“I’m sorry… now can I go back to making money off you guys?”

I really didn’t want to talk about this self-righteous jackass so soon… because obviously he didn’t GO AWAY like I wished last year that he would. But Pat Robertson found a way to stick his foot in his mouth YET AGAIN, and this time – FINALLY – it cost him!

You see, while most people were praying for the recovery of Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after experiencing a massive stroke, Robertson was pulling out some obscure biblical chapter to claim that Sharon’s stroke was the “wrath of God” for wanting to give parts of Israel to the Palestinians.

As usual, the conservatives were smacking their foreheads over this uncalled-for comment. The Bush Imperium had to distance themselves from Robertson’s quip. The media had a field day, as usual, over this comment. The liberals were quick to lump this in with the rest of the dirty dealings with the conservatives and the GOP in general. It was all pretty much par for the course… which is why this commentator found it not even worth mentioning.

But then Israel dropped a bombshell on Pat. They cut off his money train!

You see, most people see Pat Robertson as a televangelist. And right now that’s the view that cons and neo-cons want us to see. They want us to see him as just a senile old man who’s spewing mindless garbage for the media. They don’t want us to see the other facet of Robertson’s little empire. Pat Robertson has his finger (usually the middle one) on the pulse of the conservatives in Washington through groups like the Christian Coalition, which he founded. He’s busy making sure that HIS WILL gets imposed through government, no matter if it’s local elections or the confirmation of Supreme Court justices.

But more than anything, Pat Robertson is a BUSINESSMAN. You ever check out his “700 Club” show? Hidden amidst the prayers and biblical quotes are very subtle sales pitches for his books and videos. Robertson loves to talk about the righteousness of God, but away from the cameras, he’s got his hand in businesses around the world.

And ONE of those little ventures involved the construction of the Christian Heritage Center in Israel, a massive tourist facility complete with its own television studio and broadcasting facilities, expected to bring in MILLIONS of Christian tourists and rake in BILLIONS of dollars.

Oh, the venture is still on, because there are plenty of investors in this little project, but Israel just told Robertson that he and his money are no longer welcomed.

Oops!

Now Pat is BEGGING for forgiveness. Oh, he didn’t mean to wish Sharon ill! No, it was all just a little misunderstanding. Well, he didn’t come out and say it on camera like he did for his little gaffe, but he sent a letter to the Prime Minster’s son, so that’s sorta-kinda similar, right? All is forgiven, right? He can go back to making money off Israel and all of those Christian tourists expected to show up, right?

You know, I really, REALLY hope that the Israelis don’t play into his con game! They did the right thing by showing Robertson that his words DO have consequences, and the minute they bring him back, that lesson will be pissed away. Robertson has survived this long because he’s been able to insult people, insult organizations, and then BEG for forgiveness only when those words come back to haunt him, just so he can play this game over and over and over again.

Here’s a little lesson in Christian theology: when people asked Jesus for forgiveness, Jesus didn’t say, “hey, it’s cool… no harm, no foul.” He told the people he forgave to “go and sin no more.” Now when you ask for forgiveness and then go on and commit the same sin over and over and over again, you make a mockery of your redemption. You mock the very God that you claim to worship and praise. You insult his generosity. You abuse his forgiving nature and you EXPECT him to continually bail you out just because you ASKED for his help. You’re not “learning your lesson” when you do that. You’re just compounding your sin, not to mention that you also insult those who have forgiven you.

Pat Robertson needs to learn his lesson, and if the people of Israel feel that this lesson should be forever turning away Robertson and his money from the Holy Land, then so be it. If it’s good enough for Moses, then it’s certainly good enough for someone who carries himself like he's in the same league.