Televangelist Pat Robertson has long supported the idea of ex-gay therapy, telling parents that the best way to love their gay son is to force him into the shame-based treatment and encouraging conservatives to befriend gay people to encourage them to do the same. On today’s 700 Club, Robertson expressed concern that promoting ex-gay therapy will be considered hate speech, but that gay people can change just like murderers, rapists, and thieves:

ROBERTSON: For somebody to say that a homosexual can change — that somehow is a hate crime? It is a hate crime to say somebody can change their sexual preference? That that’s a hate crime? [...]

The power of God can change people’s orientation. A murderer can change. A rapist can change. A thief can change. That’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s not a hate crime.

Watch it (via RightWingWatch):

Robertson’s comparison demonstrates how little he understands the concept of sexual orientation, let alone its biological components. Of course, Robertson also believes that homosexuality is “related to demonic possession,” so he might not be easily persuaded, even if researchers from his own Regent University couldn’t prove that ex-gay therapy works.

On Tuesday, televangelist Pat Robertson discussed the coming out of NBA player Jason Collins, focusing in particular on the backlash against ESPN commentator Chris Broussard, who condemned Collins for “openly living in unrepentant sin.” According to Roberts, there was nothing “bigoted” about Broussard’s decision to declare that Collins is not a Christian because of his sexuality:

ROBERTSON: It’s what Christianity says, ladies and gentlemen! Christianity says fornication is a sin. Somehow we’ve said if it’s heterosexual fornication, it’s bad; if it’s homosexual fornication — that used to be called an abomination in the Bible — now it’s a protected civil right. And so somebody that says that that kind of conduct is sinful is now being pilloried in the press. He’s telling the truth! This is what the Bible says!

Now, if you don’t’ want to be a Christian, that’s your business. If these media types, these writers, don’t want to be Christians, that’s their business. If they choose a lifestyle that takes them outside the protection of God, that’s fine. That’s their business. You can’t tell them if they want to go to hell or heaven, that’s their business. But don’t tell somebody that he can’t speak specifically about what the Christian faith says about certain conduct. There isn’t anything bigoted about that. That’s what it says.

So, our hat’s off to somebody who’s brave enough to say it. But, whew, let’s hope the people at ESPN will man up and defend their guy for speaking what is truth.

Watch it:

Much like Broussard compared homosexuality with adultery, Robertson’s comments infer that there is no form of homosexuality that is not fornication. Of course, applying such a subjective judgment to condemn a group of people is the very definition of bigotry. Robertson needn’t worry too much, however, because ESPN’s response to Broussard’s remarks fell well short of an apology.

Televangelist and failed 1988 Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson lamented on his 700 Club broadcast Monday that dead military figures would not have approved of the first same-sex weddings held at United States Military Academy at West Point. Among those who would be most upset, he suggested, was Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose status as an alum was arguably overshadowed in history books by his stint as commander of the Confederate Army.

Lee Webb, a anchor on the program announced what he termed the “sad” news that one of the members of the first-ever class of women to graduate from the Academy (in 1980) had married her partner of 17 years in the West Point Cadet Chapel. Robertson, creaking in his chair, expressed horror at the news, on behalf of the school’s dead alumni:

WEBB: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point hosted its first same-sex weddings. They were held over the past two weekends, one of them in the academy’s historic chapel. Army chaplains from other posts performed the ceremonies because the denominations of the West Point chaplains do not allow them to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. New York legalized same-sex marriage last year; a few months later Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed and gays were allowed to serve openly in the military. A sad day, Pat.

ROBERTSON: General Douglas MacArthur rolling over in his grave. Ulysses S. Grant rolling over in his. Robert E. Lee rolling over in his. What have we done to our cherished institution?

Watch the Right Wing Watch video:

(h/t: Blue Virginia)

A Christian religious leader has already claimed that Hurricane Sandy is further proof that “God is systematically destroying America” as political judgment for the “homosexual agenda.” John McTernan previously made similar allusions about Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Isaac (2012), which he reiterated in his urgent call to prayer posted Sunday evening (via Gay Star News):

Just last August, Hurricane Isaac hit New Orleans seven years later, on the exact day of Hurricane Katrina. Both hit during the week of the homosexual event called Southern Decadence in New Orleans!

McTernan believes that it is noteworthy that Hurricane Sandy is hitting 21 years after the “Perfect Storm,” because 3 is a “significant number with God”:

Twenty-one years breaks down to 7 x 3, which is a significant number with God. Three is perfection as the Godhead is three in one while seven is perfection.

It appears that God gave America 21 years to repent of interfering with His prophetic plan for Israel; however, it has gotten worse under all the presidents and especially Obama. Obama is 100 percent behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem. Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!

Religious spokespeople have frequently tried to draw bizarre connections between natural disasters and the LGBT community. Last year, the American Family Association’s Buster Wilson similarly claimed that Hurricane Isaac was punishment for the Southern Decadence LGBT festival. Rick Joyner had the same to say about Hurricane Katrina, claiming that “[God]‘s not gonna put up with perversion anymore.” Pat Robertson has long believed that acceptance of homosexuality could result in hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombs, and “possibly a meteor.”

It’s likely that McTernan will not be the only religious figure to draw such allusions from this devastating storm.

Evangelist Pat Robertson never seems to run out of questions to answer on The 700 Club, and today he took on the topic of anti-gay bullying. Surprisingly, he criticized Christians for bullying LGBT students and suggested that “schools shouldn’t permit that,” but mentioned that he still supports calling “homosexual practices” an “abomination”:

ROBERTSON: Well I think that’s terrible and Christians shouldn’t do that. I mean, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, blah, blah, blah. You know, Christians shouldn’t do that. They ought to act in love. You might disagree, you may think that these practices are an abomination, you can think all sorts of things, but you need to love. And you need to reach out to these kids in love.

Watch it:

Robertson’s response is arguably positive — at least relative to his usual anti-gay positions — and if he supports anti-bullying policies that specifically enumerate protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, then he should clarify that. But his caveat that holding anti-gay beliefs is still okay and his subtle suggestion that they should be shared (“in love”) is still problematic.

Conservatives often claim to oppose bullying, but insist that there still be room for condemning homosexuality as a matter of free speech and freedom of religion. Often, that stigma can be delivered in ways that don’t constitute the kind of violence, intimidation, or harassment that many qualify as “bullying,” but that still have severe consequences in terms of a student’s self-worth and overall mental health. If children’s safety and well-being is the primary concern, it’s impossible to truly protect them from the impact of bullying while still sentencing them to eternity in Hell.