thoughts on mccain's disavowal of the pastors

Thoughts on McCain's recent disavowal of John Hagee and Rod Parsley, the pastors whose endorsement he sought:

1. To begin with, it was pretty cynical of him to seek the endorsements in the first place. He was basically trying to shore up his relationship to the evangelical base of the Republican party, especially in swing states. (Parsley is in Ohio).

2. Even with a bad vetting job, I don't believe the McCain camp would have been totally ignorant of Hagee and Parsley's bigoted comments about Muslims and Catholics. (Which as I've said before are more "mainstream" than the media seems to be acknowledging. In fact, the extent of religious bigotry in the evangelical community should be a story, even apart from the campaign).

3. It is conceivable to me that the McCain camp perhaps missed Hagee's comment that Katrina was sent as a punishment for a planned New Orleans gay pride event but they definitely had to know that Hagee and Parsley would have strong statements against homosexual behavior.

4. Finally, I think McCain's decision to ultimately disavow the pastors was calculated and cynical as well. McCain was fine with bigotry against Muslims, Catholics and homosexuals. But once it is discovered that Hagee made an odd comment involving Hitler (suggesting that Hitler was God's instrument to ultimately herd the Jews to Israel) it was time to pull out for fear of alienating Jews. The "funny" thing is that as a Christian Zionist, Hagee is actually a staunch supporter of the state of Israel and has even won a number of humanitarian awards from a number of Jewish organizations.

5. In the long run, I wonder if this whole episode has alienated McCain even more from the evangelical base? One can only hope.


Slate: The Devil's in the Details: Why John Hagee's views on the Holocaust aren't the only reason for McCain to reject him
AP: Pastor says parting with McCain best for both

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mccain's spiritual advisor hates muslims and islam

Unlike the old McCain who in the last election was critical of the religious bigotry of Bob Jones University, (after Bush spoke there), the new McCain is apparently ok with the endorsement of a religious bigot like Rev. Rod Parsley.

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

On February 26, McCain appeared at a campaign rally in Cincinnati with the Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, a supersize Pentecostal institution that features a 5,200-seat sanctuary, a television studio (where Parsley tapes a weekly show), and a 122,000-square-foot Ministry Activity Center. That day, a week before the Ohio primary, Parsley praised the Republican presidential front-runner as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." The endorsement was important for McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual guide."

On the one hand there is the question of consistency: Will McCain's relationship to Parsley be scrutinized in the media to the same degree as Obama's relationship to Farrakhan? But for me, the really scary part of this story is the fact Parsley's views are not atypical among the Religious Right.

In a chapter titled "Islam: The Deception of Allah," Parsley warns there is a "war between Islam and Christian civilization." He continues:

I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.

Parsley is not shy about his desire to obliterate Islam. In Silent No More, he notes—approvingly—that Christopher Columbus shared the same goal: "It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America."

(for entire story) Mother Jones: McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam