After all the hubbub about Obama’s pastor, John McCain’s chosen political allies are proving equally disturbing, though somehow without equal coverage.
Bruce Wilson from Talk2Action has uncovered yet more disturbing text and audio concerning John Hagee’s bizarre theological declarations. In addition to declaring that Jews have “dead souls” (whatever the heck THAT means!) this newfound sermon from Hagee declares that Adolf Hitler was sent by God to punish European Jews for not immediately going to found the state Israel, and then to drive the surviving remnant there afterwards.
Here’s Sam Stein summarizing the key parts of the sermon:
Going in and out of biblical verse, Hagee preached: “‘And they the hunters should hunt them,’ that will be the Jews. ‘From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.’ If that doesn’t describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can’t see that.”
He goes on: “Theodore Hertzel is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew who at the turn of the 19th century said, this land is our land, God wants us to live there. So he went to the Jews of Europe and said ‘I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.’ So few went that Hertzel went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the holocaust.
“Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says — Jeremiah writing — ‘They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,’ meaning there’s no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don’t let your heart be offended. I didn’t write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.”
Update: Looks like McCain has had enough of this guy: he’s now rejected Hagee’s endorsement.
May 22, 2008 at 3:06 pm
You can get an abortion at a public school, eh? Damned if I knew.
May 22, 2008 at 5:08 pm
i don’t want to say, ‘i told you so,’ but i told you so…
mike rucker
fairburn, georgia, usa
mikerucker.wordpress.com
May 22, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Zioinist Christians are the worst example of humanity that has ever existed, even worse than Jews.
May 23, 2008 at 7:29 am
Er,um, well I’m a decent, though not uncritical, fan of Israel, so you’re not going to get very far with me on that one.
May 23, 2008 at 11:19 am
There are substantive differences between Obama/Wright and McCain/Hagee:
1) McCain never identified Hagee as his ’spiritual advisor’.
2) McCain has never attended a Hagee church service, let alone 20 years’ worth.
3) Hagee did not officiate McCain’s wedding.
4) Hagee did not baptize McCain’s children.
It is disingenuous to complain about Obama/Wright ‘guilt by association’ tactics and then turn around and attempt the same thing against McCain, particularly when the connection is in no way similar.
May 23, 2008 at 11:21 am
Forgot #5:
5) Obama chose Wright as a political ally, McCain did not choose Hagee - Hagee chose him, like any number of other political supporters.
May 23, 2008 at 11:49 am
McCain did choose Hagee: he sought out his endorsement, and when he got it, he jointly promoted it with Hagee himself, including praising the man.
And as I’ve already argued, there is a difference between seeking someone out politically and being part of a church community with someone. The former is a very specific and very direct purpose that touches on precisely what someone’s political ideas and views are. The latter is part of a communal role which does not involve or require anyone endorsing anyone else, or anyone elses views. If people left churches the second their pastor said things they didn’t agree with, almost no one would be part of any church.