Mrs. Pat Robertson must feel thrilled/Alzheimer's (MERGED)

[MamaJunebug]

Her husband says divorce is ok if a spouse has Alzheimer's dementia.

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/a ... 5a04a.html

Mrs. R can now get the heck away from this man whose mind has been crumbling for longer than I can remember.

:angry-screaming: The TOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry-screaming:

[Kitty]

What the fuck. Seriously? That's like, the very last thing someone should do to someone with Alzheimer's.

Divorcing an ill spouse is one of the most selfish things someone can do. Fuck Pat Robertson. What an asshole.

[liltwinstar]

Oh hell no. That's horrible!!!! Where does he get off saying that???? What about the "in sickness" part of the wedding vows????

Oh my god. There is something wrong with that man. I mean, there always was, but this takes the cake. And he calls himself "christian." Piffle.

(this hits a nerve... Grandma has Alzheimer's and it sucks. But if my Grandpa divorced her???? After 50+ years of marriage? No. My brain can't process that.)

[doggie]

TOM BREEN

Published: Sep 14, 2011 6:21 PM

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.

The chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network, which airs the "700 Club," said he wouldn't "put a guilt trip" on anyone who divorces a spouse who suffers from the illness, but added, "Get some ethicist besides me to give you the answer."

Most Christian denominations at least discourage divorce, citing Jesus' words in the Gospel of Mark that equate divorce and remarriage with adultery.

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."

A network spokesman said Wednesday that Robertson had no further statement.

Divorce is uncommon among couples where one partner is suffering from Alzheimer's, said Beth Kallmyer, director of constituent services for the Alzheimer's Association, which provides resources to sufferers and their families.

"We don't hear a lot of people saying 'I'm going to get divorced,'" she told The Associated Press. "Families typically respond the way they do to any other fatal disease."

The stress can be significant in marriages though, Kallmyer said, because it results in the gradual loss of a person's mental faculties.

"The caregiving can be really stressful on a couple of levels," she said. "There's the physical level. There's also the emotional level of feeling like you're losing that person you love."

As a result, she said, it's important for couples to make decisions about care together in the early stages of the illness, when its effects aren't as prominent.

___

Online:

http://www.alz.org

[Burris]

TOM BREEN

Published: Sep 14, 2011 6:21 PM

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."

Gay marriage is evil and it causes earthquakes, but putting marriage assunder before the death of a spouse is okay so long as one partner is sufficiently disabled? Oh, how very Christian of Pat.

God, but that man is a complete idiot.

[CelticGoddess]

And if a woman had asked this question, he would have said "You have to stay with him. It is your duty to Gawd! YOu have to stay with him until he dies." No matter that statistically, a caregiver only lives about 4 to 5 years and the persons with Alzheimer's disease lives 5 to 6 after definitive diagnosis.

[Cerysbell]

He really is totally sickening. :(

[ADoyle90815]

What an asshole and a major hypocrite. After all, they would tell a woman to stay married, but they seem to think that the vow "in sickness..." doesn't apply to men whose wives become sick. If I remember, Newt Gingrich divorced his wife because she had cancer, so he's definitely one who doesn't believe in staying with someone "in sickness," only "in health."

[Sola]

What an asshole and a major hypocrite. After all, they would tell a woman to stay married, but they seem to think that the vow "in sickness..." doesn't apply to men whose wives become sick. If I remember, Newt Gingrich divorced his wife because she had cancer, so he's definitely one who doesn't believe in staying with someone "in sickness," only "in health."

Yep, I wonder what his advice would be to a wife whose husband had alzheimers. Bet it would be 'tough shit, you married him, you stay married.'

[GenerationCedarchip]

This just makes me sick.

Also, I think it proves that Pat Robertson is now just his own crazy thing because the fundies and fundie-lites seem to be totally breaking ranks with him on this one.

Edited to add - And since I do legal work for the disabled, I just have to say that I'm glad most of the folks I work with don't follow this kind of "advice." It would make our world a much nastier and colder place.

[lizzy]

Her husband says divorce is ok if a spouse has Alzheimer's dementia.

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/a ... 5a04a.html

Mrs. R can now get the heck away from this man whose mind has been crumbling for longer than I can remember.

:angry-screaming: The TOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry-screaming:

Dude?!?!!? What happend about "For better, for worse. In sickness and in health" I guess "til death do us part" doesn't mean much anymore.

[gustava]

Given his general irrationality, perhaps he's in the beginning stages of dementia himself.

[QueenNocturne]

Yep, I wonder what his advice would be to a wife whose husband had alzheimers. Bet it would be 'tough shit, you married him, you stay married.'

Oh, don't you know? Men deserve young healthy wives that can clean and cook and make loads of babiez and satisfy them sexually because they have the Almighty Penis, dammit!

The womenfolk, of course, are only supposed to be helpmeets to men, and they can still do that if hubby is disabled. After all, they promised "To Death Do Us Part!" Don't want to be violating your sacred vow, do you?

[Dinorah]

Saying Alzheimer's a "kind of death" doesn't sound very pro-life to me...

[hoipolloi]

Even Dougie saw how wrong & awful this was (visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2011/09/9657/). Pretty bad when Doug Phillips actually appears to be a better person those he criticizes.

I'd think that Robertson was suffering from dementia but, unfortunately, he has such a long history of making these types of inflammatory statements one can only think that his behavior is deliberate and calculated.

[mnb357]

This from the same guy who was a very vocal supporter of President Ronald Reagan.

And as for his pro-life stance...I guess with these folks, if you're pre-born, you're safe, if your pre-school or older, you're fucked.

[MamaJunebug]

Saying Alzheimer's a "kind of death" doesn't sound very pro-life to me...

No kidding! So much for anything he's said about sanctity of life at beginning or end. Terry Schiavo is giving the side-eye from up in Heaven.

Robertson =

[3 is enough]

What a dick.

[twin2]

Even Dougie saw how wrong & awful this was (visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2011/09/9657/). Pretty bad when Doug Phillips actually appears to be a better person those he criticizes.

I'd think that Robertson was suffering from dementia but, unfortunately, he has such a long history of making these types of inflammatory statements one can only think that his behavior is deliberate and calculated.

I wouldn't give Capt. Dougie too big of a pat on the back, from his post:

But today the discussion has reached a new level. And this time the argument has not come from the evil step-child of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, but from Evangelical leader Pat Robertson.

Yes, because every single solitary ill that ails the world can be related back to feminism and a woman's right to choice. Dougie, for the sake of humanity, please get your head out of you ass.

[slh12280]

This is outrageous! What happened to commitment and marriage not being all about you??? What a Christian way to be :x

[Guest Anonymous]

Pat had been a big time supporter of covenant marriage when the move was afoot to turn civil marriages into covenant marriages. I wonder if an ailing wife has something to do with his changed POV?

[emmiedahl]

I could see if a person of either gender had a young spouse who became a vegetable or had devastating demetia. What good does it do to remain married to someone who does not know you and cannot even be safely cared for in your home? I would not say that you are a bad person for cutting your losses in that case. However, it is definitely the moral highground to wait for a funeral before you are on the dating scene.

Pat Robertson IS a tool, though.

[titus2_4u]

Yet I'm guessing the same wouldn't be extended to domestic violence victims. :(

[dawbs]

I could see if a person of either gender had a young spouse who became a vegetable or had devastating demetia. What good does it do to remain married to someone who does not know you and cannot even be safely cared for in your home? I would not say that you are a bad person for cutting your losses in that case. However, it is definitely the moral highground to wait for a funeral before you are on the dating scene.

Pat Robertson IS a tool, though.

I"m going to be the asshat here, but why should only 'young spouse' people have that freedom?

I think Pat Robertson is a tool of all tools. He probably has 'craftsman' on his head if he shaved it. And I thinkhe handled this as tactlessly as possible.

But. That being said...I think 'divorce' isn't the best choice. But I don't think treating it as if the marriage is unbreakable is the right choice either

If my grandfather had decided that, after 8 years in separate nursing homes, being married to a vegetable, he wanted to 'date', I would have supported that. It wouldn't have meant he didn't love my grandmother. It would have meant he was a human being who craved companionship and had to recognize that being married to a vegetable isn't really companionship.

(my family was appalled by my opinion and, since Grandma has passed and Grandpa doesnt' seem inclined to date, it's moot. But I still stand by it.

[Chrystal-J]

Given his general irrationality, perhaps he's in the beginning stages of dementia himself.

Sounds possible. Or he could just be a hypocritical jerk.