Violent Extremists at Home

For the past several years, the United States has had to deal with Muslim Imams who have preached war and violence against the United States. It appears that the United States has recently found its own counterpart to the Imams in the form of Pat Robertson, a television preacher and host of the Christian Broadcasting Network. On Monday, Robertson advocated that the United States government assassinate Venezualan President Hugo Chavez. Robertson said, "but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

President Chavez is a strong-armed dictator and a thug, but he hardly represents a significant threat to the national security of the United States. Venezuala is a significant exporter of oil to the United States, and Chavez could interfere with that. But Venezuala needs money, and as long as the United States is willing to keep paying, it's doubtful that the shipments would stop. And besides, would even the most hawkish politicians be willing to go to war if oil was the only reason?

State sponsored asassinations of the leaders of other countries are an act of war, albeit a somewhat more targeted approach. Robertson is effectively saying that the United States should engage in war against Venezuala. Even assuming that "Just War" theory, it's hard to imagine how Venezuala, or Hugo Chavez in particular, is an imminent threat to the United States. Robertson wants Chavez dead because he doesn't like the communist politics that Chavez espouses.

Killing without justification is murder, and the Bible is pretty clear that is wrong. This incident reminds us that violent rhetoric doesn't only come from Imams in far-away countries, but can come from "respectable" people right here at home. Let's hope that we denounce such behavior as vigorously as we do that of people who don't live here.