeton University junior Tawfiq Rahim, "Are you familiar with the Crusades?"
The Rev. Robertson deflected the question, answering, "I’m not condoning that either."
He said the Wahabi branch of Islam believes "Jews are descendants of apes and pigs and therefore it’s permissible to kill them. This is not a peaceful religion. It’s not bigotry to tell the truth. I don’t know why telling the truth history is bigotry."
He defended the American-led war in Iraq.
"The United States is not an aggressor nation, but we were attacked on Sept. 11. … We are defending ourselves. … The fact of the matter is this Saddam Hussein is a terrible person," he said.
He also defended Israel. "The nations are going to be pressing Israel very hard and I stand with Israel," he said. He laid the blame for violence in the Middle East on the shoulders of "Yasser Arafat and his ilk. They want war. He launched the intifada," the Rev. Robertson said.
He also said he would welcome a woman president.
"Margaret Thatcher had more testosterone than most men," said the Rev. Robertson, referring to the former British prime minister.
An audience member asked the Rev. Robertson if he made a profit in his business dealings with Mobuto Sese Seko, the brutal late dictator of Zaire. The question presumably referred to Rev. Robertson’s diamond-mining business in that country, backed by Sese Seko, who has several human-rights abuses to his name. In addition, pilots for the Rev. Robertson’s tax-exempt humanitarian organization, "Operation Blessing," claim to have made several flights to Zaire to transport equipment for his diamond-mining business, not just humanitarian aid.
The Rev. Robertson defended himself by saying he made 16 trips to Zaire, bringing in missionaries and relief supplies. He said he had to deal with the Mobuto regime, no matter how unsavory it was.
About 25 students from several groups protested outside McCosh Hall before the speech, which was sponsored by the American Whig-Cliosophic Society, the oldest collegiate political union in the country.
Mr. Rahim, who questioned the Rev. Robertson about his views of Islam, was one of those picketing outside. "I’m here to oppose Robertson’s message of bigotry," he said.
Sophomore Sherene Awad, a Palestinian Arab, said the Rev. Robertson’s comments on Islam "are based on ignorance." She said the Rev. Robertson and terror mastermind Osama bin Laden are both enemies of Islam.
But a group of six students from Westminster Choir College came to the speech because they support the Rev. Robertson.
"We love God, we’re Christians and we want to hear Pat Robertson," said Josh Agnew, a sacred music major from Lincoln Park.
"They have a right to picket," Mr. Agnew said. "I think a lot of those students are immature. I will pray they could come to an understanding of what Pat is trying to say."
Aware of the controversial nature of the Rev. Robertson’s past remarks, sophomore Andrew Bruck, president of Whig-Clio, urged audience members to maintain decorum, and they did.
The Rev. Robertson received a warm greeting and was applauded when he left after the 30-minute question-and-answer period, which he abruptly ended, saying he had to get up early the next morning to tape a radio show.
The Baptist minister and Christian television evangelist gave an innocuous lecture on "The Role of Religion in Modern American Politics." His speech centered on the role the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers had on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
He also spoke about the influence that John Witherspoon, Princeton University’s sixth president, had on one of his students, James Madison, who would become the fifth president of the United States.
The Rev. Robertson’s speech wove together the prophet Jeremiah, 18th century French deist philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Founding Fathers to argue that America was founded on the God-given liberty for each person to live out an individual destiny.
"Don’t be afraid to stand up and fight for those convictions because they’re so easily lost," he said.
The president of Whig-Clio, Mr. Bruck, characterized the Rev. Robertson’s appearance as a success. "The Rev. Robertson’s visit sparked healthy political debate not just on religion and politics, but also on the value and importance of free speech," he said. "At a school where students are often criticized for their political apathy, this type of event shows that Princeton’s intellectual atmosphere is alive and well."
The group, which pays no fees to its speakers, is scheduled to host former senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart of Colorado and Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., in May.
"As I’ve said time and again during preparation for the Robertson event, more speech, not less, is the appropriate response," Mr. Bruck said.