Pot, Meet Kettle
Published by Pokerwolf on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 12:13 PM.
All over the internet, people are condemning Barack Obama for his relationship with his minister, Reverend White. I don't begrudge them those feelings because I feel the same way. But, when I have pointed out the relationship between John McCain and Reverend Hagee as a similar situation, the response is usually similar to this statement:
"Hagee isn't McCain's minister."
Valid point. But, that makes me ask one question:
Who is John McCain's "spiritual guide"?
Allow me to introduce Rod Parsley. He's a Pentecostal minister who is also a televangelist. Generally, a Presidential candidate's "spiritual guide" doesn't cause many waves. But, just like Reverend White, Rod Parsley has said some rather inflammatory things:
"It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America."
One of Parsley's biggest statements is that Christianity is "at war" with Islam and he continually uses military symbolism in his sermons. Parsley also believes that there is no separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution. He is known as a Dominionist, which means that he thinks that the United States should be a Christian nation:
1. Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism, in that they believe that the United States once was, and should once again be, a Christian nation. In this way, they deny the Enlightenment roots of American democracy.
2. Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity.
3. Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, insofar as they believe that the Ten Commandments, or "biblical law," should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.
Now, for those people who have been happy to attack Barack Obama about the things his minister believes, how pleased are you to discover this information about John McCain? Does this change your opinion of him at all? If it doesn't, then why do the beliefs of Obama's minister matter?
If one Presidential candidate has to distance himself from his minister because of inflammatory rhetoric, then any Presidential candidate who associates with a minister who spews inflammatory rhetoric should distance themselves from that minister.
To require Obama to distance himself from White while McCain can keep Parsley close by his side is discrimination. It's a move that says, "Black people who smear whites aren't allowed, but white people who smear Muslims can do what they want."
"Hagee isn't McCain's minister."
Valid point. But, that makes me ask one question:
Who is John McCain's "spiritual guide"?
Allow me to introduce Rod Parsley. He's a Pentecostal minister who is also a televangelist. Generally, a Presidential candidate's "spiritual guide" doesn't cause many waves. But, just like Reverend White, Rod Parsley has said some rather inflammatory things:
"It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America."
One of Parsley's biggest statements is that Christianity is "at war" with Islam and he continually uses military symbolism in his sermons. Parsley also believes that there is no separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution. He is known as a Dominionist, which means that he thinks that the United States should be a Christian nation:
1. Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism, in that they believe that the United States once was, and should once again be, a Christian nation. In this way, they deny the Enlightenment roots of American democracy.
2. Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity.
3. Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, insofar as they believe that the Ten Commandments, or "biblical law," should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.
Now, for those people who have been happy to attack Barack Obama about the things his minister believes, how pleased are you to discover this information about John McCain? Does this change your opinion of him at all? If it doesn't, then why do the beliefs of Obama's minister matter?
If one Presidential candidate has to distance himself from his minister because of inflammatory rhetoric, then any Presidential candidate who associates with a minister who spews inflammatory rhetoric should distance themselves from that minister.
To require Obama to distance himself from White while McCain can keep Parsley close by his side is discrimination. It's a move that says, "Black people who smear whites aren't allowed, but white people who smear Muslims can do what they want."
