John McCain's "Spiritual Guide" Calls For Destruction Of Islam

Mother Jones:

Senator John McCain hailed as a spiritual adviser an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it.

On February 26, McCain appeared at a campaign rally in Cincinnati with the Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, a supersize Pentecostal institution that features a 5,200-seat sanctuary, a television studio (where Parsley tapes a weekly show), and a 122,000-square-foot Ministry Activity Center. That day, a week before the Ohio primary, Parsley praised the Republican presidential front-runner as a "strong, true, consistent conservative." The endorsement was important for McCain, who at the time was trying to put an end to the lingering challenge from former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a favorite among Christian evangelicals. A politically influential figure in Ohio, Parsley could also play a key role in McCain's effort to win this bellwether state in the general election. McCain, with Parsley by his side at the Cincinnati rally, called the evangelical minister a "spiritual guide."

Read the whole story: Mother Jones

Comments

[charlietuna11]

THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF ROD PARLEYS,PAT ROBERTSONS FALWELLS, HAGEES BOB JONES.THEY DON'T HATE JUST MUSLIM, JEWS,HINDUS,BUDDISTS ,THEY DESPISE CATHOLICS MORMONS AND ANY SECT THAT IS NOT A MIRROR IMAGE OF THEIR FAITH..WE HAVE INVADED AND OCCUPIED MANY ARAB AND MUSLIM COUNTRIES IN THE PAST 30 YEARS SO THERE THE PEOPLE WERE SUPPOSED TO HATE AT THIS TIME. IT WILL CHANGE WITH SOME ENLIGHTENMENT..WE HATED WITH GOOD REASON JAPAN AND GERMANY. TRIUMPED OVER THE RED MENACE. NOW THAT WE DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC COUNTRY TO DESPISE, ISLAM SEEMS LIKE A GOOD WAY TO GO. THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT WHOSE BIGOTRY AND IGNORANCE IS WELL DOCUMENTED HAVE NOW SET THEIR SIGHTS ON ISLAM.A SUBJECT I'M CERTAIN THEY NO NOTHING ABOUT. I MYSELF AM NOT BIG ON ORGANIZED RELIGION. AND I DO WONDER HOW MANY TENS OF MILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF RELIGIOUS ZEALOTS. WAS WATCHING THE DENNIS WHOLEY SHOW A MONTH AGO , HIS GUEST WAS A PROFESSOR OF ISLAMIC STUDIES. HIS GREAT COMMAND OF THE RELIGION,HISTORY,AND CULTURE WAS SO DIFFERANT THAN THE HYSTERICAL RANTS YOU HEAR EVERY DAY FROM FEARMONGERS. I HAVE TO SAY,THE THING THAT SHOCKS ME MORE THAN ANY THING IS HOW EASILY WE AMERICAN FRIGHTEN.. WE HAVE BECOME THE LEAST CURIOUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.WE DON'T VALIDATE EVEN THE MOST SIMPLE PIECES OF DATA. IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS..DON'T ALLOW BIGOTS TO DRAG OUR COUNTRY INTO A CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS.THE ONE THING THAT STUCK IN MY MIND FROM THIS PROFESSOR WAS THE FACT THAT BY THE MIDDLE OF THIS CENTURY, ONE OUT OF EVERY FOUR PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET WILL BE A MUSLIN..WE DON'T NEED POLICIES OF SHOCK AND AWE AND BOMB BOMB BOMB IRAN.. WHAT OUR GREAT COUNTRY NEEDS IS SOPHISTACATED DIALOGUE, INHANSED DIPLOMACY AND COMMON SENSE. WE ARE PAST THE PERIOD WHERE WARS TAKE PLACE ON COMMON BATTLE FIELDS..WE ARE THE GREATEST MILITARY THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. AND NO COUNTRY OR HOSTILE GROUP IS GOING TO MEET US HEAD ON. IT WOULD BE SUICIDE..WE NEED TO SPEND OUR MONEY AND RESOURCES ON INTELLEGENGE NET WORKS SO WE CAN WIN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF POTENTIAL ENEMIES..ITS A TURBULENT WORLD OUT THERE AND WE CAN'T AFFORD TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE FAILED POLICIES OF HATE MONGERS AND BIGOTS..

[CharlesC]

Why is it I think the media won't cover this the way they have Obama's minister? Will they collectively be able to pull themselves out of his butt to treat this with some equanimity? Something tells me no...

[totaldisbelief]

OH my GAWD

[edresearcher]

Someone as strident as Parsley has many things to hide in his closet. It is always the case with these guys. He should take a lesson from Spitzer here. And if there's a false religion worth destroying, Christianity would be at the top of my list.

[rixhex56]

"...an Ohio megachurch pastor who has called upon Christians to wage a 'war' against the 'false religion' of Islam..."

THE "false religion"? ALL religion is false. We can only hope that someday a majority of humanity will outgrow this backward silliness before it destroys us.

[MissingAmerica]

There are many paths to God, and each person has the right to choose his or her own. Unfortunately, ignorance is not one of those paths, nor is hatred. It is time to restore sanity to this country. Isn't there anyone who cares enough to impeach, and speak up for a sane world where freedom of religion is once more recognized as a God-given right, the freedom of choice for each and every person, no matter faith, gender or race.

We must start by impeaching and letting the world know that America is not as ignorant and close-minded as its leaders.

[julianne]

Reading McCain's voting record is a chronology of the Republican Party's assault on the middle class and total deferment to the unnatural wealth and rights of private institutions over national security and the physical and mental health of our posterity. McCain also defers to Israel and will gladly ignite a nuclear conflagration to protect Israel's one and only God and all its crazy artifacts. Like Bush-Cheney, in order to empower himself politically, he will endanger the nation by pandering to its underbelly and a minority of moronic, theocratic traitors. It appears that John McCain is just another mentally ill Republican warmonger and corporate fascist from the State of Arizona.

[Lilly06]

Yet another distraction from the real issues.

[hydenorhare]

Is this a thread that is accepting comments?

[nellie]

This is crazy talk. Can't let this man near the White House.

[ltyr2002]

Bush's religious war?
That would be news to the people who just mailed the fingers of five hostages to the US Embassy.

I think the "religious war" is being waged against all things Western by Islam. Otherwise, how can the apologists explain the rise in Islamic extremism in docile places like Sweden, Denmark, and Holland? Islam is once again trying to do what it almost did a thousand years ago, destroy and conquer the west. Make no mistake about it. Bush is ONE player on the scene.

[WLA]

"Otherwise, how can the apologists explain the rise in Islamic extremism in docile places like Sweden, Denmark, and Holland?"

===

Blowback for illegal invasion and occupation (in more than one instance), blowback for carving up the territory after WWII, blowback for supporting oppressive regimes when it suits America's big business interests. That's how extremism got it's foothold in the region. It's not just an unhappy coincedence. The area was culturally vibrant and productive up until the 30's.

[helonias]

Soooo how many arabs have we killed meddling for their oil and how many of us have they killed.

When you don't have F 16s Apaches gun ships and cruise missiles you make use with what you have.

[LeftVetPatriot]

I'm a LOT more frightened of Christians.

[imusintheevening]

So, lets kill all those who are religious?

[apogee2perogee]

Of course. Be very afraid, for it is inevitable.

I say, bullshit.

[WLA]

Religious intolerance is a virtue to a republican.

[OldSchoolLiberal]

Islam needs reconstruction not destruction; it prophet as a parable. Though since he died neither in poverty like Jesus or the Buddha, rather in great wealth including slaves, and since he did believe in using violence to achieve goals, it will be harder than in the religions of those founders.

Still, Muslims are no less smart, no less human and as humans probably share basic values as much as the Sharia tells them the wrold is divided into two: believers and infidels.

[Rog49Thomas]

Agree with you on stereotyping a group for the actions of a few.

But a couple of contrary thoughts ....

Since you believe that Islam needs some work, I'd be interested in what you think about Christianity - particularly considering some of the deformed views that are paraded as Chrisitan and which seem to enjoy the support of large numbers of people, including some candidates for President.. One might also look at militant Hinduism as ripe for reform. Last year there were a series of bloody attacks on Chrisitans in villages in India.


As I understand it, Muhammad started out preaching peacefully in Mecca but because his new faith threatened the established order, he was first ostracized, commercial pressures put on him and his clan and eventually his assasination was plotted - causing his last minute flight to Medina. After the flight, his remaining supporters in Mecca were dispossessed. Their property and those who had earlier left to Medina was seized. The people of Medina (not all Muslim) accepted him as their temporal leader. In effect, he became head of a statelet. Thereafter, there were battles between the Muslims and their opponents, which the Muslims eventually won. Subsequent to that, the Islamic state began extending its dominion, though in general it did not force convert or persecute "people of the book" - Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. The major conquests followed the death of Muhammad.

There is a pattern here of a state expanding its borders through warfare. That is not an uncommon one and I think there are abundant historical examples of Christian states expanding their borders through war. The fundamental difference is of course that Christianity did not capture state power until Constantine, whereas Islam fairly early on had state power. But if one looks at behavior after achieving control of a political entity, I think both faiths have similar records of warfare and expansion, including wars against their own co-religionists as well as others.

[guntotinganglion]

Mad Dog's a loon, and his "spiritual adviser" is a psychopath. Put the two together, and wattayagot? Nookler combat toe to toe with the Islamofascists! Yeeehaaaaahhhh!!!!! Jeeeehaaaawwwwd!

I can see Mad Dog riding a nookyaler bomb down onto Tehran...can't you? This one's FROM JESUS!!!

It's more and more clear with each new day that America was founded by genetic defects.

[Boobaloo]

"bomb, bomb, bomb ... Islam"