From the LOS ANGELES TIMES:
Pat Robertson has made many controversial statements over the years, such as suggesting that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were God’s punishment for the U.S. tolerating abortion and homosexuality. His critics are usually those on the politically opposite spectrum of the conservative Christian leader, or outside the Christian faith.
But the television evangelist’s most recent statements — condoning divorce when a spouse has Alzheimer’s — appears to have offended many Christians who feel it violates the sanctity of marriage and that most cherished of marriage vows: Til death do us part.
The controversy stems from comments Robertson made recently on the “700 Club” program on Christian Broadcast Network. His comments came in response to a caller who said that a friend had begun dating other women while his wife lies seriously ill with Alzheimer’s, and justifies it by saying that “his wife, as he knows her, is gone.”
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EDITOR: What does “Til death do us part” mean? Is it about never divorcing, no matter what, and the partner living a lonely, celibate life? Or does it mean providing loving care for one’s former spouse? We should ask ourselves what we we want for the person we love if we no longer were aware of their presence. Apparently an aging Robertson has.
It’s not just about the “til death do us part”. What about the “in sickness and in health” or the “for better or for worse”?
Maybe it’s not a matter of Robertson saying people should live lonely, celibate lives. Perhaps he is merely suggesting that we shouldn’t love our spouse so fully so that when they are no longer the person we remember because of something as debilitating as Alzheimer’s, we can “detach with love”? What about other chronic diseases? What if our spouse is the age of a person that is supposed to be young and fit but they are now fighting terminal cancer? Do we start dating because the person is not the person we remember and they are just going to die anyway?
If THAT is what the thought process has become about loving someone and being married to them, then I don’t want it.