Lost amid the hullabaloo over Pat Robertson's pronouncement
that the debilitating stroke suffered by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon was the wrathful punishment of an angry God exercised
by Sharon excising God's little half-acre was Robertson's more
alarming claim, two days earlier, that God
told him that another Supreme Court judge will soon retire,
and that the Senate will confirm Samuel Alito's appointment to that
panel.
Alarming, that is, for Mr. Robertson's family and friends, and anyone else who cares about his well being ... or America's. For while it's passable
to analyze the world through the lens of one's own cosmology and see God's
hand in every day events, believing that God has taken time out from running
the universe to jaw at you personally may be cause for concern.
And Pat Robertson, past contender for the GOP presidential nod, has
often
heard God's voice. The Christian Coalition founder has claimed that
God told him that he should purchase a television station, that the 2004
vote would be a Bush blowout, and that Robertson would do holy works or
possibly find work in a theater ("I have chosen you to usher in the coming
of My Son"). God's also furnished Robertson with yearly business forecasts,
though Robertson didn't mention what fiscal year the Almighty uses.
Such statements may hint at the cause of Mr. Robertson's bizarre behavior.
For if Mr. Robertson genuinely believes that he has heard God's voice,
and that he heard this voice in his head, then he may be suffering from
a mental illness such as schizophrenia. Voices in one's head is the best-known
symptom of this disorder. They sometimes urge sufferers to violence, as with
David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" killer, who believed that the devil
spoke to him through a neighbor's dog. Mr. Robertson may be suffering from
a similar affliction. That could explain his penchant for issuing wacky
proclamations that land him on the front page.
Anyone who cares about Mr. Robertson's well being should be worried.
The rest of us should worry because Mr. Robertson's views carry great weight
in the White House, which hungers for the support and activism of his vast
constituency. Even a tiny possibility that the nation's conduct could be
swayed by the delusions and hallucinations of a mentally ill man is too much
to tolerate.
There is hope. The degradation of Mr. Robertson mental state and his
descent into madness might be stayed by psychiatric intervention. With
appropriate diagnosis and treatment, not excluding medication and electroconvulsive
therapy, there's no reason why Mr. Robertson can't go on to lead a normal,
productive life. But only the encouragement of those close to Mr. Robertson can make that happen.
So act before it's too late. Sign Wit
Memo's petition urging Pat Robertson's friends to urge him to get the
checkup from the neck up that he so clearly needs. Just clip the coupon
below and paste it into an e-mail
to Wit Memo..