Subject: Pat Robertson's Anti-Gay Campaign
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 1996 22:11:26 -0500

A Report on Our February 5, 1996, Return to CBN
Dr. Mel White 

       On the anniversary of my 1995 arrest at Pat Robertson's world
headquarters,  Gary and I returned to Virginia Beach to launch stage two of
our efforts to confront Pat's anti-homosexual campaign.  We had promised our
local friends and allies in Bearing Witness, (the wonderful coalition of
activist and faith groups that organized to support our efforts in 1995) that
we would come back to Virginia in one year if Pat continued his false and
inflammatory rhetoric.

      After my 23 day fast in 1995,  Pat did visit me in jail and on a 700
Club broadcast shortly after the visit, he did condemn anti-homosexual
violence.  We had hoped that he would also see how his irresponsible and
inflammatory charges contribute to that violence.  But after monitoring Pat's
telecasts every day for the past year, it was obvious that his rhetoric
against lesbians, gays, and bisexuals continues unabated. 
 
      Worse, during the past year Pat's Christian Coalition (1.7 million
activists working in local election precincts, school boards, city councils,
state legislatures, and the Congress) has increased its anti-gay and lesbian
political campaign that feeds on the false charges and unjust claims Pat
makes on television, in print, and in his fund-raising letters.

        We can't just sit by while Pat's toxic rhetoric flows out of Virginia
Beach polluting the nation's moral environment.  Too many innocent lesbians
and gays are suffering in the hostile climate produced in part by the untrue
words and intolerant political actions of Pat and his people.
 
      The 'soul force' principles of Gandhi and King make it perfectly clear:
truth must go on confronting untruth relentlessly.  But how we are to
confront the half-truth, hyperbole, and lies is less clear. 
 
       Last year, we wrote, petitioned, marched, and were arrested trying to
get Pat to see us and to discuss with us the consequences of his
anti-homosexual words and political actions. Apparently, like other cultic
gurus  in the nation's recent past, Robertson has cut himself off from any
kind of face-to-face confrontations with his critics.  So, in 1996, we are
trying another strategy altogether. 
 
      Although we still seek a serious, open dialogue with Pat, this time we
are taking our case to the nation.  At the heart of our campaign against his
 dangerous rhetoric is a 35 minute video tape with dozens of examples of his
more recent outlandish comments about us: Pat Robertson's Anti-Homosexual
Campaign: A Case Study in the Rhetoric of Intolerance.  

      Besides showing examples of others who are regular victims of Pat's
intolerance, we illustrate the following tactics of his anti-gay campaign:
misuse of the Biblical texts; dis-information about sexual orientation;
dangerous misinformation about HIV and AIDS; regular use of scare tactics and
the imaginary "homosexual threat" to raise funds; misleading testimonials of
"ex-gays" who have been "cured through prayer";  regular use of CBN "news" to
demean and demonize; melodramatic re-enactments of gays who abuse children;
regular use of biased and ill-informed authority figures; regular association
of lesbians and gays with demons, the 'end times,' and the decline of
civilization.

       "If the world adopts homosexuality as its norm," Pat said on September
6, 1995, "...the whole world is then going to be sitting like Sodom and
Gomorra before a holy God and when the wrath of God comes on this earth, we
will all be guilty and we will all suffer for it."
 
        On Feb. 5, in a hotel conference room near Pat's CBN  headquarters in
Virginia Beach, we showed the inflammatory tape to reporters before an
invited audience of local lesbian, gay, bisexual leaders and our allies from
P-FLAG and Bearing Witness.  After discussing the video we announced a nation
wide campaign to condemn Robertson's false words and intolerant actions
against God's gay, lesbian, and bisexual children.

       That campaign will include a presentation of the Robertson tape and
its transcript to the Federal Communications Commission, to local TV stations
and cable systems that carry the 700 Club, to newspaper columnists, radio and
tv commentators, and other opinion makers, to the National Council of
Churches, to the American Catholic Council of Bishops, and to local
organizations that would like to view and discuss Robertson's tragic
misinformation campaign.

        We are also asking concerned people everywhere to sign a petition
that condemns Pat Robertson's anti-homosexual campaign. Hopefully, on Pride
Sunday, June, 1996, we will have a hundred thousand signatures to present to
Pat and the nation's media notifying him officially that his spirit of
intolerance (that goes far beyond condemning homosexuals) does not represent
the spirit of Jesus nor the spirit of this great nation.

       Anyone interested in receiving a free copy of the tape or petitions to
sign and circulate should contact us by mail at P.O. Box 609, Ennis, TX.
75120, by fax at (214) 875 4858, or by E-Mail at [email-masked].

     Also, if you know the local station or cable system that airs the 700
Club, will you send us their call letters, a phone number, and even an
address if possible?  Thanks MW 

    PS:   By the way, although Pat ignored our invitations to view and
discuss our case against him in private, he must know by now the full details
of our national campaign to censure his irresponsible rhetoric.  
          At our meeting, Feb. 5, a mysterious television crew arrived to set
up with the others.  Gary recognized the CBN producer.  When he denied
representing CBN, a cameraman from German Public Broadcasting  pointed to the
words on his tripod: Property of CBN.  
         We laughed and welcomed CBN to our press conference.  Unlike so many
Christian Coalition candidates whose stealth campaigns have only led to their
embarrassment and loss, we have nothing whatsoever to hide.