Glenn Greenwald: Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable

[babylonsister]

Some hateful, radical ministers -- white evangelicals -- are acceptable

(Updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV - Update V)

One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful.

Yesterday, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least) Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed John McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and "reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."

McCain's sainted supporter, Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?

Here is just a small sampling of the belief system of this welcomed McCain supporter:

* All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:

TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?

JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --

TG: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general.

JH: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.

* God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin. From the same interview:

more...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

[idovoodoo]

1. Hagee...that hateful old bastard...needs to go be with Jerry Foulball.

ASAFP

[rusty quoin]

2. It's odd to be in agreement with Bill Donahue.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

"William Donohue, president of the Catholic League. Calling Hagee a “bigot,”"

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Hagee is one of those guys who doesn't think Catholics are Christians, though, right?

[rusty quoin]

5. Right. This is a little insulting:

Hagee called the Catholic Church, "The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’”

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Pfft... Hagee could try saying all that while

looking in the mirror.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. So glad this quesiton was asked

"Why is Louis Farrakhan deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP politicians are free to court without any consequences or media objections?"

Old boys/race/faith network deal, maybe? Whatever it is, it is sick and needs to stop.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

6. IOKIYAR Psycho Hatebag.

Or so it would seem.

[malaise]

7. Great article

expose the double standards.

KO needs to see this.
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