Pat Robertson on transgender people: "I don't think there's any sin...

[Skynet]

associated with that."

During the 700 Club, someone wrote in a letter asking about what gender pronouns he should use for his transgender coworkers.  He mentioned that there are some men who "are in a woman's body," that it is rare but it happens.  As for sex change operations, he says that it's a risky and radical procedure, but he won't condemn people for undergoing it.

When his co-host mentioned that they don't know the mindset or intentions of the co-workers, Robertson said that it's not for them to decide or judge.

[Blythe]

......I am ridiculously surprised and pleased by this.

And a teensy bit in shock, considering this is Pat Robertson.

[Lilias]

......I am ridiculously surprised and pleased by this.

And a teensy bit in shock, considering this is Pat Robertson.

He's getting on in years. Watching your own mortality creep up on you day by day can do things for your way of thinking.

[Blythe]

It's a good shock. Like that sort of shock when your heart is stopped and a defibrillator is used. A good shock.

....have to admit, it's nice to see him saying something like this for once. Seriously.

[Sethala]

After seeing a few things like this, I'm curious of Pat Robertson may have become an atheist and either doesn't want to come out and say it, or possibly wants to try and "fix" things by preaching common sense to the religious nutjobs.

Or maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic.

[Callie Del Noire]

After seeing a few things like this, I'm curious of Pat Robertson may have become an atheist and either doesn't want to come out and say it, or possibly wants to try and "fix" things by preaching common sense to the religious nutjobs.

Or maybe I'm just hopelessly optimistic.

Or a man on the end of a long long road of good and bad actions in the name of his god is taking a look at the balance sheet and thinking about what the judgement at the end will really be like.

[Valthazar]

I am not a Christian, and I fully support TG people and their rights, but why is everyone concerned about what Christians think? 

These elite television Christian people just want attention, and spew all sorts of nonsense just to get attention and ratings - so why even bother?  Everyone holds certain biases, including ourselves, whether we realize it or not about other topics. 

Best approach to life is to just live and let live (one that Pat Robertson could embrace as well).

[Sethala]

There's a saying that goes something along the lines of "With or without religion, a good man will do good things and an evil man will do evil things.  But it takes religion to make a good man do evil things."

The problem is that yes, there's going to be bigoted people in the world, no matter what you do, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to give people another reason to think it's perfectly ok to be an ass to someone else.  That's generally what religion breaks down to, when it comes to treating GLBT people; an excuse for someone's homophobia.  It's worth working to dismantle this thought process.

[Cyrano Johnson]

"With or without religion, a good man will do good things and an evil man will do evil things.  But it takes religion to make a good man do evil things."

Or ideology.

Trouble is that divesting oneself entirely of both religion and ideology is a pretty formidable task, and not something that most people are going to want to undertake anytime soon.

[Ephiral]

I am not a Christian, and I fully support TG people and their rights, but why is everyone concerned about what Christians think? 

These elite television Christian people just want attention, and spew all sorts of nonsense just to get attention and ratings - so why even bother?  Everyone holds certain biases, including ourselves, whether we realize it or not about other topics. 

Best approach to life is to just live and let live (one that Pat Robertson could embrace as well).

Because these people are not going to "live and let live". Becayse they're getting attention, on the sort of national level that leads to bullshit like the Defense of Marriage act, or the vicious battle over the reproductive-care clauses of the ACA, or the joke that is the Louisiana educational system, or the attempted total gutting and politicizing of the Texas high-school curriculum, or the tragic horrors of the 'ex-gay' and 'complementarian' movements.

I don't see how anybody can look at what has already happened at the hands of these people and honestly suggest that "live and let live" is even an option.

[Callie Del Noire]

You know I find it ironic that Pat Robertson is more.. tolerant than the Vatican is on this issue.