McCain Very Honored By Support Of Pastor Preaching End-Time Confrontation With Iran Think Progress Friday, February 29, 2008
Yesterday, hard-line conservative Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, endorsed John McCain. Hagee said that McCain is a man of principle, [who] does not stand boldly on both sides of any issue. McCain, who had been courting the endorsement for over a year, said that he was very honored by Pastor John Hagees endorsement.
Demonstrating how wildly out of the American religious and political mainstream Hagees views are, McCains acceptance of Hagees endorsement was condemned today by conservative William Donohue, president of the Catholic League. Calling Hagee a bigot, Donahue said the right-wing pastor has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church by calling it The Great Whore, an apostate church, the anti-Christ, and a false cult system.
Hagee holds many other radical beliefs. In a 2006 address to CUFI, Hagee declared:
The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill Gods plan for both Israel and the West
a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ.
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Speaking to the 2007 AIPAC conference, Hagee compared supporters of a two-state solution in the Middle East to Nazis. Hagee also echoed right-wing Israeli politician Binyamin Netanyahu, telling the audience that Iran is Germany and Ahmadinejad is the new Hitler.
Paging Tim Russert: Someone should ask John McCain if, unlike Hagee, he supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and whether he believes that a military strike against Iran would fulfill Gods plan for
a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation as Hagee does.
UPDATE: Faith in Public Life has more.
UPDATE II: Hagees tv show, John Hagee Today, is also broadcast on Cornerstone Television. In 1999, McCain wrote to the FCC on behalf of campaign contributor Lowell Bud Paxson, urging a deal that would have made $17.5 million for Cornerstone.