"Radical cleric" is a term many news outlets, including the Associated Press, have used to describe Islamic clerics who encourage and/or train radical Muslims for jihad against civilians in the West. Case in point: Anwar al Awlaki, who reportedly inspired Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan's shooting spree.
But a commenter on Time magazine's Swampland blog seems to have convinced writer Karen Tumulty that the term is appropriate to apply to Pat Robertson, given his loopy pronouncement that a long-ago "pact with the devil" made by Haiti has cursed the Caribbean nation and resulted in yesterday's devastating earthquake:
Amy: Per your post below, Swampland commenter Trifecta55 has a proposal for how we should deal with this:
Don't you mean "radical cleric" Pat Robertson Michael?
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I am semi serious. When crazy muslim preachers get that title, why don't those of you in the media use that on Pat Robertson. I am serious, and politefully request a response if you have time.UPDATE: CBN offers an exceedingly lame clarification of the radical cleric's comments.
Granted, Pat Robertson's pronouncements should be denounced by political conservatives and protested by Christians who recognize the deficiencies of Robertson's theology from an orthodox, biblical perspective. They are definitely outside the mainstream of orthodox Christian thought and deserve to be disputed and condemned.
That being said, to hint that Robertson is equivalent to a terrorism-inciting radical imam is both a sop to left-wing anti-Christian hysteria and a disservice to journalism.
