Religious right leaders continue `Blame America' approach to terror attack. (People & Events).

TV preacher Pat Robertson and several other Religious Right leaders have continued to claim that the United States was subject to a terrorist attack on Sept. 11 because the country has embraced church-state separation and turned its back on God.

Robertson and fellow religious broadcaster Jerry Falwell earned national scorn for suggesting Sept. 13 that the nation deserved the attack because of Supreme Court decisions upholding church-state separation, tolerance of gay people and legal abortion.

Speaking at an Oct. 1 ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of his Christian Broadcasting Network, Robertson insisted that worse would come unless the country embraces a Christian spiritual revival. He called the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed more than 6,000 and brought down the World Trade Center in New York City, a "wake-up call from God."

Robertson told the crowd of about 1,000, "The Lord is getting ready to shake this nation. We have not yet seen His judgment on America. This thing that happened in New York was child's play compared to what's going to happen. It was a great tragedy. It tore at our hearts when we saw that suffering, but it was a wake-up call from God."

Afterward, Robertson told the Associated Press that he stands by his statement after the attacks in which he said that God is "lifting his protection from us." The statement suggested God is angry because of court rulings upholding church-state separation, legalized abortion, Internet pornography and materialism.

(Robertson's views have apparently not made him unpopular with the Bush administration. During the ceremony, Michael Little, chief operating officer of CBN, read a congratulatory telegram from Attorney General John Ashcroft.)

Robertson is not the only Religious Right figure blaming the attack on church-state separation and Americans' alleged spiritual shortcomings. Two days after the attack, a group of fundamentalist leaders issued a joint statement making many of the same arguments. Titled "What To Do When The Towers Crumble: A Biblical Response To America's National Emergency," the statement strongly implied that the attack was a result of the country's sinful ways.

"Our choices have consequences," it read. "Our rebellion has results. In many ways, the results of the recent days are a reflection of the crumbling foundation of America."

The statement asserted that it is "now easier in many schools to bring a weapon than a Bible. Commandments are out and condoms are in.... Our rebellion is bringing us destruction and allowing our enemies to triumph over us. We need to pray that God will restore the walls of his protection around our nation."

Signers include Robertson; Florida TV preacher D. James Kennedy; Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ; Charles W. Colson, Prison Fellowship; James Dobson of Focus on the Family; James Merritt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and Lloyd Ogilvie, chaplain of the U.S. Senate.

The statement attracted little media attention and, in light of the uproar over Falwell and Robertson's comments, was quickly hidden from public view. A Church & State search found no postings on any Religious Right website. However, the magazine was able to obtain the document from other sources.

Billy Graham's daughter, evangelist Anne Graham Lotz, echoed many of those sentiments on CBS's "Early Show" Sept. 13, telling the hosts, "I believe you can't shake your fist in God's face, as we seem to have done over the last few years. We have told God nationally, politically, corporately, `God, get out of our schools, get out of our businesses, get out of our government and get out of the marketplace. And it's OK if you stay in church or a synagogue, but don't come out on the street.' And then God, who is a gentleman and doesn't force himself on anybody, just withdraws very gently by degrees."

In other news about the Religious Right:

* James Dobson says people should let up on Jerry Falwell. In a statement issued Sept. 20, Dobson, founder and president of Focus on the Family, said Falwell has apologized and it's time to move on.

"Jerry Falwell has apologized for what he said," wrote Dobson. "He was on a network program last night and said as clearly as he could that he should not have expressed those thoughts. It wasn't time to criticize one another and blame those who had nothing to do with the tragedy for what happened. He profusely apologized for what he said, and I think we ought to cut him a little slack at this time because we all make mistakes."

Dobson went on to give Falwell's views a back-handed endorsement, writing, "I think what he was trying to say is that the strength of this country is its commitment to ultimate values and beliefs. When a nation moves away from its core beliefs and begins to create a new value system as it goes along, it becomes a weaker nation -- and all kinds of difficulty can come out of that."

* Concerned Women for America has a new president. Christian radio talk show host Sandy Rios assumed the position Oct. 15. She replaces Carmen Pate, who resigned in May of 1999 after serving just one year. The conservative Washington Times newspaper reported that Pate had "differences" with CWA founder Beverly LaHaye.

CWA claims to be the largest women's organization in the country, with 600,000 members. The organization's budget in 2000 was $12.5 million.