HAGEE: TEA-PARTYIN' AMERICAN HERETIC
By Harmony Daws
2 Sep 10
Conservative star Glenn Beck’s recent “Restoring Honor” event
was attended by perhaps hundreds of thousands and covered by major
media. Mega-pastor John Hagee was among the religious leaders who spoke;
he led a closing prayer to the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and
asked forgiveness of America’s sins. “Through moral and
spiritual compromise,” the Zionist leader prayed, “we have
allowed our nation to conform to the ways of the world by rejecting
the Word of God.” Yet few evangelical pastors have more grossly
betrayed the Bible than John Hagee.
Hagee has “made it a practice for 25 years not to target Jews
for conversion.”At his Christians United for Israel rallies,
he forbids mention of the name of Jesus, in praise or prayer. And although
betraying this central tenet of Christianity, the heretical pastor
remains popular. Although so controversial that John McCain distanced
himself from Hagee’s endorsement in 2008, Hagee appears influential
among Tea Partiers. In 2006, Barna polls reported Hagee was regarded
by Pentecostals as one the top ten spokesmen for Christianity. Glenn
Beck, who is riding a wave of tremendous popularity, has promoted Hagee’s
book Can America Survive? 10 Prophetic Signs That We Are the Terminal
Generation. This month the book is number seven on the New
York Times political bestsellers list. Hagee can be seen on YouTube
listing all ten of the signs in conversation with Beck.
It is not surprising that Beck provides a platform to the arch Christian
Zionist, as he himself panders to the Anti-Defamation League. Earlier
this month Beck related the Biblical fact that Jews were responsible
for Jesus’ death. Jumped
on by ADL for what it regards as “anti-Semitism,” Beck
backtracked. “ I
strongly believe that it is a historical fact that the Romans, not
the Jews, put Jesus to death…” Beck says he wants to dialogue
with ADL so that he can better understand the “injustices” (online
hate speech, Christian “homophobia,” criticism of Israel?)
that “ADL is fighting.”
In his Beck-blessed bestseller, Hagee says the one
thing we won’t survive is rejecting Israel, “the only nation
created by an eternal covenant with God.” Hagee says Jews have
a divine mandate to possess Palestine and America will be destroyed
if we attempt to force a return of any land to the dispossessed Arabs.
He compares American pressure on Israel to withdraw from illegal settlements
to British attempts to appease Hitler. “God promises that all
nations that use their influence to divide the land of Israel will
be brought to a swift and severe judgment.” (p. 27)
Because Hagee’s theology lines up with the most zealous, anti-peace
right-wingers in Israel, it is no surprise that rabidly anti-Gentile,
anti-Palestinian settlers and rabbis receive tremendous financial support
from his coffers. Christian Zionists yearly funnel more than a million
dollars into their coffers. In fact, they directly contribute to the
persecution of the approximately 15,000
Messianic Jewish
Christians who live in Israel today. They
live “under the perpetual wrath of the haredim, who for the most
part alienate and discriminate against them…”
Hagee has even contributed $500,000 of evangelical donations to the
city of Ariel, which is noted for its particular persecution of Messianic
believers. (See, Jews
Against Jesus)
[Recently] Hagee was the guest of honor of the city of Ariel. The
pro-settler news outlet Arutz Sheva described the "tribute ceremony" by
Hagee's supporters in the sports hall named in his honor. "Hundreds
of Ariel residents, led by city officials and Mayor Ron Nachman, were
moved by the outpouring of love from the Christian friends of Israel
and responded in kind with warm applause and embraces, which reached
a peak with the singing of the Israeli and U.S. anthems."
During the gathering, Pastor Hagee delivered an aggressive and patriotic
address supportive of the State of Israel and decrying the U.S. government's
policy of pushing Israel to make security concessions to the Arabs
that threaten its existence. "The Land of Israel is the country
and the land of the Jews," Hagee said fervently. He earned loud
applause when he declared: "We believe that the Jews are the chosen
people, God's beloved, and that Jerusalem will be united forever and
not divided, under Jewish sovereignty.” (Ha’aretz
.com)
Hagee’s
donations also go to Gush Katif, Jewish settlers who
resist territorial compromise and land withdrawals. They also go to
Young Israel, which Richard Silverstein describes as “one of
the most virulent U.S. Orthodox groups supporting the most extreme
of the settlers and settlements.” Silverstein
reports this about two other recipients of Hagee’s largesse:
"Shurat Ha-Din is an Israeli-American group using 'lawfare' to
wage war against the Arab world. It sues Arab banks alleging
that they accept deposits from militant groups in violation of
U.S. law. The group also hosts “Intellitours” to
Israel which include meetings with Shin Bet assassins who’ve
perpetrated targeted assassinations.
"Nefesh B’Nefesh resettles new immigrants who make aliya. It
makes a special point of directing these immigrants to West Bank
settlements and subsidizes their lives there. In effect, this
is yet another means of providing ideological and financial support
to the settler movement."
Here are some of the Orthodox pro-settler groups receiving money
from Hagee:
Gush Katif, $200,000
Young Israel, $150,000
Shurat Ha-Din, $100,000
Nefesh B’Nefesh, $1,000,000
Ariel (settlement), $500,000
Gush Etzion, $150,000
Far right-wing sentiment and the violent, racial/religious supremacism
of the Talmud have motivated many murderous statements by respected
rabbis in Israel. (See our last two articles.) Real bloodshed is resulting
from their vitriol. Jewish
terrorist Yakov Teitel has been indicted for the murders
of a Palestinian taxi driver and Palestinian shepherd; for the attempted
poisoning of Palestinian village residents; and for attempting to murder
the son of a Messianic family in Ariel by sending them an explosive
disguised as a Purim gift. Teitel is a follower of Rabbi
Shapira, whose King’s
Torah justifies the killing of non-Jews. (See, Homicidal
Rabbi Finds Wide Support in Israel) Dov Lior, another radical
rabbi and friend of Shapira, has instructed IDF soldiers, “There
is no such thing as civilians in wartime… A thousand non-Jewish
lives are not worth a Jew’s fingernail!” Lior
does advocate keeping a few non-Jews alive: captured militants
who could be used for live human medical experiments! Journalist Daniel
Estrin says Rabbi Lior remains “a respected
figure among many mainstream Zionists.”
In addition to violating the Biblical mandate to preach the gospel
to everyone, Hagee disobeys another important, clearly stated command:
to make donations first to the “household of faith”—not
unbelieving Jews who persecute Christians. Hagee supports right-wing
rabbis and Zionist education—not mercy to displaced Palestinians
or defense of Jewish Christians in Israel!
Also, Hagee supports an undivided Jerusalem, which would mean kicking
out East Jerusalem’s Arab inhabitants whose ancestors lived there
for millennia. “If America puts pressure on Israel to divide
Jerusalem we are following the blueprint of the Prince of Darkness,” the
pastor has said.
Thus Hagee, alleged representative of Christianity, wages war not
only against fellow believers, the Bible and Palestinians—but
any possibility of a two-state solution providing Arab autonomy. This
means he is against the Mideast peace process itself.
Rev. Ted Pike is director of the National Prayer Network, a Christian/conservative
watchdog organization.
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