The Hagee International Effect

John Hagee of San Antonio's Cornerstone Church, has endorsed McCain. Now I know that many times endorsements can do more damage than good for a candidate, (see: Obama distancing himself from Farakhann) so it will be very interesting to hear McCain's response to his newest outspoken supporter in the coming days.

Having lived in San Antonio, I'm somewhat familiar with Hagee's teachings. Briefly, his poor eschatology and support for Israel drives his ministry. He oversees Christians United for Israel, which, like Hagee, supports the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, which will enable God to allow the Messiah's second coming.

[My opinion is that Jehovah is not dependent on any of man's action to resend the Messiah. Moreover, rebuilding the temple would require the destruction of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which would without question trigger a global war the scale of which man has not yet seen.]

Given Hagee's theology and active involvement in promoting a proIsraeli United States, McCain would be wise to separate himself from this endorsement. Any president with ties to someone with such deep pockets and such a wide audience who blindly supports Israel in the international scene will do serious damage to the global reputation of the US. There will be no advancement of peace in the middle east. Terrorist ideals will grow when such clear Israeli ties to our president can be seen. In short, we'll have an international mess.

At this point I wouldn't vote for McCain anyway, but if he accepts and strengthens his ties with Hagee, he will be pushing me, a voter who values peace, further away.