These Two "Reverends" Deserve Each Other

John Hagee is not as prominent in evangelical circles as the media want you to think. His notoriety is largely the by-product of the outlandishness of his teachings, particularly on the subject of Bible prophecy. He is about as representative of evangelical Christianity as Jeremiah Wright is of the black church but because he, like Wright, has been tied like an albatross around the neck of a leading presidential candidate, he and his quirky views have been thrust into the spotlight.

Recently, Hagee wrote a letter to the Catholic League, apologizing for his unsavory comments about the Catholic Church. It was a public relations move, calculated more to benefit John McCain than Hagee, and probably the result of some prodding by the candidate. When the media and other liberal apologists attempt to draw a moral equivalence between Barack Obama's relationship with Jeremiah Wright and John McCain's relationship with John Hagee, they are, it would seem at first glance, stretching the limits of credulity. After all, Hagee is not McCain's pastor and his support for the Republican nominee is based on political, not religious, considerations.

But if we look a little deeper, we may find more to the comparison than meets the eye.

The theology Hagee espouses is the worn out end times boilerplate of premillennial dispensationalism which elevates the modern-day democratic state of Israel to the status of the Old Testament Davidic monarchy of the same name, thus giving it a special place among all the nations of the world. It is bad theology informing bad politics, resulting in a world where any injustice or violence can be excused as long as it advances the cause of "Israel."

Conversely, Obama's long-time pastor espouses a theology borne of political grievances. Nevertheless, bad politics informing bad theology yields much the same result. Any injustice or violence can be excused as long as it advances the cause of the "oppressed."

The more they are compared, the more the seemingly opposite theologies of John Hagee and Jeremiah Wright appear strikingly similar. One espouses a bad theology which produces bad political views; the other clings to bad political views to form a bad theology. Both have developed a worldview in which evil can be excused in the name of some higher cause which they consider an ultimate good. All things considered, perhaps the Reverend John Hagee and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright deserve each other more than they do the politicians with whom they have become inextricably linked.