Televangelist Pat Robertson suggested parents ought to let nature take its course when it comes to potentially fatal childhood illness such as measles, mumps, and polio.

“I’m sure that there’s some serious consequences to measles and perhaps vaccinations is the answer, but I don’t think any parent should be forced by the government to vaccinate,” he said.

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He claimed during the “700 Club” on Tuesday that a friend’s mother contracted polio from the vaccine, which he said suggested some immunizations were “not benign,” reported Right Wing Watch.

“So far this one about whooping cough and diphtheria and measles has been very effective, and I think it was a good thing to do,” Robertson said. “But the problem is, natural immunity is a pretty good thing, and if you have some of these diseases when you’re a kid you have immunity the rest of your life.”

He also warned against fluoride, another government-mandated health policy that arouses suspicions in some.

“I just think that we’ve got to be careful that we fall for these nostrums, you know, you have to put fluoride in all of the water because it will cut down on cavities,” Robertson said. “But what does fluoride do to people? We don’t know some of the consequences, we don’t have all of the knowledge we need and we should be very careful not to force people to do stuff that they earnestly feel they shouldn’t do.”

Watch the segment posted online by RWW Blog: