Bob Edgar, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA and who served as a Pennsylvania Democrat on the House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1976 to 1979, said Robertson's comments made no sense.
"It defies logic that a clergyman could so casually dismiss thousands of years of Judeo-Christian law, including the commandment that we are not to kill," Edgar said.
The Rev. Ted Haggard, a Colorado pastor and president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, said Robertson increased the danger for evangelical missionaries in Venezuela because "if this dictator starts to think of evangelicals as people who are gunning for him, that could be difficult for missionaries there."
In California, the Rev. Kevin Mannoia compared Robertson's statement to those of Islamic extremists. "We complain about the Islamic fanatics making statements like that," said Mannoia, a former president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals who is now chaplain at Azusa Pacific University, an evangelical institution.
He called Robertson's statement "an extreme, fanatical reaction that is not representative of the Christian faith in general and the evangelical movement in particular. It's out of line and inappropriate and should not be made by a serious person in a serious forum."
Mannoia said he thought Robertson's influence was diminishing, particularly with new generations of evangelicals.
The ABC Family Channel, one of the outlets for "The 700 Club," distanced itself from Robertson, saying in a statement that it was contractually obligated to carry the program and had "no editorial control over views expressed by the hosts or guests."
"ABC Family strongly rejects the views expressed by Pat Robertson in the Aug. 22 telecast of the program," the statement said.
Robertson's office did not respond to a telephone call or an e-mail message seeking comments on his remarks and the reactions.
Robertson is familiar with controversy.
In 1998, he responded to a campaign to fly flags in downtown Orlando, Fla., to celebrate National Gay Pride Month with a warning to the city: "You're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you. This is not a message of hate; this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor."
