Pat Robertson has done it again. What has he done, you ask. He’s made me so angry that I feel it necessary to print off a picture of him and let my eighth grade students throw spit wads at his face. I know that God doesn’t make mistakes, but I fear that time on this earth has caused Robertson’s wiring to fray and become faulty.
Remember when Haiti – a very poor nation, just minding their own business – was devastated by an earthquake? And instead of finding them hungry, cold and lonely and caring for them (as Jesus has asked us to do), Pat Robertson found them to be in contempt of God Almighty and deemed that it was their hellish pact with the devil that led them down the rocky path straight to an earthquake.
I don’t know about Pat’s god, but I do know that my God is not a God of destruction.
Now, Pat has come out and said that divorce is OK if your spouse has Alzheimer’s – because Alzheimer’s is like death. Alzheimer’s will end in death. Basically, in one way or another, Alzheimer’s will claim your spouse and leave you widowed, so it’s acceptable to go ahead and divorce him or her and move on with your life. Well… I hate to tell ya this, but every day, each of us gets closer to death and that ultimately, when the time comes, we will all die. Your theory, Mr. Robertston, is what I like to call bull caca.
What strikes me as odd about this statement is not that he’s condoning divorce – anyone who knows me knows that I am perfectly content with whether or not you choose to divorce for whatever reason, that’s your decision. You live with the consequences of your own actions.
What strikes me as odd is the blatant disregard for the marriage vows – which, regardless of religious affiliation (or not), the term “In sickness and in health” is included in most forms of marriage vows, secular, religious or otherwise.
In Pat’s mind, is Alzheimer’s NOT a sickness? Does Pat believe that when one suffers under the influences of Alzheimer’s that he or she is choosing to let the mind wander and not remember such things as how to brush ones teeth or to turn off the water when exiting the shower or to come back home once you leave your house? Does Pat think that the disease of Alzheimer’s is so rough on a person that he or she can bail on a spouse even after pledging “better or worse” thus leaving them in the worst state - lonely? Does he think this is OK?
I’m not here to debate whether or not God influenced Pat Robertson’s stand on Alzheimer’s abandonment – as long as you agree with me that God did NOT give that inspiration to Mr. Robertson.
I am here to say that if Pat Robertson honestly believes that having a disease that robs the mind of the ability to think and to rationalize and to function as an independent human being – is grounds for divorce, then, Mrs. Robertson: I believe you have grounds.
