I served! You didn't!

Who'd a thought the conservative Christian theology of Premillennialism would play an active role in this year's presidential race? This has come to light with the recent flap over Rev. John Hagee's association with McCain. This bit of theology says that Christ will return for the End Times when certain things, according to prophecy, have taken place. Now, one could argue that the prophecy, which is in a coded language (had to sidetrack the Romans 1900 years ago), doesn't really say what the Right claims it says. But that doesn't stop them from claiming it all hinges on Israel. Which means they are Christians for Israel, not because they really care for Jews, but because of the way Israel fits into their scenario. Get all the Jews into Israel and Jesus will come along in his rapture spaceship and good little conservatives won't have to die as the rest of humanity gets flattened in the End Times. McCain says he knows nothing of this (wanna buy a bridge in Brooklyn?) but his policies towards veterans in the new GI Bill shows his reliance on the Right. Even worse, McCain uses his trump card -- I was a prisoner of war and you didn't even put on a uniform -- to hide that Obama actually cares more for Jews and veterans as people instead of mystical pawns in a religious scenario.

A bunch of short notes

Blogger Terrance Heath has a few things to say to the GOP: Blaming the Democrats and trying for re-branding won't work because you've just had 7.5 years in power (in spite of Dems supposedly in control in Congress) and what have you done with it? There is a basic issue: The "problems" the GOP wants to solve are not the issues that most Americans are facing. And the big issues before Americans are ones conservatism doesn't see as problems.

Portland, Oregon just elected Sam Adams as mayor by a hefty margin. It is newsworthy because Adams is gay. Alas, Portland is a beacon in decidedly conservative state.

Ellen DeGeneres has become quite the spokesperson for the gay community. She recently announced her engagement for a Calif. gay wedding. Today she brought John McCain onto her show, sat him down, and asked him why the federal government won't allow her to be married. He politely brushed her off by saying "We just have a disagreement… I wish you every happiness." Her comeback: "You'll walk me down the aisle?"

Video and commentary here.

Video and transcript here.

Pastor John Hagee is big stuff in conservative circles and McCain actively sought and basked in Hagee's endorsement. But Hagee has been pushing strange foreign policy ideas, such as the role Israel is to play in the End Times described in Revelation and how the USA can speed up the timetable. But Hagee went one step too far. He claimed that Jews were disobeying God for not relocating to Israel during the Zionist movement in the early part of the 20th century. Therefore God used Hitler to force Jews to Israel with the Holocaust as the price they paid for their disobedience. Hagee and McCain have now renounced each other.

Gaining Fundie cred through *this* guy?

To gain Fundie cred, John McCain (who called Falwell and Robertson "agents of intolerance") has latched on to pastor John Hagee. The Washington Spectator (alas, you must be a subscriber to see the online version) reports he is a lot more scary than anything Jeremiah Wright ever subjected Barack Obama to. Some things Hagee has preached or written about:

Hagee preaches a Prosperity Gospel: the more you give to the church (meaning Hagee) the more God will make you prosper. This is a perversion of the love of God, which is not conditional. That many of Hagee's church members are not prospering doesn't get talked about. Lenny Bruce says it well "Show me a preacher who has two suits where there is another man who has none, and I'll show you a fraud." Hagee's compensation package in 2003 (last time it was publicly available) was $1.25 million.

Hagee wrote about Armageddon. It is all in his book Jerusalem Countdown; A Prelude to War (several Hagee books are listed on Amazon). The ideas are based on Dispensationalism, a sect less than 200 years old. This is a twist on the prophecies of the book of Revelations, which talks about how Christ will defeat the Anti-Christ and usher in a new era of peace. Jesus clearly says no one knows when this will happen. But in the Hagee version it will come after certain events happen: Israel takes over all of it Biblical territory, all Jews gather there, and the Temple of Jerusalem is rebuilt (a mosque has been on that site for centuries). Whether the Bible actually says this is open to debate. But Hagee takes it a step further -- by forcing these events to happen he will speed up the time when the battle between Christ and Anti-Christ will happen. That bit is not in the Bible and goes against a great deal of other Biblical teachings.

To carry out his plans for Israel, Hagee has formed Christians United for Israel (CUFI) to advocate foreign policy. The particular foreign policies being advocated is to thwart the creation of a Palestinian state, push Palestinians out of the West Bank and Gaza, and to push for a joint Israel-American pre-emptive military strike on Iran. He hopes that strike will happen under Bush in case Clinton or Obama win the White House.

This is who McCain is cozying up to. Lots of other Republicans are lining up to do the same. Is this who we want with a hotline to the presidency? Is Hagee someone we want badgering the president when he is ignored?

McCain, Clinton, and Obama may woo independents with words about security and the economy and not say much about their associations. Voters may not worry about those associations. But they can severely impact life here in America (the Supremes) and around the world (the influence of Hagee).