Pat Robertson Tells Child: Don't Bust Dad If He Threatens Mom With Gun

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Christian television host Pat Robertson recently addressed the controversial topic of spousal abuse, saying on his television program that a child should first seek help from their parent, instead of the police, if they witness their father being abusive toward their mother.

On the Wednesday airing of the Christian Broadcasting Network's "The 700 Club," Robertson and his co-host were fielding questions from viewers of their show, one of which came from a child who has witnessed his father threaten his mother with a gun when he's angry.

"Whenever my parents fight, my dad threatens my mom with his gun. Fortunately, this now means nothing to my mom, and she never goes nuts about it; she is very calm. But as a child, I get nervous and worried when this happens. Even my younger brother saw this incident. What should we do about it and him?" the viewer's question reads.

Robertson responds to the question by saying that although the boy "needs to do something to intervene," he "doesn't want to get his father busted" with the police.

"Well, again, you don't want to get your father busted, but you could," Robertson explained. "You ought to go to your mother and say, 'Mom, this thing is scaring me, and I ask you please to get my father to have some help.'"

"This kind of rage – I mean, one day he's going to pull the trigger," Robertson continued. "It doesn't take too much if you've got a loaded weapon and you're brandishing it around, 'I'm going to kill you.' And the next thing you know, the thing goes off. It may be accidentally, but the mother will end up dead."

"You need to do something to intervene but you're a kid, what do you do, you know? Your mother ought to take care of that."

Robertson has previously stirred controversy with some of the comments he's made on "The 700 Club," the flagship television program of the Christian Broadcasting Network. In March, Robertson suggested that those who grow excessively angry at the mere mention of God may have had a dysfunctional childhood.

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Robertson said that when someone gets extremely angry just at the mention of God, he's not certain if they're dealing with "something that is demonic" or "something that is deeply ingrained … But to be that openly hostile to the word 'God,' it's something beyond the normal human experience. Something has happened."

"Maybe she had an abusing father, somebody who raped her and acted like he was preaching to her from the Bible," Robertson said. "You just never know what's going on in somebody's childhood."

"All you can do is be understanding, and be loving, and don't try to push anything on her. Pray for her, but if she won't hear, she won't hear. You've done what you can do but always in love, speaking the truth in love."