The Christian Broadcasting Network today announced that it will honor South Carolina Lieutenant Governor and 2010 gubernatorial candidate Andre Bauer as the network’s ‘Christian of the Year’ at a gala event to be held in two weeks on the grounds of network founder Pat Robertson’s estate and broadcast on Sunday, February 21, as a special edition of ‘The 700 Club’ which will air immediately following the live season finale of their top-rated ‘Jesus Got Talent’.
In announcing the honor, Mr. Robertson hailed Bauer for, “embodying post-Millennium American Christian Values,” later adding, “And when he becomes Governor, I expect he’ll make history by ridding his state of poverty – or at least poor people — once and for all.”
Robertson added that he has long-admired Bauer’s ability to remain true to his Christian faith in spite of the challenges and conflicts that often arise while in political office. Asked for his take on the recent controversy where Bauer compared recipients of free and discounted school lunches to stray animals, Robertson told reporters that he had discussed the issue with Bauer, himself a recipient of free school lunches as a child
http://cbs13.com/politics/andrew.bauer.south.2.1448951.html, and was satisfied with his response. “First, let me just say that Andre prays every single day for there to be no more poor people. And while of course it’s true that Jesus fed the multitudes, He didn’t do it every day and He didn’t do it on the backs of hard working taxpayers. Andre’s position, as I understand it, is as Christian as anything I, personally, could ever think of: If you stop feeding poor kids, sooner or later they’ll be so hungry that they steal food. Once they do, they can be imprisoned, where they will have proper supervision while being provided with room, board, and three meals a day. In addition, they can complete their education while in prison, where, rest assured, test scores are consistently higher than in most poor school districts in South Carolina.”
Mr. Robertson also expressed his support for Mr. Bauer’s stance that the Red Cross and other relief agencies should stop distributing food to earthquake victims in Haiti, observing that, “If we encourage those poor, misfortunate people to breed, a few generations from now their population and poverty levels will most likely again reach pre-earthquake levels – barring, of course, another pact with Satan.”
For his part, Mr. Bauer, who will turn 41 on March 20, or ‘Vernal Equinox Day’, told reporters, “I am most humbled, as I believe Jesus would have been, by this great honor. My grandmother, the illiterate woman on whose teachings my political views are based, always told me that one day Vernal Equinox would look down from Heaven and be grateful that I shared the same birthday.” The Charleston-born Lt. Governor, who parlayed the fame garnered when he became the State High School Dwarf Tossing Champion into a successful career in business and politics and is among the favorites to ascend to the Governor’s Mansion this November, added, “I am grateful to Pat Robertson and his Christian Broadcasting Network for their support and recognition. I pray that we will soon see the day when poor people stop breeding, citizens everywhere will care more about themselves than those less fortunate, and those who feed ground glass to stray puppies are no longer ostracized.”