Posted on 09/15/2011 5:07:38 AM PDT by Not gonna take it anymore
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson told his "700 Club" viewers that divorcing a spouse with Alzheimer's is justifiable because the disease is "a kind of death." During the portion of the show where the one-time Republican presidential candidate takes questions from viewers, Robertson was asked what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman after his wife started suffering from the incurable neurological disorder.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
I think he’s absolutely WRONG. AND....if he’s a Christian....he SHOULD know better.
Guess he doesn’t believe in the “in sickness and in health” part.
Encouraging people to make their spouses wards of the state. Disgusting.
If you can justify an action on any level, than it is nasically justifiable on all levels.
Aside from abuse, addiction, and abandonment, there is no justification for divorce.
When the teachings of Christ are met with personal reality, men grow weak.
What about the “for better or for worse” part?
In sickness and in health ... I fail to see the escape clause
BTW, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor resigned from the USSC to care for her husband who has alzheimers
He is in an assisted living home and as he lost his mind, he fell in love with another woman in the facilty.
Sad
what advice a man should give to a friend who began seeing another woman
Lets cut to the chase. What does “seeing another woman” mean?
Rhetorical question.
Robertson is flat-out, wrong.
What about ALS, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Parkinson’s Disease and any number of diseases, which I might also consider to be a “type of death”?
Robertson has said some screwy stuff in the past. He is a mouthpiece that the left simply loves to quote to serve as an example of the Christian point of view.
He hardly speaks for me.
—Guess he doesn’t believe in the “in sickness and in health” part.—
You ripped those words right out of my mouth.
I have not watched that sjow since the last century. One of the reasons is that I saw them get more and more out of touch. There was a guy named Benny Something that was absolutely unbelieveable, and the guy that had a face for radio.
It’s amazing what people can get away with doing and saying if it is under the umbrella of “Christian ministry”. There is a lot of “emperor has no clothes” stuff in a lot of places. And you feel like a heel when you bring it up and don’t just go with the flow.
are you fricking kidding me?
Pat Robertson... Holy Roller ... enough said.
I’m wondering if Robertson is exhibiting a touch of Alzheimers him self. No way Christian ethics could be used to condone such a statement or to justify such actions!
I must say I was shocked to read this from Robertson.
But, when we live as society does, then I guess it is only a matter of time before a Christian leader will promote the ethics of that society.
Wonder how this will affect his 700 club and donations?
Abandoning a spouse when they are ‘lost’ and isolated doesn’t seem very Christian.....
Pat is a jerk.
—Robertson is flat-out, wrong.—
Yep. When people would get divorces in my church back in the day I was very unpopular when, as they described the situation to me and others I would say, “what part of ‘for better or worse’ did you not understand?” Mind you, I’m not talking about abandonment, adultry or SEVERE physical abuse.
God help the candidate that gets his endorsement.
There was a time 30 to 40 years ago when Robertson was a dynamic force and made sense. However, Robertson now is an old man whose ideas have gotten more off the wall as time goes on. He needs to retire. All he does is act as a prop for the MSM and Left to hold up as an example of what all conservatives think and how “crazy” and “scary” we are.
This is an insult to anyone who has ever had to care for a terminally ill spouse. Robertson has been really spouting some doozies lately.
None of those three are found in the Bible. The one that is justification for divorce is fornication.You never even mention that one. Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
We make a very serious mistake if we rely on media like the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, or MSNBC for reliable news about religion. These news media simply don’t provide trustworthy information about religious faith—and sometimes they can’t provide it, either because of limited resources or because of their own editorial prejudices. These are secular operations focused on making a profit. They have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and teach God’s truth. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia |
Of course, Mr. Robertson is not Catholic, but I think this quote is still applicable.
Bottom line: you have any verification of this?
—I must say I was shocked to read this from Robertson.—
Sadly, I’m not. I remember the reason I stopped watching that tripe quite a while ago. The proof is that when I first read the headline I was not even a little surprised. My instinctive response was, “There they go again.”
Their hearts may have been in the right place in the beginning but, as is oft’ said, power corrupts. They may even be fooling themselves. I dunno.
That's the only thing I can think of.
Man, if he actually said that... Hard to believe, coming from a “Christian”. A spouse with Alzheimer’s is more in need of loving, Christian care than most people.
When my FIL was diagnosed, we researched the subject thoroughly. Seems that people with Alzheimers often “fall in love” with a new person — usually suffering from the disease as well, and residing in the same care facility. They do live in a new and different world. They don’t remember their old life, including spouse, children, and friends. It’s hard for the spouse who’s well to deal with that, but you’ve still got to be there for them. Anyhow, FWIW...
I am normally in agreement with what Robertson says, but here he’s declared that Alzheimer’s is equivalent to death. He is wrong, and is rewriting the Bible!
—Mat 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.—
That was a tough one for me. My wife and I were both divorced before. We had both been abandoned by our spouses when we met, about 15 years ago.
Wonder if we are forgiven.
JK.
I believe it’s adultery and abandonment. The Bible mentions nothing of abuse or addiction as justification for divorce.
If a person is willing to abuse you, he may be willing to kill you.
If a person has an addiction problem, generally speaking, getting that high is all that matters to him.
If a person has abandoned the marriage, he doesn’t consider himself married to you. There is no relationship to speak of
Are you really willing to stay married to a person who is willing to kill you, financially destroy you, or not be in a relationship at all with you?
I posted it from the CBS website.
If it is wrong then I expect that Mr. Robertson say so. If he comes out with a statement denying it, I will post that as well.
Ok, so some physical abuse is ok? Must it be “SEVERE”? I don’t understand...
My first job out of college was working for a fellow who carried on with my supervisor, who was a beautiful young woman about 20 years his junior.
The man was married to a woman with ALS. I don’t know if they had some kind of arrangement. As a young man I empathized and understood the situation and tried to keep it in perspective.
When I got married I saw it differently. I thought that it was a disgusting situation. The owner of the company, was not only unfaithful to his wife, but he also hurt his wife’s family in such a deep and personal way. They hated him for what he had done. He harmed the young woman that he carried on with ~ she was basically a whore and she knew it. She suffered with guilt for years after she finally had the courage to break off the relationship. He also hurt his own 2 sons, one 17 and one 23 at the time. They got to watch their father carry on with a woman that was a few years older than them while he cheated on the woman who gave them life. Yuck!
In retrospect this guy could have done a couple of things, he could have been weak, but discrete in this relationship. This would still be sinful. He was NOT in the least. It would not have affected anyone else a much.
He loved having this young woman on his arm and flaunting the fact that they had a sexual relationship while his wife lay dying in her bed. Pretty disgusting.
He could have had the decency to simply wait until his wife, who suffered a horrible death, departed this life.
Of course.
If it is wrong then I expect that Mr. Robertson say so. If he comes out with a statement denying it, I will post that as well.
Of course.
I am always very suspicious of secular media reports about things religious (unless, of course, those things are the "right" (left) religious beliefs).
((sigh))... what is it about PR? He says the exact wrong thing every few years.
Do people really watch or send money to this toad anymore?
Any good Christian (are there any anymore in the public sector) should and would know better than to say something as cruel as this. If he really said that, then he’s a disgrace.
Jonty, It seems that you’ve met my soon-to-be-ex wife!
Well said. And as an Evangelical Christian, Pat does not speak for me.
No, certainly not.
Alzheimers is not a type of death. That thinking diminishes the humanity of the person and turns them into nothing more than a material possession which can discarded at will. A coma can be said to be the same “type of death” he considers.
One cannot discard another person simply because of the inconvenience of taking care of them through a debilitating illness.
Is Pat’s wife losing her faculties, btw?
The source is CBS News; the Left’s #1 goal is to hold us to our values and “catch” us when we don’t. I seriously doubt the quote was taken in its context. I’d have to see the video. Till death do you part is likely what he still holds to.
Christian’s can be wrong. I believe that Robertson is both.
A Holly Roller" preacher would preach a whole sermon sending that guy straight to hell.
Divorce is not justifiable unless the spouse is an evil person who endangers your life — and even then, there are wives and husbands who have brought that person to Christ.
I have never faced this horrible situation my expectations are that I stick by her side until the end and join her as soon as practicle. I have no way of living without her.
Thank you, Mark!
That is a timely reminder. We believe little of what the MSM and certainly CBS news and its ilk print and say in politics and that must also extend to religion.
Unless the statement is verified by CBS and Pat Robertson, it should be given little credence.
There is no telling how badly Pat Robertson’s statements could have been twisted beyond what he actually said.
This free-for-all-divorce has devalued marriage opening the way to “gay marriage”
Wow. If this is true, it’s a disgusting display of selfish relativism.
Years ago, I cared for an ICU patient who had a devastating brain injury from a car accident. None of us expected her to survive, but she did. This woman, in her early 20s, ended up in a skilled nursing facility. She wasn’t on a ventilator, but did have a feeding tube and wasn’t interactive, although she was awake. She had several very small children & a husband.
He stood by her throughout this. A year after her accident, I ran into him. He was still married to her & visited her when he could while raising their young children. The thought of divorcing her was not an option to him. This was in 2002......I wonder where he is today. I think about him from time to time, and pray for him. God bless him for staying true to his vows in a society that wouldn’t be very supportive of his lifestyle.
Endorsements don’t mean squat.
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