Hagee and Hitler and dangerous biblical scripture

So if you haven’t heard the latest hoopla over presumptive GOP Presidential candidate John McCain supporter Pastor John Hagee, here’s what it’s all about. First of all, remember that Hagee is a vehement supporter of Israel, but solely because he believes the Jewish people have to be positioned in that part of the world in order for biblical prophecy of Armageddon to be fulfilled. It’s all in that wonderful New Testament book, Revelations. Every time anything happens in the Middle East, he is the fattest cheerleader on the sidelines, screaming for Israel to fire another missile or to annex another piece of land.

Back to hoopla (the prior stuff is largely overlooked these days) – Huffington Post columnist Sam Stein uncovered this tape of Hagee in top sermon form, explaining that Hitler was simply here on earth to do God’s will. He was the “hunter” in prophecy who drove the Jews out from under rocks and forced those who had survived the Holocaust to return to the Holy Land.

Today, Hagee has his Magic Underpanties in a bunch (oh, wait, wrong superstition)… anyway, he’s pissed about all of this and claims that the biased press is trying to make him look like some sort of Nazi sympathizer, when he has always loved the Jewish people and always thought Hitler a monster. He said in his sermon, "Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,' meaning there's no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel."

Fair enough – you personally aren’t against Jews or pro-Nazi. But you knew people would be offended, so don’t act surprised. Further, what is it, exactly, that this Jeremiah (as in “the Book of”) had to say about Hitler committing genocide against the Jewish people? Well, nothing. It was just one of those crazy acid-trip stories about end-times in that wacky "Revelations". So, in a way Hagee, you are indeed the one saying it. It’s entirely your interpretation of a scripture! It’s the problem with prophecies. Like so much else in the bible, they are open to various decipherments. And you interpret it as saying that Hitler had come to do God’s work. Others read it and see nothing of the kind. This shows that prophecy and other biblical teachings are useless to give us an exact message about anything. Beauty, or evil, is in the eye of the beholder.

And what if Hagee got the rest of his prophecy the way he wants it? What do his precious Jewish people gain from his Armageddon? Well, it’s not very pretty. You see, unless they happen to be Jews for Jesus, they and their children and grandchildren are all going to die in that much anticipated apocalypse. Aren’t they lucky to have a good American friend like Pastor John Hagee? And isn’t John McCain lucky to have his endorsement? He must think he is. On several occasions he has said that he is proud to have it. And wouldn’t it be great to have a President handling our Middle East policies who gets regular input from John Hagee, on what our next move should be? Want to know what his advice would be? He believes that a war with Iran is a necessary precondition for the kick-off of Armageddon – which is “imminent”.

UPDATE - I've never been forced to update a post so soon after writing one. John McCain has just rejected the endorsement of Pastor Hagee, based on this new information. In the past week, Candidate Maverick McCain, who fancies himself a proponent of election reform, has had to drop several lobbyists from his campaign and now this. I've felt that an even larger issue for McCain than Hagee (who, after all, only endorsed him) is the spiritual advisor to his campaign - Rod Parsley. I'm sure we'll be talking more about him in coming months. Parsley thinks America was founded as a Christian nation, in part to destroy Islam.

UPDATE 2 - This John McCain... I'm having a hard time keeping up! Now he is dumping Parsley as well. Ordinary Girl (in the comments) predicts that this whole thing will be glossed over, unlike the Rev. Wright scandal for Obama. I think she's 100% correct. Now you might argue that McCain was smarter than Obama and got rid of his baggage before it bacame a big issue. And I would fire back - why the fuck wasn't it a big issue months ago?