A new Rev. Racist?
Update: I was right.
This story did impact the campaign. According to Fox News, McCain has officially rejected Hagee's endorsement. From the article:
McCain gradually repudiated certain statements from Hagee — including several perceived as anti-Catholic or anti-gay — but he moved to reject Hagee’s endorsement entirely after old comments Hagee made about the Nazis were published in a left-leaning blog.
“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said in a statement Thursday. “I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.”
Fox does not mention the article in DailyKos, but the article on the same topic on the Huffington Post.
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This is from Daily Kos, hardly an unbiased source, so I'd double-check the facts before publishing. That being said, this story could definitely get interesting.
Hagee : God Sent Hitler, Jews have Dead Souls
Obviously, Daily Kos isn't exactly downplaying Hagee's comments, but if this hits the press, Jeremiah Wright could end up looking like Mr. Rogers. And given Hagee's claim that McCain sought his endorsement, this could potentially impact the presidential race.
I don't have time to explore this properly today, so again, I strongly encourage double-checking any claims in this article, but this might just be breaking news.
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I should note that in the excerpt from his sermon, Hagee speaks about Theodore Herzl. Herzl was not actually particularly religious. It is generally accepted that his zionism was motivated by the Dreyfus Affair, which he covered.
Comments
Hagee is really an equal opportunity hate monger. Remember Catholicism - the Whore of Babylon. And he thinks God through 9/11 and Katrina smote un-Godly New Yorkers and homosexuals in New Orleans. McCain is an enigma. He moves around in his positions so I can never figure him out. He has shown honor and dignity on a number of occasions that no other candidate has shown an opponent. His beliefs as the Independent candidate made him a new hope for change back in 2000 election. Then he backs Bush. And his views change over time. And he swings from rejecting ultra-conservative evangelicals to courting the most hateful. And worse, get him a little tired and he can barely speak. I like the man as a person. I get a good read on him as a person. But I don't like his judgment. Right now I don't like any of them much.
This excerpt was taken from: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/catholicamerica/2008/05/the_whore_of_babylon.html
This is actually the end of the article that is focused on his ant-Catholicism views (which he waffles on with all sorts of ridiculous justifications).
What pushes “whore of Babylon” into bigotry, I think, is literalist interpretation of the Bible. That error leads Hagee and his minions to use biblical references to specific contemporary events – things not in the bible. Hagee quotes scripture to justify the 9/11 bombings (on account of New York’s Godlessness) and the loss of life in New Orleans’ Katrina (a homosexual parade). He has issued a most un-Christian call to war and invasion of Iran by reference to the Book of Esther. He cites Chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, as predicting an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon," with Russia and the Arabs on one side and the US and Israel on God’s side. He welcomes this war to advance the Final Days and identifies the head of the European Union as the Anti-Christ (I John 2:22ff).
The Constitution of the United States protects such over-the-top literalist interpretation of the Bible, and were this only a matter of theology, it would not be on the front pages.
But John McCain invited the Holy Fear incited by such teachings into his White House when he invited the Reverend Hagee to bless his campaign. Unlike Senator Obama whose pastor was assigned by his denomination, McCain had no religious obligation to invite Hagee onto his stage. His choice is far more calculated and self-serving. Needless to add, it also fosters inexcusable anti-Catholic bigotry.
I've read that he has stated the Jew has a free pass to heaven and now he's saying that their souls are dead. Okay, what is it John? He is not a fundalmentalists because fundalmentalism believes in the literal definition of the scripture, John Hagee is all over the place. His theology depends on his need of huge crowds and therefore more money. He is demagogue, saying things that ignite rather then bring conversion.
As for end time prophecies, there is much that points to a potential Russian invasion of Israel at the start of the Tribulation, but the nation survives because God intervenes.
I do wonder why God always wants to wipe out gays and feminists. The Bible teaches that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish but have everlasting life. According to that, God loves gays and feminists.
And he does all of the time. He has just "sincerely" apologized to the Catholic community for his outrageous statements. I am sure he will retract them once the election is over and his remarks don't affect McCain's election campaign.
I was thinking a similar thing a couple of days ago. I don't get it!
If Jesus died for our sins, then how come God keeps punishing us with all of these natural disasters and man made atrocities every time we supposedly do something wrong. We are forgiven but we keep getting punished - it makes no sense - because Hagee and his crew make no sense.
Then switch over to Pat Robertson and one minute he is saying we are being punished for hurting Israel and the next minute he is saying what we are experiencing are the "birth pangs" of the second coming.
If you say so boys .............
I don't know if Rev Wright will look cleaner. For some reason these mega preachers seem to be able to get away with saying totally outrageous stuff. It seems it is okay to blame 9/11 on everyone on the left side of politics - Falwell was made to apologize after his statements due to the outrage from the groups he blamed, but a week prior to his death he backed away from his apology.
Hagee blames the Jews for the Holocaust, well he says God was punishing them and was trying to send them back to Israel (but it is virtually the same thing) but he seems to be able to get away with it. He gets away with it because he uses the Bible to back himself up, so it is God's words not his and that is what he does say. He said it to Max Blumenthal near the end of this video clip when Max tackled Hagee on a similar comment from Hagee's book.
It also seems it is acceptable to blame gays, abortionists, feminists and every one else who is on the right wing agenda because the people on the right side of politics want them to be blamed to further their agenda against these groups. But for Rev Wright to make a statement such as America's foreign policy may have lead to 9/11 well that is just not acceptable, it is unpatriotic!
As for the statement about the Jews and their dead souls, well such a notion isn't entirely foreign to Christianity. Ann Coulter made similar remarks months back on CNBC saying Jews needed to be “perfected” and it would be easier for Jews if they became Christians i.e. less persecution. It caused a stir but it quickly went away. I know some Christian churches, the Catholic Church being one of them prays for Jews at Easter time.
Let us also pray for the Jews: That our God and Lord may illuminate their hearts, that they acknowledge Jesus Christ is the Savior of all men. (Let us pray. Kneel. Rise.) Almighty and eternal God, who want that all men be saved and come to the recognition of the truth, propitiously grant that even as the fulness of the peoples enters Thy Church, all Israel be saved. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen. (Wiki)
Cardinal Kasper stated that the prayer for the conversion of the Jewish people should be understood as a reference to the end of time, when all mankind comes to acknowledge Jesus as Lord.
So I am unsure as to how big a stir this will cause, it is really difficult to say. I wish it would cause a stir so that the likes of Hagee would recede into the background.
I suppose it's easier to blame the usual suspects, gays, feminists, members of the Democratic party, rather then consider the impact of foreign policy or the impact of pork barrel politics and corruptions - as was the case of Katrina and New Orleans, couple that with the incompetence of the federal government.
Of course that just reveals the hate of the speaker towards these groups as well as the stupidity. It's like when the "Rev." Fred Phelps blamed the tsunami as God's punishment on Swedes. Apparently Swedes like to congregate in Thailand for their godless sodomite activity. So God would wipe out hundreds of thousands, if not millions of innocent people to 'get' a few thousand Swedes. Look if he wanted to punish Swedes there's this place called "Sweden", I understand you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Swede.
I just don't know what to say to this, Sheri. Since last night I've kept logging on and sitting with my hands hovering over the keyboard.
Natural disasters or human abominations are God's judgment on the wicked? Not if I'm reading Luke 13:4-5 correctly. We should speed up history to get to that sweet sweet apocalypse as soon as possible? Only if you ignore 2 Peter 3. Hey, Hagee - why not put a barcode on your right hand and write 666 on your forehead? According to Revelation, that'd hasten the rapture.
George Eliot in Middlemarch: 'Among all forms of mistake, prophecy is the most gratuitous.' If God is pulling the strings, he doesn't need our help. If he's not, then his prophecies aren't prophecies.
It's pretty standard in Christian theology to say that people are, pre-conversion, 'spiritually dead', based on biblical passages like Jesus' declation that he has come that we might 'have life'. It's a common biblical metaphor that has been turned into a dehumanising metaphysical proposition. I don't know whether Hagee's theology singles out Jews in this respect. I'm not sure if he's saying that Jews, as opposed to other lost hellbound folk, have 'defective' souls.
Re Israel: with friends like Hagee...
The press has known about Hagee's craziness for some time, but the reason that I have a hunch that this particular story could blow up is that it has soundbyte potential. The press salivated over a 15 second clip of Jeremiah Wright saying "God damn America" - I wonder if they would similarly react to a 20 second clip of Hagee saying God sent Hitler. To be fair, there has been some press coverage regarding McCain and Hagee, but it has not blown up like Wright has. I think Hagee talking smack about Israel and the end times would be far less shocking to the average American than him saying God sent the Holocaust. But then again, Falwell got away with saying God sent 9/11, so you never know.
*High five* to Sheri!
I am glad you were right - no sorry correct.
Yes no doubt about that!
Now you are sounding too rational - that's your problem :)
I have already done that Nick, nothing happening yet - except some strange looks from people!
Plus every time I go and get some groceries they want to scan my hand and charge me!
Yes that is one of my huge worries about these people and his organization CUFI appears to be growing.
Here is an interesting statement from Jewish Voice for Peace about Hagee:
McCain Rejects Hagee: How Long Before Major American Jewish Groups Do the Same?
[Oakland, CA, May 22, 2008] Today, John McCain finally rejected Pastor John Hagee's endorsement. When will the American Jewish establishment do the same?
John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), is known in the U.S. as a strong supporter of Israel. He's very close to prominent Jewish organizations – even giving the keynote at the 2007 AIPAC conference – who promote him as a friend of Israel and Jews. In 2006, Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, hosted a briefing for Hagee when he arrived in DC with 2,000 Israel lobbyists, responding to critics, "We don't have to be skeptical about everything, sometimes good things do happen."
(http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?060714+preacher)
Is Hagee one of those "good things", as Hoenlein says? And what kind of friend is he?
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, leader of Reform Jewry (as president of the Union of Reform Jews) explains that Hagee, CUFI and other Christian Zionist organizations believe that Jewish control over Israel will lead to the end-times battle of Armageddon and the return of Jesus. (http://www.jewsonfirst.org/07b/yoffie.html) In other words – they want Jews to be in Israel so that we'll bring on the war to end all wars.
Now an old tape of Hagee has resurfaced in which he called Hitler "a hunter" who, in killing Jews who did not move to Israel, was doing God's work.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/mccain-backer-hagee-said_n_102892.html)
Hagee, CUFI and their ilk are rigidly right-wing and staunchly opposed to any land-for-peace negotiations. They are not concerned about the lives of Jews or Palestinians. Israeli peace activist and political analyst Uri Avnery wrote about a recent visit Hagee made to Israel, saying: "... he forbade us, in the name of (his) God, to give up even one inch of the Holy Land and commanded us to fight to the last drop of (our) blood."
(http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1211059332/)
Sarah Anne Minkin, Jewish Voice Peace's Director of Education and Outreach, points out that Hagee's views on Hitler and Israel are not contradictory, saying "Whether Jews are victims of genocide or the rulers of a country doesn't matter to Hagee, for whom Jewish lives – and Palestinian, for that matter – are just stepping stones on his path to personal glory."
We note that Hagee is also famous for his slurs against Catholicism, Islam and homosexuals, among others, and his strong support for military actions against Iran.
As the new Jewish lobby organization J Street said, "Not only are John Hagee's words [about Hitler doing God's work] unacceptable, but wrapping them in supposed support for Israel doesn't excuse them. In fact, Hagee's views - from his implacable opposition to territorial concessions for peace to his outspoken support for military action against Iran - have nothing to do with Israel's best interests and everything to do with Hagee's own interest in promoting his movement and his own theology."
(http://www.jstreet.org/campaigns/mccain-finally-renounce-hagees-extremism)
It's time for Jewish leaders to stand up and bring an end to their alliances with an extremist like Hagee.
As Haim Beliak and Jane Hunter of Jews on First (www.jewsonfirst.org) point out, "Most Jewish organizations favor cooperating with CUFI."
Not this one.
Christians should support Israel's right to exist as a nation and support the right of Palestians to their nation and the right for both people to live in peace.
Yes that would be the Christian thing to do. It would be nice if some of Hagee's followers would see some sense after this little scandal. I guess the thought of the Rapture, clouds common sense to a fair degree.