Maybe it's because, as an atheist, being reviled by fundamentalist christians is old hat, but I just can't get worked up about the hateful rantings of John Hagee. Nor do I fret much about John McCain's acceptance of his endorsement. As with Obama and Reverend Wright, except as a political distraction, who cares? Except for one thing....
If you've ever seen all of the Hagee video, you know it's main theme is not what a naughty man the Pope is, but the End Times. The book of Revelations, and Armageddon. Hagee and others McCain has sought the endorsements of are among the loudest cheerleaders for the Apocalypse. They don't only believe it's coming, they can't wait for it. Tomorrow isn't soon enough. And much of their vision of the end times centers on the middle east, Israel and Iran in particular.
Even that alone isn't enough to cause me to question McCain's association with Hagee. But consider, McCain recently changed his religious affiliation to Souther Baptist. And while the Convention has no formal position on the end times , it's pretty obvious the doctrine is pervasive in Southern Baptist beliefs. And, that deserves a great deal of scrutiny. As a military power deeply entrenched in the middle east, smack dab in the middle between Israel and Iran, a presence McCain suggests will continue on some level for 100 years, what, exactly is McCain's view of the End Times? Which interpretation of Revelations does he believe in? Does he agree that the US will play a pivotal role in the inevitable apocalypse?
Before we hand over the keys of a nuclear arsenal, and command of our conventional military power to McCain, somebody really needs to ask the question, "does Reverend Hagee love the idea of the end of times as much as you do?" Why hasn't this become more of an issue?
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