Many may have been surprised to hear televangelist Pat
Robertson's recent endorsement of the tepidly conservative presidential hopeful
Rudy Giuliani. A glance at the former's background, however, reveals a man who
isn't so much committed to right-wing religious zealotry as the promotion of
his own power and financial empire, built on the backs of poor evangelical
Christians (and their rent checks). Mr. Robertson may spew the most venomous,
bigoted idiocies, but I doubt he actually believes them. You see, he has
figured something out: You can get away with almost anything in this country if
the word "Reverend" precedes your name.

In America, your business can be a racket if it's
"faith-based," you can indoctrinate children in sexual obscurantism if it's
Judeo-Christian in nature and, if you so desire, you can propagate the silliest
pseudo-science as long as it comes from Genesis. The Mafia is criminal; the
Christian Coalition is commendable. UFO sightings are surely nonsense;
intelligent design deserves consideration. Lyndon LaRouche is a dangerous cult
leader; Billy Graham is a heroic American.

The cesspool of mainstream religious bullshit is given a
daily platform in newspapers and major networks, and the politicians, even at
the highest level, are always publicly seeking its courtship. Not only are we
expected to swallow "faith-based" opinions as legitimate, but we are supposed
to consider them with special distinction, as if a halo floats above them
wherever they travel.

Given the untouchable nature of religion in 21st-century
America, it shouldn't be a surprise that frauds like Mr. Robertson use it as a
front for their own agendas. Here's a guy who used his television show, "700
Club," to rail against the ouster of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor (this
employer of child soldiers was a good Christian, as Mr. Robertson explained),
and all the while making millions in the lucrative gold industry under his
regime's protection. This hectomillionare also derides the values of the
underclass while living off its meager earnings and preaching humility all the
while.

Like a naughty child who derives pleasure from his
clandestine misdeeds, he is probably silently amused at how he's still getting
away with it all — this may account for the dumb grin that never ceases to
smear his face.

But his hypocrisy and — to borrow a word from his own short
vocabulary — immorality wouldn't be so nasty if he weren't using homophobia, sexism
and jingoism as the means to his self-serving ends. People like him are
instrumental in distracting poor Americans from the real issues that affect
their lives — like the need for the universal healthcare he opposes — and
convincing them the prospect of Bill marrying Bob poses an existential threat
to their livelihoods. (You may think I'm exaggerating, but he's on the record saying
acceptance of homosexuality will increase the likelihood of natural disasters.)

Of course, criticizing the enabler of Mr. Robertson's
behavior — fundamentalist Christianity — is "offensive," or so we are told, so
he and his type get to continue on, unabated in their mischief. Right-wing
religion in America tells us that feminism is a communist plot, the earth is
about 6,000 years old and all nonbelievers will wallow in eternal hellfire
after the rapture. This type of thinking gets a free ride. Why? Because it's
"faith-based."

It's kosher, of course, to criticize homophobia, but not the
religious text from which it is born. If we agree that homophobia is a form of
bigotry, why is it improper to call Christian fundamentalism a bigoted
ideology?