To say that Robertson has "monumental" limitations is a clinical
statement of fact. Here is one of his most recent rants; like so many
others
it is completely off the wall. Robertson's attitude toward research
seems to be: "When I feel like it, research is a good thing, but
when I don't fell like it, no problem, I have freedom to make up
statistics at will, no fact checking required."
Robertson, as of today, claims that people in Appalachia breed
like rabbits and have oversize families as a matter of routine.
There was a period when there was some truth to this assertion.
Before "the pill" mountaineers were, in fact, noted for families with
7 or 8 or more children. I'm fairly certain that Appalachians were
the last ethnic white population group about whom this could be said.
This refers to the 1950s and more-or-less to the 1960s and into
the 1970s, but from that time onward fertility in the region has been
in decline and is now below the national average.
The birth rate per 1000 women in the USA as of 2011 was 12.7
" " " " " " West Virginia
11.2
Indeed, according to the National Center for Health Statistics,
National Vital Statistics Reports, vol. 61, no. 5, Oct. 3, 2012,
there are only a few states with lower birth rates:
Connecticut
Rhode Island both 10.4
Vermont 9.7
Maine 9.6
That's it. West Virginia (which is just about 100% an Appalachian state)
has very nearly the same fertility results as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and
Oregon.
California has a higher rate, 13.3, but the highest fertility states are
Alaska at 15.8 and Utah at 18.2.
Robertson has a perpetual case of foot-in-mouth-disease.
So, yes, he is, at best, a limited "good example."
At other times he is an embarrassment to everyone.
When will he ever learn? Probably the answer is "never."
Billy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pat Robertson says birth control ‘very important’ to limit Appalachian ‘
ragamuffins’
by _Ben Johnson_ (http://www.lifesitenews.com/author/BenJ/)
* Wed July 31, 2013
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA, July 31, 2013 (_LifeSiteNews.com_
(http://lifesitenews.com/) ) – Two days after _saying he found nothing sinful_
(http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pat-robertson-on-700-club-no-sin-associated-with-sex-change-
operation) about sex-change operations, televangelist Pat Robertson said
contraception is “a very important part of humanity” that would prevent
the birth of too many Appalachian “ragamuffins.” He also said that Natural
Family Planning violated the provisions of the Old Testament.
On today's episode of the 700 Club, a woman asked whether the use of birth
control is sinful, something about which Catholics and Protestants
disagree.
When Robertson's co-host, Wendy Griffith, said not all families could
afford to have multiple children, Robertson replied, “That's the big problem,
especially in Appalachia. They don't know about birth control. They just keep
having babies.”
“You see a string of all these little ragamuffins, and not enough food to
eat and so on,” he said, “and it's desperate poverty.”
“I'd say yes, birth control is absolutely an important thing for people to
use,” he added, saying contraception “is a very important part of humanity.
”
Robertson said that “birth control in the Protestant churches has always
been permitted,” because they “feel that the care and rearing of children is
a tremendous obligation.”
However, the 83-year-old host had negative words for the Natural Family
Planning method. “Our good friends in the Catholic Church forbid the use of
birth control but they allow people to use what's called 'rhythm,'” he said
at the beginning of his answer. “If you read the Old Testament they were
forbidden to have sex while women were having their menstrual period, and the
Catholic Church is telling women to do just that, and it's OK.”
The Bible discouraged men from having sexual relations with a woman during
her menstrual cycle – or touching her – in Leviticus 15:19-33, a provision
taken up by _Judaism_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niddah) and _Islam_
(http://www.al-islam.org/taharah_women/2.htm) .
However, Robertson went on to tell another writer later in the segment that
eating pork, which is banned in Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8, is
not a sin.
“Where do people get all these things?” he asked. “This is ridiculous.”
The Protestant Reformers opposed artificial contraception, something not
embraced by Protestants until the Anglican Communion's _Lamberth Conference
in 1930_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_views_on_birth_control) .
Pro-life activists point out that many forms of “birth control” –
including the _morning after pill_
(http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/worlds-top-authority-on-morning-after-pill-says-women-must-be-told-it-may-c/)
, _the
IUD_
(http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/europes-most-popular-long-term-contraception-is-abortifacient-iud)
, and _hormonal birth control pill_
(http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive//ldn/2009/may/09052707) – may cause
a
chemical abortion by blocking the implantation of a newly conceived child.
--
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