Spiritual advisors: guilt by association?

 

President George W. Bush talked to his spiritual leader, Reverend Ted Haggard, every week while in the White House, either by telephone or on rare occasions in person. His spiritual advisor had an audience of evangelicals in the millions. Ted Haggard spoke of morals and family values, gay and lesbian issues, both to President Bush and to those he preached to from his pulpit. But that all came to an abrupt end when it was discovered that he was secretly gay and addicted to methamphetamine.

President Bush never mentioned what had happened to his spiritual advisor, nor did he ever denounce his actions.

 

U. S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who is the Republican nominee for president, also has a spiritual advisor. His name is Pastor John Hagee. Pastor Hagee has been McCain’s friend and advisor for more than 30 years. In one of John Hagee’s books, titled “Jerusalem Countdown,” he says that Hitler and the Nazis were sent by God, as agents of “God’s boundless love...for the Jewish people”. Hagee smears the Catholic Church and calls them a “cult,” and he is connected to various white supremacist groups.

Referring to Hagee as a “bigot,” the conservative Catholic League called for McCain to denounce and reject his endorsement, as did the progressive Catholics United.

 

Sen. McCain said he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.” McCain also called Hagee “the staunchest leader of our Christian evangelical movement.”

McCain issued a statement saying that he would not renounce the endorsement, but that he also does not agree with everything Hagee has said.

Jeremiah Wright, spiritual advisor to U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., has been accused of promoting black separatism in speeches to his congregation. He has been called out for his friendship with the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who spouts anti-Semitic views.

In a 2003 sermon, Wright said to his congregation: “The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing ‘God Bless America.’ No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible for killing innocent people,” Wright continued on and said: “God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme.”

 

Excerpt of Sen. Obama’s response in a Fox News interview:

“The pastor of my church, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently preached his last sermon and is in the process of retiring, has touched off a firestorm over the last few days. He’s drawn attention as the result of some inflammatory and appalling remarks he made about our country, our politics, and my political opponents.”

“Let me say at the outset that I vehemently disagree and strongly condemn the statements that have been the subject of this controversy. I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies. I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Rev. Wright that are at issue.

“Let me repeat what I’ve said earlier. All of the statements that have been the subject of controversy are ones that I vehemently condemn. They in no way reflect my attitudes and directly contradict my profound love for this country.”

The statement by Sen. McCain in regard to his racist pastor seems to be good enough to quiet the extreme right wing talking heads such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, but a more detailed statement by Sen. Obama does not. That sounds to me a lot like racism coming from the extreme right wing of the Republican Party.

 

Politicians throughout the ages have sought the approval and endorsements of religious leaders for the votes of their congregation. Win over the religious leader and you certainly will win over many of the voters to whom they preach.

In the United States we have seen Republicans kissing the feet of people such as the late Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson for years, regardless of whether they agree with their religious ideology.

Holding our politicians accountable for the words of their spiritual advisors is nothing more than guilt by association.