McCain’s Preacher Problem

If Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s kooky blend of indignant black nationalism and heated Christian rhetoric are fair game this political season, then certainly Reverend John Hagee’s anti-Catholic, Judeo-Christian, apocalyptic fanaticism also meets the test. Hagee reaches many, many more ears than Wright ever did, which is why John McCain stood with him just a few weeks ago to accept the fiery preacher’s endorsement – despite the potential pitfalls. The Maverick needs all the help he can get with The Pious.

Barack Obama has been made to explain (again and again) his decades long relationship with a man who ran one of the biggest churches in black Chicago. The outraged ask, “how could he have sat still in that pew while Wright accused America of, well, everything?”

And perhaps this was a fair question the first (second, third, or 28th) time it was asked, but now it’s just piling on. The answer is actually, and ironically, a bit Rumsfeldian. See, you go to church with the community you have, not the community you wish you had. Because, (and this is the dirty little secret) while Reverend Wright might not be exactly representative of the South Side, he certainly is no aberration.

You wander into one too many store-front black churches and you’re likely to hear one or two patently absurd sermons. Obama, or any other viable candidate coming out of the current black community, was going to have to deal with something like this.

But Reverend Hagee is different. What exactly is he so angry about? And why does he think God is too? Does Hagee really think God was punishing Louisiana and Mississippi for sexual immorality by drowning a city and its citizens? (Has Hagee’s God heard of Las Vegas?) Does he really think God wants us to start a holy war with Iran? Did Hagee bump his head?

Of course these are interesting questions, but the relevant one has more to do with the man running for president who sought, not just accepted, Reverend Hagee’s endorsement. It’s one thing to join a local church that is, by all accounts, doing good work in a distressed community – even if you have to sidestep an eccentric preacher or two.

It’s quite another thing to seek one out for political gain.

Everyone knows that John McCain has a God problem. Unfortunately, he now has a Preacher Problem – one Obama is all too ready to share.

MB Holman is founder and editor of The Blue Journal-Report.
He can be reached at mbholman@bluejournalreport.com.

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