Pat Robertson: Alzheimer’s makes divorce OK (VIDEO)

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson called Alzheimer's a "kind of death" and said it was justifiable for someone to divorce a spouse who suffers from the illness.

Robertson made the comment while talking to his viewers of the show, "700 Club," which airs on the Christian Broadcasting Network. A viewer asked the former presidential candidate what advice a man should give to a friend whose wife had Alzheimer's and he subsequently began having an affair, as reported by USA Today.

"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. (See video below.)

Robertson's co-host, Terry Meeuwsen, asked him about a couple's vows to each other to remain together "for better or for worse" and "in sickness and in health."

Robertson answered: "If you respect that vow, you say 'til death do us part … This is a kind of death."

Most Christian denominations discourage divorce according to the belief that divorce and remarriage equate with adultery.

A social worker with the Alzheimer's Association, Beth Kallymer, told CBS News that the diagnosis is not like "death."

"Even in the final stages, people can still connect and relate and have a need for intimacy – even when they don't know who you are."

Alzheimer's is a devastating neurological disease.

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