Pat Robertson: Gay people will cut you and give you AIDS with special rings

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
That pretty much gives anybody who claims to a be preacher a green light to say insane things, now doesn't it?

While surely an asinine statement, don't mix Catholicism with Protestantism; just ask Ireland. The Pope's words only carry as far as the Catholic church from my experience. Beyond that, we have people like Robertson who hold the attention of the media that become the unofficial spokesperson for a faith that doesn't believe any of this nonsense perpetuated except for pockets of very devout followers of people like Robertson. Think....Heaven's Gate...

reply to post by ownbestenemy


What in the world does Heaven's Gate have to do with Ole Pat? Lol...they're both cults, but at least one leader hasn't lost the script and called for a termination order, ffs.

Derailing his own advice segment for viewers, 700 Club host Pat Robertson launched more anti-LGBT paranoia on Tuesday, accusing the LGBT community of imposing “draconian” censorship laws and willfully transmitting the AIDS virus.

“You know what they do in San Francisco,” Robertson told co-host Terry Meeuwsen “Some in the gay community there, they want to get people so if they got the stuff they’ll have a ring, you shake hands, and the ring’s got a little thing where you cut your finger. Really. It’s that kind of vicious stuff, which would be the equivalent of murder.”

reply to post by finitedualities


I would think education is the answer and safe sex practices.

Considering abstinence only sex in the US for example leads to higher rates of STD's and pregnancy in young people.

Abstinence, without sex education is about as helpful to fight STD's as using a BB gun to kill an elephant.

~Tenth

Originally posted by finitedualities
reply to post by ownbestenemy

 

What in the world does Heaven's Gate have to do with Ole Pat? Lol...they're both cults, but at least one leader hasn't lost the script and called for a termination order, ffs.

You answered your own question.....you defend that which you obviously do not know. He is leading people down a path of destruction by giving false information. He knows it. How do you not see the connections?

Pat Robertson and his persecution complex.



From the fascinating documentary "Spin". Pat Robertson is caught calling Larry King viewers homos off-air.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Well, as a former manwhore, I really do understand the issue. In fact, I almost think it's basic human instinct to propagate as much as possible. I doubt proper teaching will help those in the slums of Africa where the disease is bringing the people to their knees. It's very anecdotal, but I've seen countless documentaries where the youth almost rebel against the disease once they have it by giving it to as many as they can, because if they have it, then others should as well. It's almost like getting a deadly virus from eating food (in the sense that it's a basic instinct). I'm getting off topic though, and I apologize.

This sort of thing does happen! I remember a few years back, people were snapping used needles off in banister rails and in cushions on buses and at cinemas etc to spread AIDS. There was a big scare about it in my area in the 90's.

reply to post by tothetenthpower

That is true, and it is an outrage.

However, in fairness I'd add that the Catholics have done quite well lately as far as providing services for affected communities in SA, and some of their clergy are in dissent about the condom policy.

There's a lot of misinformation from various quarters (some AIDS dissident politicians and an assortment of self-styled healers, usually selling some herbal concoctions), but it's the kind of messages from Pentecostal-styled African churches (as well as some international fraudsters, like Todd Bentley) that particularly concern me at the moment:
www.bbc.co.uk...

Somebody like Pat Robertson could make a big difference by openly condemning this.

Didn't you know? You can also catch GAY from those AIDS rings? I guess we better try and convert them all to save the children!

/sarc off. What a D-bag. Seriously!

If ANYONE tried to transmit AIDS it would be because that individual was disturbed and needed to seek treatment (and jail time if successfully transmitted, although if they are just cutting people, I fail to see how that would transmit anything on its own?) it would not have anything to do with the wider LGBT community, seeing as many straight people are also sufferers from AIDS.

reply to post by halfoldman

Somebody like Pat Robertson could make a big difference by openly condemning this.

Oh I agree.

As a side note, I'm a pretty big fan of the new Pope in general.

~Tenth

It's possible that I have been misunderstood due to my sloppy writing and environment. (It's hot here. I don't like hot.)

Pat Robertson reminds me a little of Joe Biden. His heart might be in the right place, but he shouldn't appear unscripted anymore. He hurts the home team. Although Robertson gets more aggresive coverage on his gaffes than Biden seems to. (Even though Biden seems to make more of them.)

I don't believe there is a substantial risk of contracting AIDS from a ring which has been coated with AIDS blood. (I assume that's how they do it, I would.) But, I suppose it's theoretically possible. That slight chance might be sufficient to get a tiny number of fringe gay activists to try it, and just enough for Robertson to spend time on it.

I wish it hadn't happened, I wish he hadn't said it. We've got better and more important topics to work through in the area of sexuality.

And if I haven't made it clear, I'm convinced that this a not a practice of the average Gay. If it happens at all, it would be from a very small minority. (I would guess less than 1%)

Is this a response to the whole 'bug chaser' 'gift giver' thing? For the unaware apparently some gay folks (it seems usually men) actively seek sex with HIV positive people, and some HIV positive people willingly indulge.

I have no idea if it's a big joke, propaganda or what, but it's been floating around on the internet for some time. There were also stories linked to gay people infecting others on purpose. It all seems a little far fetched, but I have said that before and Google has surprised.

Either way, a few sick ___'s that happen to be part of another community in no way implicate the rest of the community. Guarantee there are some real sickos on ATS. Your membership here doesn't mean you like Bieber.

Gay people have had enough nonsense thrown their way. It's fine if you're uncomfortable being around gay folks, but let's not go making crap up and implicating everyone that is a homosexual as some sort of nefarious deviant that wishes harm on others. The anti-gay crowd is not going to come out on top (sex pun), and will be remembered as the KKK of their day.

Homosexuality is something I really don't get, but I don't think millions of people are risking ridicule and hate for something they're faking. If it tickles your fancy, tickle back.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by halfoldman

 

Somebody like Pat Robertson could make a big difference by openly condemning this.

Oh I agree.

As a side note, I'm a pretty big fan of the new Pope in general.

~Tenth

I think this should be noted. The new Pope is exhibiting all that is always professed. Not to derail this thread on that, but it is a good statement and his actions should be held about that of his predecessors or others that profess the name of God.

Problem is, for people like Mr. Robertson, their power is threatened when people think for themselves (even it is still in the name of God). So they gnash and gnaw with statements like this to see if their true base is still with them.

The problem that I think that most people have with Pat Robinson, is not that he has an opinion, but that he uses religion to give cart blanche to hate and makes that very clear. Far too often, ministers like that, take a dim view of the world, picking and choosing the verses from the bible to live by and pass on to their flocks. The sad part of their hypocrisy, is that they are very closed minded, and fail to see that what they want, if presented in another light they bulk at.

Their points of view are scary at times, the only difference between them and some radical religious ministers from another country, is that most of what they would espouse is against the laws in the USA. But I would have them speak their minds openly and freely, no matter how vile or hateful or even ignorant the speech, rather than be quiet. At least when they are loud and boisterous, we know where people stand in their eyes, rather than be taken by surprise.

What I am surprised by, is that in all of the years of their using religion against the gay community there have not been more acts of violence against the gay community by their followers. And even then I wonder what the out come would be if one of the people who follows Pat Robinson were to do such an act of violence, what the public or the others would say or do.

reply to post by Domo1


Shhhhh, gurl don't tell them all our secrets!

Gay domination!

Originally posted by sdcigarpig
What I am surprised by, is that in all of the years of their using religion against the gay community there have not been more acts of violence against the gay community by their followers. And even then I wonder what the out come would be if one of the people who follows Pat Robinson were to do such an act of violence, what the public or the others would say or do.

I think because of the very nature that we can freely follow a belief, we do not see people act upon the word of a person such as Pat Robertson. Given a different country, where such a belief is pretty much mandated or expected, I would think your musings would be true.

Many who follow the same faith as him, do not agree with his path. It is beyond the Word of God for them. It is dictating what God meant in a manner that doesn't really make sense. I would bet that if you poll average people (not the ones that seek out polls or tv face time) and asked them in a straight forward way about this, it would surprise many.

reply to post by ownbestenemy

Oh yeah, I'm also encouraged by groups like the US-based Catholics for Choice or the Bishop of Rustenburg, for example:
www.catholicsforchoice.org...

Other churches, including many evangelicals are also doing good work.
While church stigmatization of HIV-positive people was a big problem in the early 1990s, it seems to have mostly turned around.

That's why I'm actually shocked that Pat Robertson could say something that is such an anachronism from the years of plague and stigma.

Although distributing condoms should be the work of government (and they haven't very well in SA), I'm yet to see a Catholic priest who would tell people to throw away their medication, or that they are miraculously healed of HIV.

So that's the danger of some these Pentecostals for me: they can take somebody who is doing well, and then just put them into total denial.

It's also been a long time since I heard this level of fear-mongering, and although most Christian churches may not approve of homosexuality (and especially the more radical, urban lifestyles) it has been a long time that somebody came up with such a ridiculous horror story deliberately targeting gay men as virtual murderers.

Most of our southern African pandemic is heterosexual, and out of 50 million people in SA 5.5-6 million people are infected.

Gay activists like Justice Edwin Cameron, Zackie Achmat and Simon Nkoli were at the forefront of our struggle against stigma and for equal treatment, first against big pharma profiteering and then against the denialist theories of the Mbeki administration.

For Robertson to say that gays deliberately want to infect people as a kind of custom is just a total reversal of history.

reply to post by ownbestenemy


That is just a ridiculous analogy. I'm sure both groups have (had) their share of good intentions within membership, but I think you're missing the script regarding Heaven's Gate. On one hand, you have ONE man that has lost all inspiration for his religion, and the other is an ever growing monstrosity. I think you need to research what went down in San Diego before making such statements.

Originally posted by finitedualities
reply to post by ownbestenemy

 

That is just a ridiculous analogy. I'm sure both groups have (had) their share of good intentions within membership, but I think you're missing the script regarding Heaven's Gate. On one hand, you have ONE man that has lost all inspiration for his religion, and the other is an ever growing monstrosity. I think you need to research what went down in San Diego before making such statements.

You are so caught up in the depth (or lack thereof) of my analogy and not seeing what I actually compared. Is Pat Robertson's ministry the same as Applewhite's? Not at all. Is their deep seated and neurotic beliefs they hold similar? The message may not be the same, but the push to have devout and completely compliant followers is. Robertson is driving people away from the Christian message and consolidating his base. Similar to a cult leader. Shun the less than devout and surround yourself with complete and utterly brain dead followers who hinge upon your every word. Check.

My cousin, a Presbyterian minister cringes when Robertson speaks. He does so because he knows the light it will cast upon the whole of the Christian faith. I doubt his faith, I doubt his application of that faith. AIDS is a real problem and rather than trying to deal with the issue -- he goes off the deep end with magic rings, filled with AIDS, infecting the people of San Francisco,