US Catholic groups on the left and right are chastising John McCain today for touting his endorsement from an evangelical preacher who has called the church a "false cult" and "the great whore". McCain campaigned this week with John Hagee, leader of a 17,000-member Texas mega-church and a stalwart supporter of Israel. The likely Republican nominee said he was proud to win Hagee's nod, an undeniable boost as McCain courts sceptical evangelical voters.
But in the process of wooing Christian support, McCain appears to have alienated Catholics. The conservative US Catholic League, which boasts more than 350,000 members, urged the Arizona senator to reject Hagee and noted that the preacher has accused Catholics of enabling the Holocaust.
"There are plenty of staunch evangelical leaders who are pro-Israel, but are not anti-Catholic," William Donohue, the league's president, said in a statement. "John Hagee is not one of them."
Donohue compared McCain's behaviour to that of Barack Obama, who quickly denounced Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan after he backed Obama for president. The Democrat was pressed to distance himself from Farrakhan's slurs against Judaism during a nationally televised debate this week.
"Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot," Donohue said. "McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee."
A more left-leaning US Catholic group, Catholics United, also pressed McCain to distance himself from Hagee.
"By receiving the endorsement of an outspoken critic of the Catholic church, McCain once again demonstrates that he is willing to sell out his principles for a chance to win the presidency," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United.
McCain also campaigned in Ohio this week with Rod Parsley, a television evangelist who leads a group called the Centre for Moral Clarity. McCain called Parsley — who has suggested that adulterers should be prosecuted and compared members of the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood to Nazis — a "spiritual guide".
During his 2000 run for president against George Bush, McCain called evangelical preachers Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance". He later apologised in the face of mounting anger from Christian groups, saying he intended the statement as a joke.
Poster Comment:
Pro-Israel Evangelical Leader[Hagee] Endorses McCain
posted yesterday by Brian S