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John McCain has a nice, pithy response to his endorser Rev. John Hagee’s claim that the “sins” of New Orleans and the city’s acceptance of homosexuality were the reasons why God punished the City by sending Hurricane Katrina:
“It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. I dont have anything additional to say. It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, I don’t have anything more to say….it’s nonsense. I reject it categorically.”
Good for him.
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McCain says he rejects “it” categorically, but what he won’t say is that he won’t reject the man who made those deplorable statements. And he certainly won’t reject Hagee’s endorsement of him.
I highly question the judgment of a U.S. Presidential candidate who continues to accept the support of, and indeed, embraces figures who continually spews hateful, bigoted, and ignorant comments. McCain should be ashamed for his lack of moral conviction and political courage to do what is right.
Rev. Wright is retired and almost never sees Obama anymore. If Obama were elected President, would Wright have ANY influence over Obama? I doubt it.
But just 3 months ago, John McCain stood shoulder to shoulder with John Hagee at a press conference and, following a glowing tribute to him from Hagee, “proudly” accepted Hagee’s support.
If McCain were elected President, would Hagee have influence over him in light of this RECENT endorsement. I’ll bet he would.
I don’t want a President who grants access to radical fundamentalist preachers like Hagee. McCain would grant this access.
McCain should be stopped!
No McCain in ’08!
Hagee was never McCain’s spiritual adviser. Hagee wasn’t McCain’s pastor for
over 20 y e a r s.
Hagee has never been or hasn’t even been called McCain’s “mentor”.
Hagee didn’t preside over the marriage of McCain or the baptism of his children.
Hagee has never had a book of McCain’s titled after one of his sermons.
Gee, Nick, all this stuff happened between Rev. Wright and Obamessiah. Which radical was closer to which candidate?
Christopher:
There is a major difference between Reverend Wright’s comments and those of Hagee.
Wright was criticizing the actions of the U.S. government that are apparently at odds with the teachings in the Bible. Namely, that killing others is a sin, whether you are an individual or a government and that violence begets violence. While You are free to disagree with Wright’s stance that the U.S. government ought to make its policies more in tune with Christian morality, it is a fact that U.S. actions, rightly or wrongly, diverges from Christian teachings. In this sense, he is actually in agreement with conservatives, who believes that the U.S. government ought to reflect Christian values.
Hagee, on the other hand, attributes an act of nature (Katrina) to the will of god and provides a very specific cause – the gay pride parade that was planned in New Orleans. There can be no discussion or argument about this. He claims to know the mind of God and that God’s intent is to punish a nation for allowing Gay people to be free to express themselves. This is a very different thing.
All I can say is that the framers of the Constitution were brilliant in making the separation of church and state a cornerstone of the U.S. government. From the 1st Amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Thank God (whichever one you believe in) for that.
“It is a fact” that “U.S. actions, rightly or wrongly, diverges from Christian teachings”. Huh?!? How is that? Where do you come up with this “fact”?
We went to war against another country in order to defend the United States of America, and in doing so have freed 10’s of millions of people from oppression. We have set up a democratically elected government and are striving to protect that government from insurgent forces within and without their borders bent on returning Iraq to a dictatorship. How in the world would you ever come up with that being unchristian???
The fact seems to be, JD, according to your own indications, that liberals such as yourself hate America and deplore the freedom we try and protect here and foster elsewhere. Why don’t you go live in Iran or N. Korea or Russia or Venezuela where they have no freedom and you can be perfectly content?
Religion and the 2nd amendment are used as a distraction while our other rights and protections from overreaching government are removed. This is not to say that the freedom of religion or the right to bare arms are not important; rather it is to say; do not be led astray. We have lost or given the government power where they have not had it before. The exact opposite of limited government proclaimed by many has happened. We have removed the protection of the individual, like due process, the use of federal military forces upon the domestic population, and the privacy of our person, place, papers and effects. We can cling to our Bible or our gun and it will not bring back the separation of powers, due process, privacy, or the rule of law and not of men. We always hear conservatives talk about their gun as a tool to defend against an overbearing government. That is a joke. The US government has the weaponry and surveillance to put down any armed insurrection by citizens without breaking a sweat. So it is a complete joke of an excuse when conservatives argue that their gun will protect them from the government acting in some intrusive manner. The only use for a gun is for hunting or personal protection from assault by another individual. The only way to protect people from intrusive, big government power is to keep the aspects of the entire constitution intact. The greatest threat to our Liberty is a Unitary Executive Branch (Unitary President) and the granting of power to the government while giving up the protections of the Bill of Rights. For the 2nd amendment to mean anything all the amendments have to be in effect. We have to understand that all the amendments prop up one another. They are codependent rights. With out privacy there is no freedom of speech; with out privacy there is no freedom of religion. With out due process and the Rule of Law your gun is nothing more than a decoration. The protection of our individual sovereignty is defended not only by the 2nd amendment; rather it is defended by what used to be the Constitution and the Bill of Rights prior to this administration. Weather you have religion or a gun will not stop intrusive surveillance of your every action or thought. Religion and a gun will not stop the value of the dollar from crashing. They will not stop pollution, job loss, sinking wages, corporate fraud or abuse, and government corruption. They will only give you a false sense of safety in a world ruled by lawyers, money, and big business interests. If you doubt me study the very religious people of Europe who were taken advantage of, they were called serfs or commoners. The serfs were people ruled by Monarchies that took advantage of their innocent faith in religion. They were told that Kings and Queens were a bloodline of Divine Heritage. When the truth was that they were slaves in a land of a privileged few. Religion can bring you spiritual comfort when times are difficult. But that is where it ends. Religion and guns cannot protect you from your government’s abuse or failure, yet we continue to pray for things to change. Nothing will change unless we do it ourselves.
