On the yesterday’s 700 Club, Host Pat Robertson went off the deep end again with a wild and crazy comment that will in some sense give the Christian community a black eye.
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.
“I know it sounds cruel, but if he’s going to do something, he should divorce her and start all over again, but make sure she has custodial care and somebody looking after her,” Robertson said.
Terry Meeuwsen, Robertson’s co-host, asked him about couples’ marriage vows to take care of each other “for better or for worse” and “in sickness and in health.”
“If you respect that vow, you say ’til death do us part,’” Robertson said during the Tuesday broadcast. “This is a kind of death.”
I am reminded of what James said in chapter 3:1 of his book: “Let not many of you become teachers. . .knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.”
Okay, here is the bottom line: No one is given the green light to divorce his or her spouse over the issue of Alzheimer. Having such a disease, as horrible as it can be, is not a biblical ground for divorce. Pat Robertson is on a slipping slope and now many others who not only have a spouse with such a disease will be seriously considering the divorce route, but others will be looking at their option of taking off if they see some similarities. The human mind which has been tainted with sin will come up with all kinds of possible escape routes through rationalization.
I think it is good to remind ourselves what God thinks about divorce on unbiblical grounds: “I hate divorce” (Mal. 2:16). Pat Robertson is doing exactly what occurred back during the days of Malachi. Not only were the leaders making evil into something good, but they also implied that God delighted in evil because He did not dispense immediate judgment on it. Here is what the bible declares: You have wearied Me with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied God?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or “Where is the God of justice?” (Mal. 2:17).
If you want to have an idea of Malachi 2:17 flesh out for you in real life, then here it is in the person of Pat Robertson and a host of others who open the door for Christians to sin all the while thinking it is the right thing to do.
