Cover Image: September 2003 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

A Mighty Wind [Preview]

Talking about the weather, with a slightly higher authority















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Steve Mirsky

Image: FRANK VERONSKY

Five years ago I wrote a column saying that televangelist Pat Robertson should concentrate on religion and leave weather forecasting to the professionals. The occasion then was Robertson, speaking for God, warning the city of Orlando to expect hurricanes in retribution for that city's decision to allow a gay celebration. A hurricane in Florida, it seemed to me, could very well be a simple, natural phenomenon. Having made my point, I spent the next half a decade happily deconstructing various other scientific subjects in this space. But a clipping recently landed on my desk that reminded me that vigilance, eternal it would seem, is indeed the price of liberty. It is therefore time, once again, to ask, courteously, of course, that Pat Robertson please stop delving into meteorology.

To be fair, which immediately distinguishes this pasquinade from the literary output of Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), I must divulge that his name doesn't appear on the June 26 Web document "Acts of God: America's Warning Not to Divide Israel." The piece looks a lot like a news story, right up until you read it. And it carries the CBN imprimatur, which makes it Robertson's responsibility, if not his actual, personal production.


This article was originally published with the title A Mighty Wind.



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