Prominent spiritual advisers with controversial views seems to be de rigueur in presidential election season America, even the paragons of mainstream conservatism – the GOP – had joined in the bandwagon. Will this end the separation of Church and state?
By: Vanessa Uy
If you think Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s brand of Black Liberation Theology is too “out there” then Pastor John Hagee’s Israel Lobbyist’s acceptable-form-of-anti-Semitism must be something that belongs in a parallel universe. Though only known by the Senator John McCain’s supporters as his major endorser, Pastor John Hagee became famous almost overnight when his anti-Semitic views about the Holocaust were being broadcast by major news channels like NBC for example. Not only that, Pastor John Hagee is also found to be anti-Catholic. Kind of odd considering he supports Adolph Hitler’s “action” on European Jews during World War II - F.Y.I. Hitler is Catholic by the way.
Pastor Hagee’s latest controversy started when one of his sermons about his view that God (the Protestant Anglo-Saxon kind) was right in allowing Adolph Hitler to exterminate all of Europe’s Jews. According to the Pastor, Adolph Hitler was a “hunter” sent by God who was tasked with expediting “God’s Will” of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel. Because of this, many in the United States now view that Senator John McCain’s presidential bid is now in peril due to his endorsement by this controversial pastor. Anti-Semitism by Evangelical Christian pastors is by no means a new phenomena, back in the late 1960’s Billy Graham once spoke against the Jewish community’s stranglehold on the American nation during his stint as then President Richard Nixon’s spiritual advisor. A pastor that harbors views that is no longer welcome to a majority of people who are already accustomed to the open egalitarianism of 21st Century America.
As a spiritual leader and pillar of his community, to me, Pastor John Hagee is a walking contradiction. This is so because Hagee help found the Christians United for Israel – an Evangelical Christian pro Zionist organization. I’m a bit suspicious of pro Zionist Evangelical Christians and their ilk like the pro Israel lobbyists because they often denigrate Jews who chose to remain in American soil – especially those living in Brooklyn. And another proof of Hagee being a walking contradiction is that the San Antonio B’nai B’rith Council awarded him with its “Humanitarian of the Year” award. By then it was the first time this award was given to a gentile.
To me, people like John Hagee and their ilk i.e. the somewhat hypocritical Israel support lobby that’s currently active in Capitol Hill, is the major reason why détente between Israelis and Palestinians was never achieved – let alone a viable diplomatic solution to this somewhat intransigent problem. And what about those pro Zionist / pro Israel Evangelical Christians who have a low opinion on Jews living in America, especially in Brooklyn. Would somebody explain this to me in an erudite manner without resorting to the sci-fi / fantasy section of the Holy Bible. Or should I resign my fate that this is the only explanation the rest of humanity will ever get.
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Hi Vanessa! Please email me at: figure8088@gmail.com
I would really like to ask you a question about one of your blog articles, thanks!
To me, Pastor John Hagee is one of those folks who never got a chance to have a "Waltz With Bashir" - i.e. serving in the Israeli Defense Force during the 1982 Israeli-Lebanon war. Or at least fired a modern assault rifle at full auto mode till the damned thing is too hot to touch in the middle of the desert under 125 degree heat.
Have you seen presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain's anti Obama ads in which he used Britney Spears ans Paris Hilton as comparrison to Obama's lust for media attention? Isn't Sen. McCain a bit ungrateful - make that really ungrateful - for using America's sweetheart Paris Hilton in attacking Obama noting that Paris' parents - the Hilton chain of hotel owners - contributed the maximum legally allowed amount to McCain's presidential campaign? Or is Sen. McCain confusing Paris Hilton with the Hanoi Hilton in his advancing age?
I do agree that in his advancing age, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is abit confused when it comes to differentiating the Hanoi Hilton with Paris Hilton. But more importantly I think Pastor John Hagee should check out http://bethlehemghetto.blogspot.com to get a better picture about how US President George "DUBYA" Bush and his Neo-Conservatives has been using Jews around the world as "cannon fodder".
Some say that Senator John McCain lost the 2008 US Presidential Election when the Lehman Bros. collapsed. But in my opinion, it is probably his anti-Semite pastor John Hagee. Anti-Semitism and the Republican Party had been strange-but-intimate bedfellows ever since that caught on tape Pres. Nixon and Billy Graham banter about the "stranglehold of the Jews".
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