The Gospel of Self ― How Pat Robertson Stole the Soul of the Gop

The inside story of how, using deliberate and strategic social engineering, The 700 Club moved Christians steadily into the Republican Party?and moved the party itself to the right.

How did Evangelical Christians become the American right wing’s attack troops?

Televangelist Pat Robertson was one of the first to realize the political potential of millions of Evangelicals, and decided to determine how battlelines were drawn. Robertson, now a leading and unflinching Trump supporter, rose to national prominence in the 1960s with his Christian Broadcasting Network and his hit show The 700 Club.

Terry Heaton was instrumental in Robertson's rise to power and now deeply regrets his role at The 700 Club, where he was executive producer. He now provides the inside story of how evangelical Christianity forced itself on a needy Republican Party in order to gain political influence on a global level. Using deliberate and strategic social engineering, The 700 Club moved Christians steadily into the Republican Party–and moved the party itself to the right.

With a gospel message that appealed to self-interest, The 700 Club violated numerous laws in an attempt to create a Shadow Government of Evangelicals, all in the name of doing God’s work on earth. The results of this long-term campaign were fully on display in the 2016 electoral season.

TERRY HEATON is a former executive producer of the Christian television news show The 700 Club, where he assisted Pat Robertson in his run for president in 1988, and where he was in a unique position to observe and participate in the development of the Christian right. A media theorist, he is the author of Reinventing Local Media and has written for media news websites and media companies throughout the United States. Heaton plays guitar and five-string banjo and is a bluegrass music aficionado. He lives in Madison, Alabama.