The Huffington Post this morning published a story (John Hagee’s McCain Endorsement Sparks Uproar) about McCain’s endorsement by James Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel (CUI) and leader of the Christian Zionists, relating more fully the extent of Hagee’s bigotry. Not only are Muslims in the sights of CUI’s guns, but Catholics (The Great Whore), Blacks, gays, women, and others have also been targeted.
Hagee is the perveyor of a Christian eschatology in which end days are coming when Jews will be subjected to conversion, but his antiMuslim rhetoric, especially his support for attacking Iran, has attracted extreme right wing Israeli supporters like Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the extremist Likud party in Israel, and Joe Lieberman to his fold. Both Netanyahu and Lieberman have spoken at CUI conventions, and Hagee in turn has spoken before AIPAC, the face of the Israel Lobby in the US, which is also an advocate of Likud (no Palestinian state) politics.
The story was republished from ABC News:
Calling Pastor John Hagee a “bigot,” the conservative Catholic League is calling for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to denounce/renounce/reject his endorsement Wednesday.
With a Youtube link to prove his point, Catholic League president Bill Donohue said Hagee “has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’ …”Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot. McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee.” …
McCain spox Jill Hazelbaker says, “Hagee endorsed John McCain. While we welcome his support, it shouldn’t be seen as a wholesale endorsement of all of Mr. Hagee’s views.”
In this YouTube video Hagee compares Catholicism to a cult:
Although the progressive group Catholics United has also written a letter to McCain asking him to “publicly distance himself” from Hagee’s views, in spite of the ABC origin of the story, there has been a notable lack of mainstream media coverage.
Very much like Farrakhan, Hagee has regularly made remarks about current events and other religions that many would find alarming. But unlike Farrakhan, he has never truly faced the scrutiny of the mainstream press, and major politicians like Joe Lieberman and John McCain have freely associated with him.
In 2006, Hagee laid out his views on eschatology in a book called Jerusalem Countdown, in which he claimed that sources had told him a year earlier about world events to come — and amazingly enough, all those predictions had come true over the past year. Next on the agenda, according to his March 2006 interview in Human Events: Israel would go to war with Iran before May 2006. And from there, Hagee eagerly anticipated an all-out world war against Iran and Russia, followed by the Second Coming.
In an UPDATE to the story, it was noted that during a press conference, McCain refused to reject Hagee’s support: He explained,
“Well I think it’s important to note that pastor John Hagee who has supported and endorsed my candidacy supports what I stand for and believe in. When he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes. And I am very proud of the Pastor John Hagee’s spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel. That does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues. I don’t have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions.”
McCain’s campaign then released this statement:
“Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee’s views, which I obviously do not.”
“I am hopeful that Catholics, Protestants and all people of faith who share my vision for the future of America will respond to our message of defending innocent life, traditional marriage, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society.”
But the criticism of McCain has continued. The Democratic National Committee subsequently released the following statements by Hagee, which attests to the full extent of his bigotry.
Hagee on Hurricane Katrina
“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.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on Islamic Beliefs
Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that “all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews,” to which Hagee replied, “Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on African-Americans
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to “meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a ‘slave sale,’ an East Side minister said Wednesday.” The Express-News reported:“Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a ‘slave sale’ to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, ‘The Cluster.’
“The item was introduced with the sentence ‘Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone” and ended with “Make plans to come and go home with a slave.” [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]
Hagee on Catholicism
“Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.” [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]Hagee on Women
“Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist.” [God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]“[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God’s pattern for the family.” [“Bible Positions on Political Issues,” John Hagee]
Hagee on LGBT Americans
“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 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 that 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.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]Hagee on Iran
“The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty,” Hagee wrote [in 2006] in the Pentecostal magazine Charisma. “Israel and America must confront Iran’s nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide.” The Nation, 8/8/2006,
McCain and his shadow, Joe Lieberman, while possibly attracting the religious right conservative base and the remnants of racist Republican (and Democratic) voters, will at some point have to answer for Hagee’s bigotry.