McCain and the Reverend Rod Parsley

Fresh from the row (or should I say, minor rucus) over televangelist supporter John Hagee's anti-Catholic rants, John McCain has once again landed himself in difficulty by describing as his "spiritual guide" the Reverend Rod Parsley, an evangelical minister who urged a Christian war to destroy the "false religion" of Islam.

Read the story here before scrolling down for a selection of comment from the web:

Mother Jones:

"McCain's relationship with Parsley is politically significant. In 2004, Parsley's church was credited with driving Christian fundamentalist voters to the polls for George W. Bush. With Ohio expected to again be a decisive state in the presidential contest, Parsley's World Harvest Church and an affiliated entity called Reformation Ohio, which registers voters, could be important players within this battleground state. Considering that the Ohio Republican Party has been decimated by various political scandals and that a popular Democrat, Ted Strickland, is now the state's governor, McCain and the Republicans will need all the help they can get in the Buckeye State this fall. It's a real question: Can McCain win the presidency without Parsley?"

Jeffrey Feldman on The Huffington Post:

"By cozying up to Parsley, McCain has given his disturbing speeches a new national legitimacy.  The alliance will no doubt help McCain rebuild the so-called Evangelical coalition that he needs to have a chance in the general election. ... To read Parsley's violent language as he encourages his readers to join the so-called 'war' is to come face-to-face with the violent rhetoric John McCain will tolerate - even encourage - to win votes in November."

Steve Benen on Crooks and Liars:

"If McCain is going to tout Parsley as a “spiritual guide,” it’s certainly worth learning more about where Parsley might “guide” the Republican nominee. ...

"And lest there be any confusion, Parsley isn’t a one-trick pony — sure, he hates Muslims, but his bread and butter includes attacks on gays, abortion, the federal judiciary, and civil libertarians. Best of all, his rhetoric frequently includes what sounds like appeals to violence, telling his followers, “I came to incite a riot! Man your battle stations. Ready your weapons.” (One wants to assume he’s speaking metaphorically, but it’s not entirely clear.)

"This is the man John McCain has embraced as a politically ally. Remind me again how he developed a reputation as a moderate?"

Wonkette:

"It creates a quandary for McCain, who needs to rely on this dude to get votes out in Ohio during the general election. But... Joooooohn, look what he says!"

Comments

[John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada]

McCain isn't even religious in the sense most understand the word, but he wants those Religious Right votes, and guys like Parsley appeal to the defenders of Israel's excesses too.

Parsley is part of the American Taleban. Terrorism and advocacy of terror has always been fine in America as long as you have the correct target.

The fact that McCain selected him for a "guide" tells us something pretty unpleasant about McCain.

But then most of us already knew that McCain is dishonest, given to anger, and rather unbalanced.

He has charm in small doses as all psychopaths do.

[Marko]

and we don't have enough enemies already? yeah, right...let's alienate more of the world by saying we are going to war to destroy Islam...we decry Islamic fundamentalists for having no perspective and toleration and then we commit the same crimes

wake-ee wake-ee

[zahid Malik]

I am afraid McCain and his Guide are totally misguided. They don't realise that confronting the religion of Islam means only one outcome, the desctruction of the church of christ. They don't realised that their comments will enable us Muslims to bemore alert and be prepared for the next assault. I must emphasise that confronting the Muslim will be a great disaster for all humanity. McCain must distance himself from this meglamaniac. If McCain's Guides are that sort of thinkers than we are heading fro war for the next 5o years. I caustion McCain.

[Jamie Laidlaw]

It not only brings into high relief the presumption that McCain is a moderate but as importantly is McCain independent or has he rented out part of his brain to Parsley?

It is a poor attempt at a joke but if McCain rented to Parsley and Rosemary rented to Spritzer what will Thyme bring to the voting public?

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

[Mickey]

parsely is fine. What's not fine is Obama's anti-american, "whites-are-bad" church where he's attended for 20 years. The rhetoric coming out of there is very disturbing and would offend most americans.

[Bryan]

How typical of the Obama loving media across the pond to focus on an endorsement from a preacher for Senator McCain and not mention a word about the racist, anti-semitic, America-hating preacher that has been Obama's guide and mentor for the past 20 years. Report on the comments of the guy who inspired Obama's book and then decide who to be worried about as the leader of the free world.

[Brian Groendyke]

I think Rod Munch Parsley is a quack and I say that from experience

[Dean Parker]

Rod Parsley is the pastor of the largest congregation in the intire state of Ohio. Over 20,000 members, of all ethnic and financiaol backrounds. He is Amung the most respected Evangelicals in America today. Why WOULD'NT John M embrace and seek him out as a spiritual guide. Bottom line is the tenants of the gospel mandate a stand against certain secular beliefs.

Get over it people...America is a CHRISTIAN nation! Over 83% profess to believe in the Judeo Christian religion. I tire of the tyrananical MINORITY that impose their belief's (or lack thereof) on the 85% of us. Watch HBO this Sunday to get a REAL look at what the Founder's believed. Namely that We have a FREEDOM OF RELIGION...NOT a Freedom FROM Religion.

To think that one would divorce himself from the source of his or her core beliefs because they become a public servant is folly. And please correct me, but what exactly is the problem with the "Ten Commandments'?

Oh yea...thats right. We would not want to teach our children thou shall not steal, cheat, lie etc. We should all do what just "feels" right! Liberalism REALLY is a mental disorder!

[Lon Ball]

To understand the Ameican Religious Right

Sen. McCain has bought into the Christian Zionism movement that is based on the apostacy and heresy of "Rapture" doctrine. So have the Bush Administration exploited Israel for the purpose of gaining a foothold in the oil rich Med-East.

The facts: The word "Rapture" does not appear in the Bible or any concordance. Rapture had its genesis in 1830 in the visions of 15 year old Margaret McDonald, a parishioner of her pastor, Edward Irving, who was kicked out of the Presbyterian Church and now credited with being the father of the Penticostal churches. She was on her sickbed and delirious. Her vision was of Christ's returning twice, not the biblically correct once (called 'Pre-millennialism') where the 'Saints' will be plucked directly up into heaven before the tribulation refered to in the Book of Revelation. This corrupted theology provides the fictional basis for Tim LeHaye's "Left Behind" novels and to the Christian Zionists. The Christian Zionists believe that they can conjure Jesus down for his first and invisible second coming to take them all bodily up into heaven by razing the Moslem Dome of the Rock in the Jerusalem Temple Mount, and rebuilding the Jewish Temple! The Christian Zionists hold one strong belief in common with the Lukid fascists and extreme Orthodox Jews. That is that the nation of Israel will be extended to its farthest all time historical reaches before the Messiah comes (for the first time). This is extemely fortuitous for the oil corporations agenda of conquering the Mid-East and the Bush, oil-men, Administration. Geo. Bush and Karl Rove may not personally buy into the Rapture-Zionist fanaticism, but they continue to exploit it as embodied by the TV preachers like Falwell and Robertson, etc.

Readers, know your Bible better than the enemy, join your mainline local church and hang out with the ministers who know their Christian and Jewish theology. Realize that the Armageddon, tribulation, Apocalypse have already happened in the Roman Empire days. The 'Beast' was Caesar Domitian, and his name was 666. Read Apartheid Anglican priest and author, Allan Boesak. Also, read Matthew Boyd's most important new book, The Myth of the Christian Nation and Rabbi Michael Lerhner's new book, The Left Hand of God: Taking Our Country Back from the Religious Right.

Remember, Israelis readily admit that less than 20% of Israeli ethnic Jews are religious; they are agnostic in a theocracy. However, theocracies are by definition, Corporatism, a form of fascism. Theocracy is also the agenda of the religious right here in the US in the form of Faith Based government. No less than Hitler and Mussolini combined Christian Church and state to legitimize their fascist regimes and warfare.

But above all else, read the words of Jesus in the Book of Matthew Ch.5-7 to hear the real Jesus speak for himself and for what Christians all should aspire to be, pacifists.

So it appears that McCain has little understanding or sympathy with such religious cultism as Mr. Parsley's. As with President Bush, VP Cheney and their administration, this is no barrier for exploiting the American religious electorate for crude and bigoted ballots. The more poisonously radical the preacher, the more inclusive. That is the strategy, but there is more than an inkling that, given the economy and stale hypocrisy of the religious right, the electoral stage is set for backfire.

[Rev. Craig X Rubin]

Islam is a false religion...the Koran was written by a Rabbi and a Catholic Priest...wake up folks and smell the hooka!

[Yaz B]

Unbelievable and very worrying. If we thought Bush is bad, McCain looks worse. The fact that he is supposedly a "war hero" is enough to make me sick. Barack Obama has shown real intellect and a powerful character. Clinton and McCain are the same old!! At least its refreshing to see that its not only Islam that harbours fundementalists. “Spiritual guide”!!! I cant believe that he would even attempt to stand by this Racist minister. The US is truly the craziest place on earth!!!

[Laura]

Bryan, I think the point is that there has been a lot of attention on Obama's church links, and he has been called upon to publicly denounce the views and reject the support of Louis Farrakhan, a man with whom he has never shared a stage, never solicited the endorsement of, and never described as his spiritual guide. If Farrakhan is a racist and extremist at one end of the spectrum, then Parsley is his counterpart at the other, yet there is little focus on this, which suggests that as a white christian somehow these bigoted and violent views are ok. So now liberal commentators are saying, if Obama had to denounce a man to whom he is not directly associated at all, why not McCain? I think if you read the story properly, and other posts on this blog, the Farrakhan issue has been dealt with thoroughly and highlighted many times, and the Parsley issue brought up in this context

[John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada]

The size of Parsley's congregation means nothing positive. The old American Bund could put on rallies that attracted hundreds of thousands.

It wasn't for nothing that the noted WWII American journalist William Shirer said that perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically.

[John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada]

The American Religious Right has a dangerous set of paranoid delusions centering on the Mideast.

The Second Coming, The Rapture, Armageddon, the Mark of the Beast, and Israel are all blurred together in a poisonous cocktail.

Their support for Israel has a powerful element of seeing the weird Book of Revelations fulfilled.

No one can read those crazed words without realizing that anyone embracing them is embracing death.