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Friday, February 29, 2008

Look on the bright side. At least it means less pressure on McCain to put Huckabee in the #2 spot
Posted by Jill | 6:08 AM
After all, if you had any doubts about Mike Huckabee's Utterly Batshit Krazy Kredentials, his support of a proposed Colorado law that would bestow personhood on every fertilized egg pretty much seals the deal. And you thought I was being overly dramatic when I talked about a world in which women would be prosecuted for having menstrual periods and would have to risk death rather than end an ectopic pregnancy that can't be viable anyway.

But McCain really doesn't need Huckabee anymore, now that he has the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee, another Christofascist huckster (heh) who trumpets his support of Israel, not telling people that it's all so he can sit next to Jesus when the End Times come, sharing nachos and pop while the Jews burn. Hagee advocates war with Iran, the sooner the better, so as to expedite the coming of Armageddon:
Hagee speaks simultaneously to two audiences about Iran's nuclear capabilities: one that fears a terrorist attack by Iran and another that embraces a biblically mandated apocalypse. To impress the fearful, he mimics Bush's deceptions about Iraq's capacity to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction, Condoleezza Rice's warnings of mushroom clouds, and Dick Cheney's dissembling about an alliance between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. Comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler, Hagee argues that Iran's development of nuclear weapons must be stopped to protect America and Israel from a nuclear attack. Preying on legitimate worries about terrorism, and invoking 9/11, he vividly describes a supposed Iranian-led plan to simultaneously explode nuclear suitcase bombs in seven American cities, or to use an electromagnetic pulse device to create "an American Hiroshima."

When addressing audiences receptive to Scriptural prophecy, however, Hagee welcomes the coming confrontation. He argues that a strike against Iran will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon." In Hagee's telling, Israel has no choice but to strike at Iran's nuclear facilities, with or without America's help. The strike will provoke Russia -- which wants Persian Gulf oil -- to lead an army of Arab nations against Israel. Then God will wipe out all but one-sixth of the Russian-led army, as the world watches "with shock and awe," he says, lending either a divine quality to the Bush administration phrase or a Bush-like quality to God's wrath.

But Hagee doesn't stop there. He adds that Ezekiel predicts fire "upon those who live in security in the coastlands." From this sentence, he concludes that there will be judgment upon all who stood by while the Russian-led force invaded Israel, and issues a stark warning to the United States to intervene: "Could it be that America, who refuses to defend Israel from the Russian invasion, will experience nuclear warfare on our east and west coasts?" He says yes, citing Genesis 12:3, in which God said to Israel: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you."

To fill the power vacuum left by God's decimation of the Russian army, the Antichrist -- the head of the EU -- will rule "a one-world government, a one-world currency and a one-world religion" for three and a half years. (Hagee adds that "one need only be a casual observer of current events to see that all three of these things are coming into reality." The "demonic world leader" will then be confronted by a false prophet, identified by Hagee as China, at Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo in Israel. As they prepare for the final battle, Jesus will return on a white horse and cast both villains -- and presumably any nonbelievers -- into a "lake of fire burning with brimstone," thus marking the beginning of his millennial reign.

Hagee doesn't fear a nuclear conflagration, but rather God's wrath for standing by as Iran executes its supposed plot to destroy Israel. A nuclear confrontation between America and Iran, which he says is foretold in the Book of Jeremiah, will not lead to the end of the world, but rather to God's renewal of the Garden of Eden. But Hagee is ultimately less concerned with the fate of Israel or the Jews than with a theocratic Christian right agenda. When Jesus returns for his millennial reign, he tells his television audience, "the righteous are going to rule the nations of the earth When Jesus Christ comes back, he's not going to ask the ACLU if it's all right to pray, he's not going to ask the churches if they can ordain pedophile bishops and priests, he's not going to ask if it's all right to put the Ten Commandments in the statehouses. He's not going to endorse abortion, he's going to run the world by the word of God The world will never end. It's going to become a Garden of Eden, and Christ is going to rule it."


So is MSNBC going to ask John McCain to repudiate the more lunatic views of Pastor Hagee? Or does the IOKIYAR Rule apply? Or for that matter, is there an IOKIYCTBAC (It's OK If You Claim To Be A Christian) Corollary to the IOKIYAR Rule?

We're still waiting.

But McCain's embrace of the Hagee endorsement is hardly surprising, for whether he believes it or not, he's perfectly willing to sign on to the lunacy of Christian nationalism, as he indicated in an interview with BeliefNet last year (red text emphasis mine):

Has the candidates’ personal faith become too big an issue in the presidential race?
Questions about that are very legitimate.... And it's also appropriate for me at certain points in the conversation to say, look, that's sort of a private matter between me and my Creator.... But I think the number one issue people should make [in the] selection of the President of the United States is, 'Will this person carry on in the Judeo Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?'"

It doesn't seem like a Muslim candidate would do very well, according to that standard.
I admire the Islam. There's a lot of good principles in it. I think one of the great tragedies of the 21st century is that these forces of evil have perverted what's basically an honorable religion. But, no, I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles.... personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith. But that doesn't mean that I'm sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president. I don't say that we would rule out under any circumstances someone of a different faith. I just would--I just feel that that's an important part of our qualifications to lead.*

[snip]

A recent poll found that 55 percent of Americans believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation. What do you think?
I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn't say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.


As McCain becomes the Republican nominee, it's worth everyone's time to check out Talk2Action, a group blog devoted to monitoring, reporting on, and analyzing the religious right. In 2006, Michelle Goldberg outlined what Christian Nationalism is. The eschatology of John McCain certainly indicates that he subscribes to this vision. So if you're a Jew (and don't let this "Judeo-Christian crap fool you; the Judeo- is just there to lull you into a false sense that they aren't going to persecute YOU), a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Wiccan, a Druid, or subscribe to any other spiritual system, You Will Not Count As An American under this lunatic worldview.

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2 Comments:
Blogger Bob said...
Why is it they aways mention the Judeo Christian part but never the British Enlightenment or Greek parts? They really won't own up to how fearful of religion our founders were.
2/29/08, 10:24 AM  
Blogger Beth said...
This is truly frightening to me. It shows a complete lack of respect for the diversity of attitudes and beliefs that is such a strength (and a right) for our country. Thomas Jefferson believed that having a strict "wall of separation" between Church and State creates a win-win for all concerned. Once you let the Church into the government, the next thing you know you've got the Taliban on your hands.
2/29/08, 1:53 PM  
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