What About McCain's Pastor Problem? [1]
Submitted by Anne Landman [2] on
While news media have focused on Barack Obama [3]'s pastor Jeremiah Wright [4], little attention has been paid to the endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain [5] by controversial Texas televangelist John Hagee [6]. Hagee has voiced extreme anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish and anti-homosexual views. In a September 2006 interview [7] on National Public Radio [8], Hagee reaffirmed his view that Hurricane Katrina [9] was God's punishment against New Orleans for hosting a homosexual parade. Hagee has also said that [10] the Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves by "turning away from the true God." He referred to Catholicism as a "false cult," [11] and said the religion contributed to Hitler's anti-semitic views. When Hagee endorsed him, McCain said he was "proud" to have the pastor's support. More recently, McCain has been working to distance himself from Hagee's inflammatory comments.