'Become Muslim, beat your wife,' televangelist advises US man
From online dispatches
Evangelical Christian leader Pat Robertson takes his seat onstage ahead of a campaign rally with Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in Virginia Beach. REUTERS photo
American televangelist Pat Robertson has advised a man to "become Muslim and beat his wife" after the latter asked Robertson for a way to make his spouse "respect him."The incident happened on a Sept. 10 broadcast of the "The 700 Club" TV show, when a caller named Michael asked about how to repair his marriage "to a woman who has no respect for [him] as the head of the house."
Robertson responded, "Well, you could become a Muslim and you could beat her."
It was not the first time Robertson offended a group of people, Huffington Post reported, as he had previously targeted "gays, feminists and pagans, atheists, people with Alzheimer's, adoptive parents, Haitians and people who don't pray enough."
Robertson did not stop after his remark and went on to say, "I don’t think we condone wife-beating these days but something has got to be done to make her."
The televangelist called the woman a "rebellious child" and since the Scripture did not allow for divorce, advised Michael to move to Saudi Arabia where, as far as Robertson is concerned, beating his wife would be permissible.
