Originally posted March 3, 2008. See today’s New York Times article for an update. Click Here

Sen John McCain recently openly embraced the endorsement of Texas megachurch leader John Hagee. Televangelists and the Republican party normally go hand-in-hand, but this endorsement is causing McCain considerable heartburn.

At a recent campaign stop McCain appeared on stage with Hagee and praised the Televangelist:

I’m very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement today, He has been the staunchest leader of our Christian evangelical movement in many areas, but especially, most especially, his close ties and advocacy for the freedom and independence of the state of Israel.

McCain has been openly courting Hagee’s endorsement since the two of them appeared together at the Christians United for Israel meeting on January 29, 2007. The pair had a private breakfast together to discuss Israel and John McCain’s candidacy for president. Hagee emerged from the meeting pleased with the conversation and sent a missive to his supports stating:

Senator McCain’s comments concerning Israel are on target! He gets it!

Hagee is a staunch and vocal supporter of initiating a proxy war with Iran through Israel. He comes to this position through the belief that doing so will bring about the apocalypse allowing the Jews to burn in hell for eternity.

This can only make one wonder…What exactly does McCain "get" about Israel?

This is only one of the many controversial positions held by Hagee. Here is a collection of his greatest hits:

The Catholic Church

Hagee regularly refers to the Catholic Church as "the great whore" and "the apostate church." In the video above Hagee forecasts impending doom for the church, prophesizing that "this false cult system" will be "totally devoured by the anti-christ."

Hagee has also linked the Catholic Church to the Holocaust, writing:

“Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.” - Jerusalem Countdown (revised edition, 2007, p. 114)

Anti-Semitism

Hagee goes on to blame the Jews for their own persecution, explaining that the Holocaust was part of a devine mechanism to punish a wayward people.

"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God’s chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day….

How utterly repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking to God for His chosen people to credit idols with bringing blessings He had showered upon the chosen people. Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of anti-Semitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come…. it rises from the judgment of God uppon his rebellious chosen people." ( "Jerusalem Countdown: A Prelude To War", paperback edition, pages 92 and 93 )

Homosexuality

Hagee appeared on the September 18, 2006, edition of National Public Radio’s Fresh Air where he was posed the question "Do you still think that Katrina is punishment from God for a society that’s becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah?" To which he responded:

All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are — were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

Slavery

Hagee held a high school fund raiser in 1996, where students participated in a mock slave auction to raise money for the senior class.

A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to “meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a ’slave sale,’ an East Side minister said Wednesday.”

The Express-News reported:
Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a “slave sale” to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, “The Cluster.”

The item was introduced with the sentence “Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone” and ended with “Make plans to come and go home with a slave.” - MediaMatters

Harry Potter

Not even Harry Potter can escape the wrath Pastor Hagee.

"As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we’re reminded once again of Satan’s ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult." The New Republic

McCain has said that he is "very honored " to receive the endorsement of Hagee.

What exactly does McCain find so honorable about being endorsed by a hateful, intolerant, bigot?

Related

McCain, Parsley, Hagee, and Apocalyptic Foreign Policy (Washington Post)

Jewish Leader Calls Hagee ‘Extremist’ (Washington Post)