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I have members of my extended family back in Washington State who revere Parsley and Hagee, and for nearly a quarter-century Jeff and I have watched in horror as bad theology has chipped away at people's personal lives -- people who then continue harping on bizarre end-time conspiracies, Obama as "Antichrist," the liberal media, the homosexual agenda, God-wants-you-to-prosper cheerleading, and an enshrinement of GOP extremism as fruit of the Gospel. <br><br>I love these people very much, even as I've witnessed extreme recklessness in facing medical issues under the guise of "trusting God," marriages shatter because of "revelations" from someone who "prophesied" about the union, and women heavily yoked under the burden of a wrongful view of submission and sacrifice. These are nice people -- wonderful people, the people whose house you hope your tire blows out in front of on a rainy night. But the glitz, flair, prosperity and grandiosity of these TV evangelists, coupled with a jaw-droppingly anti-intellectual approach to Scripture study, has resulted in an entire family's being led down paths that end up in public wholeheartedness in embracing the Parsley-Hagee salad of error and bigotry, and private lives with enormous chaos as a daily guest, one expected and tolerated without question.<br><br>I've staked my life on the Gospel of Jesus Christ; accordingly, I believe that God is who the Old Testament and New Testament reveal him to be, with, I hope, the humility that allows me to say that nothing I understand comes from innate intelligence or goodness on my part, and that I cannot and do not understand a great number of things. Pretty much, I'd say, about everything. But I do understand that Jesus condemned bigots; welcomed, served, and loved all who came to him; claimed to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and lived a sinless life as God incarnate. If I -- if all Christians -- can emulate the first two and bow in adoration to the last two, we'll do well. <br><br>And no one will ever seek our endorsement for the presidency, which is exactly how it should be.<br><br>Keely<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>> Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 20:53:54 -0700<br>> From: nickgier@adelphia.net<br>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Subject: [Vision2020] McCain Must Now Renounced Rev. Ron Parsley<br>> <br>> The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) Calls on McCain to Renounce Second Bigoted Pastor <br>> Muslim group welcomes candidate’s rejection of Hagee endorsement<br>> <br>> (WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/22/2008) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed Sen. John McCain’s rejection of bigoted Texas pastor John Hagee’s endorsement, and called on the presidential candidate to “unequivocally distance himself” from Ohio pastor Rod Parsley.<br>> <br>> Senator McCain said he chose to reject Reverend Hagee’s support after learning some of the hateful comments he has made. With similar disturbing statements by Reverend Parsley circulating widely on the Internet, it’s time for the senator to renounce the endorsement of this second bigoted pastor.<br>> <br>> Millions of American Muslims may feel unsafe knowing that a candidate for the highest office in the country would embrace a man who demonizes them as "spiritually evil" and believes our country was founded, in part, to destroy their faith.<br>> <br>> In the interest of best positioning any future administration to defeat the narrative of anti-American extremists, we call on Senator McCain to unequivocally distance himself from Pastor Rod Parsley."<br>> <br>> Parsley has referred to Islam as an "anti-Christ religion" and has expressed support for "seeing this false religion [Islam] destroyed." He also described Islam’s prophet Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."<br>> <br>> Gier's addition: Parsley has also claimed that America's Founding Fathers wanted to destroy Islam, apparently in reference to the Barbary pirates of North Africa. I've written about early America's amazing toleration of Islam even with the Barbary pirate conflict going on. Here is an excerpt:<br>> <br>> James H. Hutson, chief of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, did a search of his documents and has offered the following instances of tolerance for Muslims in the early American Republic: <br>> <br>> 1. On June 7, 1776 the Continental Congress passed a resolution declaring that "true freedom embraces the Muslim and the Hindu as well as the Christian." <br>> <br>> 2. In 1786 the Virginia legislature, by a large majority, voted against attempts to exclude Jews and Muslims from a bill protecting religious freedom. <br>> <br>> 3. In 1780 representatives of the people of Massachusetts made sure that their constitution gave "the most ample liberty of conscience . . . to Deists, Muslims, Jews, and Christians." <br>> <br>> 4. Hutson also cites a petition from citizens of Chesterfield County, Virginia, who were concerned about "not becoming our own enemies and weakening this infant state" by excluding Jews and Muslims.<br>> <br>> Would that many contemporary Americans could be so tolerant.<br>> <br>> Nick Gier<br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />E-mail for the greater good. <a href='http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Join/Default.aspx?source=EML_WL_ GreaterGood' target='_new'>Join the i’m Initiative from Microsoft.</a></body>
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