{"id":459,"date":"2011-09-19T21:56:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-19T21:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/09\/pat-robertson-doesnt-want-any-guilt-trips.html"},"modified":"2011-09-19T21:56:00","modified_gmt":"2011-09-19T21:56:00","slug":"pat-robertson-doesnt-want-any-guilt-trips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/09\/pat-robertson-doesnt-want-any-guilt-trips.html","title":{"rendered":"Pat Robertson Doesn’t Want Any Guilt Trips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Everyone knows that Pat Robertson is a paragon of biblical righteousness.\u00a0 This, after all, is a man who knows that hurricanes strike in order to punish people for their iniquity.\u00a0 It seems that Robertson is softening up on his call for complete adherence to the bible, even if it means defying Jesus himself.<\/p>\n

In a recent episode of \u201cThe 700 Club\u201d Robertson was replied to a man whose wife had Alzheimer\u2019s Disease about the permissibility of divorcing her and going back out on the dating scene.\u00a0 As reported by the Washington Post \u201cUnder God<\/a>\u201d blog:<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it sounds cruel,\u201d Robertson said in answers to a viewer\u2019s question<\/a>, adding that although Christian marriage vows are binding \u201cto death do us part\u201d \u2026 \u201cthis is a kind of a death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly wouldn\u2019t put a guilt trip on you if you decided that you had to have companionship, you\u2019re lonely, and you\u2019re asking for some companionship,\u201d Robertson said, clarifying that the spouse would have to ensure that his wife would have \u201csomebody looking after her.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now I\u2019m no great New Testament scholar, though for a Jew I have studied more than my fair share, but it was not all that difficult to find this in Matthew 19:9, straight from the man himself:<\/p>\n

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This in itself is a pretty hard-hearted view of divorce, given that the Hebrew Scriptures permit it.\u00a0 Of course, according to rabbinical interpretation, the woman must willingly accept the bill of divorcement (get).\u00a0 In the case of Robertson\u2019s inquiry, this would not be the case.<\/p>\n

As a humanist, I find it distressing that someone would divorce a spouse for this reason.\u00a0 I have been around people who have been in this situation and I\u2019ve never heard a single one entertain that idea.\u00a0 Perhaps Robertson would point out that times have changed.\u00a0 Today we have the ability to take care of someone outside of the framework of the traditional family.\u00a0 We can now ensure that someone is looking after the no longer wanted or functioning family member.<\/p>\n

Wow, Pat.\u00a0 Your morality is characterized by so much\u2026what\u2019s the word I\u2019m searching for?\u00a0 Relativism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone knows that Pat Robertson is a paragon of biblical righteousness.\u00a0 This, after all, is a man who knows that hurricanes strike in order to punish people for their iniquity.\u00a0 It seems that Robertson is softening up on his call for complete adherence to the bible, even if it means defying Jesus himself. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[12,27],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-fundamentalist-christianity","tag-morality"],"yoast_head":"\nPat Robertson Doesn't Want Any Guilt Trips<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone knows that Pat Robertson is a paragon of biblical righteousness.\u00a0 This, after all, is a man who knows that hurricanes strike in order to punish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/09\/pat-robertson-doesnt-want-any-guilt-trips.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pat Robertson Doesn't Want Any Guilt Trips\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everyone knows that Pat Robertson is a paragon of biblical righteousness.\u00a0 This, after all, is a man who knows that hurricanes strike in order to punish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2011\/09\/pat-robertson-doesnt-want-any-guilt-trips.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-09-19T21:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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