Hagee Sermon Uncovered by Talk to Action Forces McCain Repudiation


Great excitement at Talk to Action, where Bruce Wilson’s efforts at reviewing John Hagee’s many sermons finally filtered through to the MSM, obliging John McCain to repudiate the pastor. The Hagee-McCain alliance had already survived a storm when the pastor’s views on Catholicism (“the Great Whore”) had come to light; however, Hagee’s interpretation of the Holocaust were just too much to bear. Bruce dug out a sermon which Hagee explained that God had sent two people to persuade the Jews to move to Israel: a fisher, Theodore Herzl; and a hunter – Adolf Hitler. The idea that anti-Semitism is God dropping a hint to Diaspora Jews that he wants them to return to Israel is not unknown in certain strands of Christianity and Judaism, but the thought of Hitler in a divinely-appointed role is obviously going to disgust most people, and Hagee’s typically bombastic and crass delivery is guaranteed to aggravate the sensation.

However, John McCain’s relationship with Hagee is just part of a wider issue. Through “Christians United for Israel” (CUFI), Hagee has made alliances with a range of conservative figures in both the USA and Israel. Last June I blogged on a CUFI “Night to Honor Israel”; alongside McCain, participants included Newt Gingrich, Gary Bauer and Frank Gaffney. Bauer was a particular enthusiast:

Gary Bauer, who ran for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States in 2000, also spoke at the rally, saying, “You are Ahmadinejad, Hamas, and Hizbullah’s worst nightmare, because you support Israel. They are telling you to give back land. We are telling you, don’t give back one inch.”

Max Blumenthal, meanwhile, recalls that

I watched with astonishment as [Joe] Lieberman strode to the stage, then compared Hagee to Moses (watch Lieberman’s remarks at 5:30 of my video) “I want to take to opportunity to describe Pastor Hagee in the terms the Torah used to describe Moses,” Lieberman declared. “He is an Ish Elohim. A man of God. And those words really do fit him. And I have something else,” the senator continued. “Like Moses, he’s become the leader of a mighty multitude. Even greater than the multitude that Moses led from Egypt to the Promised Land.”

Hagee himself revelled in his new-found power and status, exulting that

“the sleeping giant of Christian Zionism has awakened”

Certain Jewish leaders were also keen to share a platform:

The evening session also included greetings from President Bush and a benediction by Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg, a San Antonio Orthodox leader who has been close to Hagee, thanking God for “giving the world community a spiritual leader of the nobility, courage and wisdom of Pastor John Hagee, who personifies God’s living words.”

Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, appearing by video, told the group that Christian Zionists laid the foundation for Jewish ones.

Hagee also claims that he receives briefings from “top Israeli government officials”, who have told him about “a nuclear showdown between Iran and Israel”.

A few souls, however, have declined to squeeze into bed with him, as I also noted a year ago:

A Minnesota congresswoman declined an invitation to attend “A Night to Honor Israel,” saying the views of the event’s evangelical founder are “repugnant.”

…”Well-publicized statements by Pastor Hagee demonstrate extremism, bigotry and intolerance that is repugnant,” U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat, said in a two-page reply declining a form invitation from Pastor Mac Hammond.

And as for Jewish involvement, the JTA reported that:

Jewish leaders who have been critical of Jewish participation in local “Nights to Honor Israel” say they have been pressured into silence.

“The pressure has been enormous,” said a prominent Jewish leader who said he was contacted by local community officials after he raised questions about a local CUFI event. “I can’t even talk about it now; I feel a real sense of intimidation because people in our own community are saying I’m opposing something that’s good for Israel, that I’m hurting Israel.”

Possibly that pressure has now eased somewhat…

UPDATE: McCain has also now repudiated Rod Parsley. Mother Jones reports:

After issuing a statement dumping Hagee, McCain told the Associated Press that he also was now refusing Parsley’s support: “I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement.” McCain and Parsley had campaigned together in February in Ohio, and at a rally McCain had hailed Parsley as “one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide.”

…It’s worth remembering that McCain held on to Parsley for as long as he could and that he renounced him not because of his extreme anti-Islam rhetoric–which McCain was well aware of months ago–but only because Parsley had become extremely politically inconvenient.

10 Responses

  1. […] UPDATE: McCain has now ditched both pastors. See here. […]

  2. […] at the Christians United for Israel 2008 “Washington-Israel Summit” following the repudiation of CUFI founder John Hagee by John McCain. He will address the main banquet shortly after a […]

  3. […] the Israeli ambassador will be speakers. CUFI is desperate to appear moderate following the McCain endorsement fiasco: Walid Shoebat – co-author of God’s War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy, and the Bible, which […]

  4. […] The Juneau Christian Center is associated with Sarah Palin; John Hagee caused John McCain some embarrassment a couple of months ago. […]

  5. […] endorsement of John McCain in 2008 was famously repudiated by the presidential candidate after Talk to Action’s Bruce Wilson uncovered a sermon in which […]

  6. […] year in a clunkily cynical bid to shore up the Christian Right vote; alas, however, McCain soon regretted his words, when Parsley’s view that the USA was created by God to destroy Islam (“we get off on […]

  7. […] had opined that Hitler had been a hunter sent by God to persuade the Jews to move to Israel. McCain repudiated Hagee, although other conservatives rallied to his support. Gingrich has continued with work with […]

  8. […] had opined that Hitler had been a hunter sent by God to persuade the Jews to move to Israel. McCain repudiated Hagee, although other conservatives rallied to his defence. Gingrich has continued with work with […]

  9. […] “Hitler is a hunter” sermon was uncovered by Bruce Wilson in 2008, and led to John McCain repudiating Hagee’s presidential endorsement. Hagee is also close to […]

  10. […] may recall, Hagee’s link to John McCain in 2008 was so “tenuous” that McCain was obliged to issue a  repudiation of Hagee’s endorsement after a sermon came to light in which Hagee […]

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