The Reverend Pat Robertson must have amazing sources in Heaven. Last week, he scooped the world when he said that God smote Prime Minister Sharon because he deigned to divide the holy land. “God says,’this land belongs to me and you’d better leave it to me,'” he said on “The 700 Club.” Forget the thumb sucking on the future of Kadima or the Palestinian elections. God turning on Ariel Sharon: Now that’s a story.

But before the world press plays catch up, I have a few questions for God’s spokesman. Why would the Lord cause Mr. Sharon’s brain to hemorrhage this month and not at some date before the former prime minister actually, you know,”divided” the holy land? For that matter, why has the Lord blessed President Bush with perfect health since he recognized the right of Palestinians to a sovereign state of their own in said holy land? Did God play a role in the assassination of Anwar Sadat because he accepted the Sinai? His murderers would answer that question affirmatively.

And while we’re at it, hasn’t God’s land been divided for some time? The Old Testament says that David’s kingdom extended all the way to Damascus.The last time God’s land was not divided was when the Caliphate in Istanbul ruled over it. Could it be that God is really on the side of those seeking to restore it?

I have spent the last two months in Cairo, and I can tell you that there are several people there who share the reverend’s view that God does not approve of the Middle East’s current political borders. These same people also think the creator looks kindly on anyone with enough courage to slaughter magicians, astrologers, and the purveyors of unclean meats.

In Egypt, the proponents of unifying the lord’s earth refer to their prize as Dar al-Islam. The rest of the planet for this crowd is Dar al-Harb, or the land of war. And it is precisely because the earth is delineated into spheres of peace and war that the edges of the Islamic world are facing suicide bombers and start-up madrassas.

Of course, Rev.Robertson’s pronouncements on God’s intention are different those of the Salafi prophets of death that implore young people to kill infidels. There is no terrorist arm of “The 700 Club.” Rev. Robertson does not implore his followers to kill themselves by promising them sex orgies in the afterlife.

But nonetheless, the similarities between Rev. Robertson and civilization’s enemies should give pause to anyone who would excuse his recent statements. Like the sheiks calling for Jihad, the reverend takes delight in the knowledge that the end is near. And this view is entirely at odds with those prosecuting a war to eventually build a liberal democratic future for the Middle East.

The reverend’s interest in Israel’s security is based on his fervent wish that Diaspora Jews move there as a pretext for an apocalyptic war, which will herald the return of Jesus. Did it even occur to the reverend that Mr. Sharon’s disengagement policy was supported by a vast majority of Israelis? On his news program, the reverend has rhapsodized about the prospect of Israel using its nuclear missiles against the country that originated a chemical attack against it. He once said he thought about exploding the State Department with nuclear weapons.

But here’s the rub on the reverend. Despite the inordinate press coverage his utterances receive, his foreign policy does not resemble the good works of the evangelical mainstream. While Rev. Robertson openly warns of the apocalypse, serious Christian organizations are actually working to heal the world as it is.

An organizer of many of these initiatives, Michael Horowitz, this week said that the evangelical world is a lot larger than Rev. Robertson. “The mainstream media gives him tons of ink because he is the perfect negative symbol of the evangelicals,” he said. “Even on issues like China, if he has a business deal going, Pat Robertson gets soft.”

Rev. Robertson may remind his viewers of the evils of Kim Jong Il, but does he use his riches or influence to fight for the emigration rights of North Koreans fleeing prison camps? Where was Rev. Robertson this week when the coalition of church leaders and women’s groups were at the White House for the ceremony commemorating the president’s signing of a new law against sex trafficking?

In the last 10 years, the mainstream evangelical community has become a potent force for human rights, whether they are fighting for the residents of the Darfur region under attack in Sudan or lending their support to Iranian bloggers and journalists suffering under the Ayatollahs. In the last 10 years, Rev.Robertson, on the other hand, has gotten consistently loonier, pronouncing the latest intentions of God on all manner of earthly matters. Pardon me if I get a second source.