McCain Endorsement Angers Catholic League President

From the Washington Post courtesy of Eschaton:

The president of the Catholic League today blasted Sen. John McCain for accepting the endorsement of Texas evangelicalist John Hagee, calling the controversial pastor a bigot who has "waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church."

Hagee, who is known for his crusading support of Israel, backed McCain's presidential bid Wednesday, standing next to the senator at a hotel in San Antonio and calling McCain "a man of principle."

But Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement today that Hagee has written extensively in negative ways about the Catholic Church, "calling it 'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system.'"

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Make no mistake about it: Hagee really is one hardcore Southern Baptist motherfucker, a real "you're going directly to Hell, scumbag, unless you do exactly as I say" kind of guy, no apologies, proud to be an asshole. But then, so is the crusading anti-gay anti-art anti-abortion anti-Protestant Donohue, as a recent episode of South Park shows. On the other hand, both Hagee and Donohue are well within their rights to denounce anybody or any organization they like. That's how America works. Not only do we have the freedom of speech, we also have an obligation to speak our political opinions.

Having said that, this all a very good example of why we also have a wall of separation between church and state. It's not just the Baptists who think they're God's one true religion; it's all religions. Once you start mixing church and state, one religion or another, not to mention agnostics and atheists, is going to be oppressed. That's what happens when you apply a rigid our-way-only philosophy to governance. So, even though it's Constitutionally permissible to throw religious speech into the political arena, it's not a very good idea: who can be persuaded when your opponent "knows" he's right and you're wrong? It's a dead end in terms of argumentation, and all it's going to do is piss people off.

Hagee and Donohue should both shut the fuck up.



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