Pat Robertson remains something of an enigma. Just when you dismiss him as a religious wing nut who says that God gives him tips of who will win elections; atheists want people to be miserable; and causes earthquakes to punish Haitians as Devil worshippers. Then Robertson turns around and calls for the legalization of marijuana and now called for evangelists to stop suggesting that the Earth is only 6000 years old when every scientific fact points to the contrary. I wish he would just pick one side of the sanity/insanity line and stick with it because this is getting confusing.

Robertson finally uttered the truth about a ludicrous calculation made in 1650 by the Archbishop of Ireland James Ussher when he estimated that the Earth was created on Oct. 23, 4004 B.C. Yet, forty six percent of pastors insist the Earth is 6000 years old. American politicians like Sarah Palin and others (here) also still proclaim faith in the young age of the Earth as biblically correct even if it is scientifically nonsensical.

Robertson’s surprising comments came on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club.” A viewer wrote into the show to express her “biggest fear is to not have my children and husband next to me in God’s Kingdom because they question why the Bible could not explain the existence of dinosaurs.” In response, Robertson said:

Look, I know that people will probably try to lynch me when I say this, but Bishop [James] Ussher wasn’t inspired by the Lord when he said that it all took 6,000 years. It just didn’t. You go back in time, you’ve got radiocarbon dating. You got all these things and you’ve got the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time out in the Dakotas.
They’re out there. So, there was a time when these giant reptiles were on the Earth and it was before the time of the Bible. So, don’t try and cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years. That’s not the Bible. . . . If you fight science, you’re going to lose your children, and I believe in telling it the way it was.”

It is an interesting contrast to so many politicians. In the GOP primary, Huntsman was a refreshing contrast in challenging the party to stop denying science. Had the GOP embraced Huntsman, I am convinced it would have secured the White House. Instead, his candidacy died out with little support as science-denying candidates prevailed in race after race.

This announcement follows an admission from Robertson that he misheard God’s tip on who would win the presidential election. Earlier he told viewers that God told him the name of the ultimate victor. After the election, Robertson explained that he “missed” the message. He explained “I sure did miss it, I thought I heard from God, I thought I had heard clearly from God, what happened? What intervenes? Why? You ask God, how did I miss it? Well, we all do and I’ve had a lot of practice.”

It is part of the yin and yang of Pat Robertson. One moment is he clear and cogent and the next he will channelling bizarre messages from the Almighty.

Source: Huff Post