Worse than Robertson

The Rev. Pat makes for a convenient villain, and he's typically deserving of the label. But the Malcontent plays fair, and it's time to give the preacher with the massive glutes a break.

No such luck for James Dobson, who is starting to make his evangelical counterparts look like Mother Teresa in comparison --

Since its founding in 2001, the Swiss-based Global Fund has spent $2 billion on programs that offer medical treatment and education in 130 countries, according to a representative. The U.S. government has provided 30 percent of the public-private foundation's finances through 2005 and appropriated $445 million for 2006.

Some of the programs bankrolled through the Global Fund --- such as those that distribute condoms to prostitutes or provide clean needles to drug addicts --- have drawn fire from conservative evangelicals. Hard-line conservatives favor President Bush's policy of abstinence and emphasis on fidelity in marriage. Others take a more pragmatic approach and say that exporting Western morality to foreign countries is ineffective at best and calamitous at worst.

After the Senate passed a nonbinding budget amendment last March to increase the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to $866 million in 2007, Dobson lambasted the international foundation, saying it promotes "legalized prostitution and all kinds of wickedness around the world." ...

The Global Fund released its own letter on May 24 that quoted Scripture, detailing the foundation's accomplishments and listing supportive signatures of prominent Christian leaders like Call to Renewal founder Jim Wallis, (Tony) Campolo and, yes, Pat Robertson. ...

"Robertson would be the first to admit that we don't agree on many issues. But there are certain issues that get people together all across the theological spectrum and this is one of them," said Campolo, who heads the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education.

Glad to see Robertson is at least somewhat rational in his approach to dealing with AIDS. Dobson, it appears, doesn't have a rational bone in his body.