#734: John Hagee

John Hagee is a wackjob televangelist preacher who preaches the prosperity gospel and endorses all the ridiculous claims often endorsed by wackjob televangelist preachers, such as the idea that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for American toleration of homosexuality and that Hitler was sent by God to help bring about the establishment of the state of Israel through persecution of the Jews, and therefore the Holocaust was really God’s will and therefore an instance of perfect justice. In essence, Hagee is a fire-and-brimstone preacher notorious for preaching on political subjects, taking exactly the views you’d expect from someone with little aptitude for reality but lots of hate to spread. He also runs the John Hagee ministries, which is responsible for distributing that hate and insanity to many countries around the world, and Hagee is the founder and National Chairman of the Christian-Zionist organization Christians United for Israel. Nonetheless, he admits that that the preemptive nuclear attack on Iran that he favors will lead to the deaths of most Jews in Israel, but that is apparently OK since God, Hagee, the Bible, himself and stuff (it should be mentioned that he has a history of trying to rewrite past statements). There is a fine summary of some of his views here.

Hagee’s views on religious liberty are well illustrated by his assertion that atheists should leave the US, as “they are not wanted and won't be missed” (by him, of course), and he has called on Congress to “outlaw the practice of witchcraft and Satanism in the US military, lest we offend the God of Heaven”, which I suppose is the only First Amendment Hagee finds it worthwhile to endorse.

He is, of course, a Biblical literalist, and his track record as a prophet resembles that of Hal Lindsey. In his 2005 book Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, Hagee takes the Bible to predict that Russia and the Islamic states will invade Israel and be destroyed by God. This will cause the antichrist, the head of the European Union, to create a confrontation over Israel between China and the West. The causal mechanisms are unclear, but sufficient causes are superfluous in Jesus-dynamics, I suppose. In Defense of Israel (2007), he argued that Jesus did not claim to be the Messiah for the Jews, only the Savior for the Christian Church, and therefore, that attempts should not be made to convert Jews. The conclusion is, I suppose, fair, but the premises are less well-hinged. Hagee denies being anti-semitic, though, which is proven by the fact that he leads Christians United for Israel, although he admits that he is willing to see most Jews (who themselves are to blame for the Holocaust – in fact, according to his Jerusalem Countdown Hitler himself counts as a Jew) killed as a means to limit the influence of Islam. And so it goes.

Involvement in politics

In the 2008 elections Hagee endorsed McCain (this is a superb commentary). McCain apparently expressed gratitude for the endorsement, which led to a spite with the deranged dimwit Bill Donohoe, of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, over the fact that Hagee is on record as calling the Catholic Church “the great whore”. Much hilarity ensued, and McCain was in the end forced to denounce Hagee. Hagee, by the way, has earlier been a strong supporter of Alan Keyes for president.

According to Hagee, prayer appears in general to be a powerful political force. He even has evidence. According to Hagee it was prayer and fasting that ended the Civil War. It is hard to see how to start.

Involvement in pseudo-politics

Hagee is also a conspiracy theorist, having stated not only that global warming is non-existent, but that the Kyoto is as a conspiracy aimed at manipulating U.S. economy. In that regard, he has also condemned the Evangelical Climate Initiative, an initiative signed by 86 evangelical leaders acknowledging the seriousness of global warming and pledging to press for legislation to limit carbon dioxide emissions. And to make sure that no one ever mistakes him for anything but a conspiracy-theorist, he has touted the “one world order” conspiracy involving the Illuminati and international bankers, agreeing that there is a “Satanic liberal Jewish conspiracy”, consisting in particular an unholy combination of the Federal Reserve and the Rothschild family. Who knows what they’re up to, but it is probably not Armageddon, since Hagee seems to be all game for contributing to ushering in the endtimes.

Apparently secular humanism has become the pagan religion that is dominating the country, and apparently it is responsible for societal ills such as rape, spousal abuse, drugs, divorce and crime. Hagee has, in a predictably feeble effort to do an effort to turn the tide of such evils, warned that books Harry Potter and Heather Has Two Mommies (along with abortion) are ways for the secularists to corrupt America’s children. Because it is always about “other religions corrupting children” (also here; and to emphasize: gay equality and abortion are “demonic forces attacking our nation” and gays are “defiling America’s purity”, whatever that is supposed to mean). Unsurprisingly universities are “poisoning the minds of America’s young people” as a result of Saudi financing (little evidence given) of “anti-American” professors. Indeed, as so many delusional wingnuts Hagee has perceived the close collaboration between radical Islamists and secularists – no matter that his own views, as opposed to secular liberal vies on social and political issues, line up pretty smoothly with the Taliban – since both “hate America and love Big Government”. At least he cuts to the chase without bothering with irrelevant details or explanations. And both groups like to “tell us what to think”; Hagee would never dream of doing that himself, would he? Immediately afterwards he repeated his warnings to his congregation that if they read Harry Potter books they are “opening the gates of your mind to the Prince of Darkness and he will invade, and once he's invited in, he doesn't go out until he is cast out,” and that infernal rock and roll music, which “is nothing more than Satanic cyanide”, needs to be taken outside of the home and burned. Well, ok; he is not telling you what to think. Indeed, one suspects that Hagee doesn’t really want you to be thinking at all.

Hagee also thinks that the US is facing decline (it is unclear in what respect it is supposed to be declining) because of prohibitions on public school-organized prayer and legal abortion. More on Hagee on abortion here). Indeed, it seems that God is prepared to kill 100 million Americans as punishment for abortions: “You say, ‘I have a hard time believing that.’ May I refer you to Noah and the flood? Believe it,” which, as evidence, comes dangerously close to Pygmies+Dwarfs.

Miscellaneous

As for the proposed “decline”, in 2010, Hagee released the book Can America Survive? 10 Prophetic Signs That We Are The Terminal Generation. The signs are generally rather mundane, and often in internal conflict, but I suppose coherence is not for divinely inspired prophets such as Hagee (for example).

There is a fine Hagee resource here.

His son, Matthew Hagee seems to be following in his father’s exact footsteps.

Diagnosis: Demented fuckwit. He is pretty loud, and a scary number of other demented fuckwits seem to be listening.