Religious radical endorses presidential candidate

[Pat H]

No, not the Louis Farrakan endorsement of Barrack Obama, that's old news now, and Obama jumped through the hoops set up by the MSM just fine.

No, this is about John Sydney McCain, III's endorsement by a non-denomination white, radical church in Texas.

Thursday February 28, 2008 07:40 EST
Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable

One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful.

Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."

McCain's sainted supporter, Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?

Here is just a small sampling of the belief system of this welcomed McCain supporter:

* All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:

TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point? JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --
TG: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general.
JH: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.

* God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin. From the same interview:

JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.
So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

* The End Times -- Rapture -- is imminent and the U.S. Government must do what it can to hasten it, which at minimum requires: (a) a war with Iran and (b) undying, absolute support for a unified Israel, including all Occupied Territories (hence, Joe Lieberman's love affair with them). From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times (h/t PZ Meyers):

A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West.

Hagee believes that "the president's support for Israel fulfills a biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state," which "will play a pivotal role in the second coming." These views are not unrelated to Hagee's support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain's so-called "pro-Israel views," his belligerence towards Iran, and his social conservatism as reasons for the endorsement. And in critical contrast to Obama and Farrakhan, McCain actually seems to share some of Hagee's more twisted views, as evidenced by McCain's joyful singing about dropping bombs on Iran.

Read the complete annotated article

 

[cool hand luke 22:36]

Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed John McCain

No doubt that Hagee would seem to be a bit "out there" when his comments are taken out of context. However there is nothing in Hagee's world view, beliefs, or actions that are any where near as radical as Farrakan's.

For one thing, if you were to attend a service at Hagee's Church you'd find lots of folks from different races. Farrakan is an avowed Black supremicist who believes whites are literally "devils." You won't see any White, Asian, Hispanic, etc. at a Nation of Islam (NOI) rally or service.

NOI is much closer to groups like the Aryan Nations, or the Covenant, Arm, and Sword of the Lord. There's the same theology of race supremecy, of violence, of sepratism, etc.

 

[Chui]

No doubt that Hagee would seem to be a bit "out there" when his comments are taken out of context. However there is nothing in Hagee's world view, beliefs, or actions that are any where near as radical as Farrakan's.

For one thing, if you were to attend a service at Hagee's Church you'd find lots of folks from different races. Farrakan is an avowed Black supremicist who beleives whites are literally "devils." You won't see any White, Asian, Hispanic, etc. at a Nation of Islam (NOI) rally or service.

NOI is much closer to groups like the Aryan Nations, or the Covenant, Arm, and Sword of the Lord. There's the same theology of race supremecy, of violence, of sepratism, etc.

What? Have you actually read Hagee? I do and he's a bigot. To declare one race over another is racist. Period. It matters not if that race is Black, Red, Yellow, White or Green. It's all the same. Wipe out the Arabs, eh? With the US leading the way. No thanks. The so-called Christian Fundamentalists need to re-evaluate themselves.

Question? Have you been to an NOI function? I read ALL materials from ALL walks of life and I haven't read any race superiority from Farrakhan in a long, long time. For one there is no weaponry with the NOI. I know because one of my classmates is a member. I told him I thought he was crazy on the "no weaponry" 'commandment. They don't sanction violence and they don't declare that any race must leave the US or the planet because they are inherently inferior. And I think the reference to 'devils' has much more to do with behavior [genocide, slavery, discrimination, etc.] not the color of one's skin or religion for that matter.

Living in the Detroit suburbs I find it valuable to keep a pulse on the "fringe" groups would be wise. There ARE Black Separatists groups who are dangerous to you or I (as I don't share their opinions) on an individual level and just as a certain percentage of racists exist in society it is doubtless that some exist in any grouping despite, inspite and to spite the leadership.

There's no room for double standards.

 

[JaserST4]

What? Have you actually read Hagee? I do and he's a bigot. To declare one race over another is racist. Period. It matters not if that race is Black, Red, Yellow, White or Green. It's all the same. Wipe out the Arabs, eh? With the US leading the way. No thanks. The so-called Christian Fundamentalists need to re-evaluate themselves.

Based on what? Your error? Islam isn't a race and he hasn't called for exterminating them. I'm not a Hagee fan but many that have read the Koran do say it calls for the killing of enemies of Islam.

I read ALL materials from ALL walks of life and I haven't read any race superiority from Farrakhan in a long, long time.

Maybe you should be more select and emphasize comprehension?

 

[cool hand luke 22:36]

What? Have you actually read Hagee? I do and he's a bigot. To declare one race over another is racist. Period. It matters not if that race is Black, Red, Yellow, White or Green. It's all the same. Wipe out the Arabs, eh? With the US leading the way. No thanks. The so-called Christian Fundamentalists need to re-evaluate themselves.

Hagee has criticized Islam, not the Arab race or any other race. You need to remember that Muslims come in all races, not just Arab.

Question? Have you been to an NOI function? I read ALL materials from ALL walks of life and I haven't read any race superiority from Farrakhan in a long, long time.

Yes I have been to NOI functions, or should say I attempted to. I and several other White students were blocked by NOI thugs from entering the building at my PUBLIC University where they were having a meeting. Only Blacks were permitted inside. I also recall the racist attacks on Whites on the Mall in Washington by NOI supporters at the Million Man March.

Calypso Gene (Farrakan) continues to spew his racist hatred. I heard him use the term "rats" to refer to Jews, and "devils" to refer to whites in just the past six months.

For one there is no weaponry with the NOI. I know because one of my classmates is a member. I told him I thought he was crazy on the "no weaponry" 'commandment. They don't sanction violence and they don't declare that any race must leave the US or the planet because they are inherently inferior.

Funny, they seemed to have pleanty of weapons and a knack for violence when they killed Malcom X didn't they.

"By any means necessary" ring a bell?

How about the Bushmaster that NOI members Malvo and Muhammed used to terrorize the D.C. area and murder about twelve people with?

And I think the reference to 'devils' has much more to do with behavior [genocide, slavery, discrimination, etc.] not the color of one's skin or religion for that matter.

You're seriously going to maintain that Calypso Gene's constant barking of "blonde-haired blue-eyed devils" to refer to whites and "rats" to refer to Jews has no racist overtones?

Why do you hate reality?

Living in the Detroit suburbs I find it valuable to keep a pulse on the "fringe" groups would be wise. There ARE Black Separatists groups who are dangerous to you or I (as I don't share their opinions) on an individual level and just as a certain percentage of racists exist in society it is doubtless that some exist in any grouping despite, inspite and to spite the leadership.

There's no room for double standards.

That's true, and so you'll want to hold Calypso Gene's NOI to the same standard as all the other violent, racist Black seperatist groups.

 

[Marko Kloos]

I'm not a Hagee fan but many that have read the Koran do say it calls for the killing of enemies of Islam.

It seems to me that there are two standards at work in this debate.

When a non-believer points out the not-so-nice parts of the Bible, like rules for slave-buying, commanding the death of disobedient children and homosexuals, all the misogynistic stuff, and God commanding his people to "slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass", the believers take offense and claim that those passages are "read out of context", or that the New Covenant somehow tempers the stuff in Levicitus, or that a non-believer simply doesn't have the spiritual insight to correctly interpret Scripture.

Yet when the discussion turns toward the Koran (which 99.9% of Christians have never even read), then it's okay to claim that "the Koran calls for killing the enemies of Islam", and semantic or theological fine points don't apply.

A lot of people believe what they want to be true, not what they know to be true.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" --Matthew 7:3

 

[HKuser]

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" --Matthew 7:3

OK, which part of the Koran has the "love thy neighbor" stuff? You're quote would seem to suggest that the NT tempers the OT. I'm sure you can point that out in the Koran, and I, for one, would be delighted to hear about it.

 

[pitz96]

Taken as a whole, the Koran contains every bit as much hateful stuff as the Bible (which commands genocide[OT], everlasting damnation[NT], and other not very ethical things). Both books have some nicer passages, such as this from the Koran: "there shall be no compulsion in religion".

This is hardly the place to discuss religion in depth, so may I suggest we decide on another forum to continue? I'm more than willing to debate this subject until the cows come home, but I suspect the moderators would prefer such discussions to take place elsewhere.

 

[TheBluesMan]

This is a religious discussion thinly veiled as political.

Closed.