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Evangelist Robertson says gays bring about earthquakes, tornadoes, bombs By Tony Wharton, The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH — Pat Robertson said Orlando, Fla., should beware of hurricanes, since it and Disney World allowed Gay Days to be held there this past weekend.
“I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you,” Robertson said Monday on his TV show, “The 700 Club.”
Robertson also said the widespread practice of homosexuality “will bring about terrorist bombs, it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor.”
Gay organizations sponsor the annual Gay Days in Orlando and Disney World. The flags Robertson referred to, paid for by the gay rights groups, have a rainbow design and flew from Orlando’s downtown utility poles during the celebration.
A reporter for “The 700 Club” news department did a segment on Gay Days during Monday’s broadcast, saying the Christian Broadcasting Network had undercover video that was “too graphic to show.”
After the news segment, Robertson talked for several minutes about the topic. He added, “We’re not in any way, shape or form hating anybody. This is not a message of hate, this is a message of redemption.”
Disney World does not sponsor Gay Days but has said it will not discriminate by refusing to allow the event. The Southern Baptist Convention declared a boycott of Disney products and theme parks last year, in part because of Gay Days.
Hurricanes, and who they would hit, have been a theme of Robertson’s career. In 1985, he claimed that his prayers helped steer Hurricane Gloria away from Hampton Roads, and in 1995 he said the same about Hurricane Felix.
Robertson also believes that various natural disasters are signs of God’s will and that the world will suffer more of them before the arrival of “the end of the age.”
He has long campaigned against homosexuality, and said Monday that the Bible’s book of Romans considers it “the last step in the decline of gentile civilization.”
Mitch Rosa, president of Hampton Roads Pride, a regional gay rights group, laughed when he heard of Robertson’s remarks.
“I feel sorry for him, I really do,” Rosa said. “He’s taken the word of the Bible and twisted it to fit his needs.
“You know, what comes around goes around. If he’s worried about a hurricane, he should worry first about his own roof.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which monitors Robertson’s statements, said in a statement, “Mickey Mouse had better hit the storm shelter.”
Barry W. Lynn, director of the group, said, “Politicians who take their marching orders from Pat Robertson ought to consider finding a new meteorologist.”
fter weeks of stagnant poll numbers, Tampa will be a turning point for Mitt Romney and Republican lawmakers. The party’s convention in Florida next week is planned to revive the narrative and show off the best of the Republican candidate and the party’s platform.
Dr. Rick Knabb, director of the National Hurricane Center, shows some of the possible trajectories tropical storm Isaac could develop in the coming days, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012, at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. (Alan Diaz / AP Photo)
But some officials now worry that Tampa could be a turning point of a less preferable sort: Tropical Storm Isaac, which is churning to hurricane strength in the Atlantic and heading straight for the Sunshine State, could force changes to the convention.
Hurricanes are unpredictable, and Florida, perhaps more than any other state, knows how to weather a storm, so the Republican National Committee hasn’t been too concerned by a debilitating storm. Washington staffers are still granting credentials to delegates and journalists, and all of the venues have been confirmed for use next week, according to a committee staffer who asked not to be identified discussing plans.
The heavy lifting, then, may come from Tampa city personnel, specifically safety officials such as fire, police, and flood responders. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says his city employees are prepared in cases of emergency. And perhaps even to cancel certain events if the weather creates an unsafe environment.
“We have contingency plan after contingency plan,” says Buckhorn. But in an earlier interview, Buckhorn noted that “human life trumps politics” and that he would support postponing the event if the need arose.
That’s a worst-case scenario, but Florida’s Energy Management Division has been monitoring the storm’s path to create constantly changing contingency plans to keep the convention running as planned. In preparation, state officials ran a simulation in May to address a situation precisely like Isaac. “We’ve been preparing for a year and a half,” says Julie Roberts, a spokeswoman for the emergency division. “We’ll continue to monitor the conditions and change our preparations.”
For the sake of security, Republican officials declined to say where the convention’s main events might be relocated if the primary venue, the Tampa Bay Times Forum, becomes incapacitated. Tampa has nearly two dozen other venues large enough for big events, but only a few could accommodate the entire assembly of delegates.
Hurricane season has always been a wild card in Florida during the summer. In 2008, Republicans held their convention in Minneapolis while Hurricane Gustav was hitting the Louisiana coast, which led to the canceling of several speeches, including an address from President George W. Bush.
Rosamond Press 
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