Pat Robertson’s Alzheimer’s Controversy!

Just so that we have the record clear, the actual statements that Pat Robertson made are clear and free of any distortion, in particular of distortion by the far left, this is exactly and officially what Pat Robertson said regarding the ethical problem involved with being married to some one with Alzheimer’s Disease. Pat Robertson did say that you might want to consult another ethicist because it was a very difficult situation.
The question that was posed was a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s has begun seeing someone else. Pat Robertson’s reasoning is that the man must divorce the wife (in order not to be committing adultery) but that the husband is free from his vows because of the clause “till death do us part” because Alzheimer’s really is a “walking death”.
It seems like every year or every few years, maybe even on a six-month cycle there is another controversy coming out of Pat Robertson’s mouth- the United States should send an agent to shoot Chavez, Ariel Sharon’s stroke was an act of God in response to Sharon’s “dividing the land of Israel”, you name it. Many of his statements over the years have shocked even others within the Christian right.
Without commenting on the other controversies he’s been involved with over the years, because that would just be a book long document if I did that, I don’t know if I really disagree that strongly with Pat Robertson on this one. If the wife is in an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s, I’m not sure the husband seeing another woman even really qualifies as adultery. Pat Robertson did clarify that the wife needed to be put in qualified custodial care. Can it be said though that a marriage to a wife with advanced Alzheimer’s belongs within the same ethical categories? Pat clearly sees the difficulty of this situation in terms of it being a crisis and for a Christian particularly a crisis of faith. I’m actually going to side with the big Pat Robertson on this one. The husband is betraying a woman whose mind is failing and won’t be coming back? That’s pretty close to saying that a man is cheating on his dead spouse. I don’t even know if I’d be legalistic enough to call it adultery. Now that John Edwards guy who was cheating on his wife who had cancer- that is unacceptable, but I think she more or less had her mental cognizance still. This is one Pat Robertson controversy where I really don’t see where the controversy is exactly. Pat Robertson was the first to admit that this was probably over his head ethically. He didn’t even say he had a definitive answer really.
How much controversy about this one? There’s lots-of course, this is what Pat Robertson does best. Well, very clearly there is the perception that the left and moderates have that Pat Robertson is a gay hating, woman hating, far right wingnut. But the controversies surrounding Pat Robertson are often internal even within the Christian Right. Check out this evangelical blog post denouncing Pat Robertson. Strong statements against the man from his fellow Evangelicals, something to behold: http://www.russellmoore.com/2011/09/15/christ-the-church-and-pat-robertson/
A repudiation of scripture? Russell Moore calls Pat Robertson statements “Canaanite”! When you start using scripture against him like that, that’s fighting words.
Pat Robertson was certainly born with a specific gift for massive confrontations like this. It’s truly unreal. It would surprise not at all if he comes up with another one within the next six months. He’s like a walking argument.