CAUSE OF DEATH: 700 Club Owner, Pat Robertson, confirmed dead on pride month

700 Club Owner, Pat Robertson, confirmed dead on pride month.

Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and the host of the ‘700 Club’ has passed away at 93-years old.

I fiercely disagreed with many things this man said and stood for, but to see people on Twitter posting things like “Rest in Hell Pat” or attacking him on the day of his passing, disgusts me.

Be better than that. Criticize him when he’s alive to push back, but don’t attack him on the day that he dies. 

It’s also important to realize that older generations and those who follow religion often think differently than many of us. It’s fine to argue that they are misguided or misinformed, but to pretend that they are evil, is disingenuous. We can all do better than we are. Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93.

Robertson’s death Thursday was announced by his broadcasting network. No cause was given. Perhaps best known for offering prayer and political commentary at the helm of The 700 Club, the flagship program of his media ministry, Robertson’s rise to prominence is rooted in what he called a vision from God to create The Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded in 1960. A prolific innovator, he also started a Christian university, a legal advocacy group, and an international NGO specializing in disaster relief.

Even while promoting a worldview that believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, both his approach to business and his on-air persona were considered unorthodox by some – if not ahead of his time. Today, his influence and legacy crisscross interests and industries that have broken barriers for countless Christian leaders and laypeople.

Robertson’s enterprises also included Regent University, an evangelical Christian school in Virginia Beach; the American Center for Law and Justice, which defends the First Amendment rights of religious people; and Operation Blessing, an international humanitarian organization.

Born Marion Gordon Robertson in Lexington, Virginia on March 22, 1930, the nickname “Pat” was given to him by his older brother. Sticking with that moniker rather than his birth name was just the first of many conventions he would defy during his lifetime. The Yale-educated lawyer and son of a U.S. senator, Robertson had hoped to become a successful businessman. In his 1972 autobiography, Shout It From the Housetops, he wrote about his dream of living the life of a New York socialite. But his path took a decidedly different turn in the 1950s when he became a born-again Christian.

“Deep in my heart, I heard (God) speaking to me about the television ministry: ‘Go and possess the station. It is yours.'” – an excerpt from Robertson’s autobiography, Shout It From the Housetops

Robertson abandoned his own dream and accepted what he saw as God’s plan: to start a ministry in Christian broadcasting. But his launch as a religious broadcaster came with challenges, starting with little capital and a dilapidated TV station for sale in Portsmouth, Virginia.