Murder?

Ok, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything...but life's been busy going on along its way even when I'm not paying attention.

Earlier this week, Pat Robertson called for the execution of a national leader. Now, I'm no fan of Pat Robertson or his typical associates, but at least most of them condemned his suggestion. (One that he started out by claiming wasn't really a call for murder...just kidnapping -- also a federal crime.) Of course the ambassadors were wanting the American government to prosecute Mr. Robertson, but that ain't gonna happen. First, there's the little thing we call the First Amendment...again, I'm no fan of Robertson, but he did have the right to make the suggestion like the crackpot he is. Second, the Republicans are in enough trouble without alienating the extremists...uh, pardon me...the evangelicals.

Anyway...I guess that their scripture skips I John 3:15 (Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him -- KJV). Now, I'm about as much a fan of the KJV as I am of Pat Robertson...its really not a good translation (I'll typically use NRSV and go to the Greek when I have a question)...but this time it'll do just fine.

Of course, Pat Robertson (and others) would claim that Chavez and those like him aren't his "brother" or that he doesn't "hate" him (of course he might say that it's just his behavior that he hates), but the people I know don't typically advocate the murder of someone they don't hate. I would go further to say that the people I know would say that all people are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights (for those of you not paying attention in school, that means the rights cannot be separated from them)...but they're people who don't have a concept of justice spelled just-us. Beyond that, Mr. Robertson must not have been listening about the whole brother thing in the New Testament he claims to represent, or he'd know that not only is Chavez his brother, but a whole host of other people are too. The Jesus that Robertson claims to represent said that the poor, naked, hungry, and imprisoned were his family...and since the poor souls at Gitmo match pretty much all those criteria...well, you do the math.