Slate's Bizbox
faith-based: Religion, spirituality, and sacrilege.

The Devil's in the DetailsWhy John Hagee's views on the Holocaust aren't the only reason for McCain to reject him.

By Daniel Benjamin
Posted Friday, May 23, 2008, at 5:36 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

Unappealing as Hagee's view of the Holocaust is, other parts of his dogma ought to be more troubling. Catholics are justifiably angry about his depiction of their church as the Whore of Babylon. The preacher's view of Hurricane Katrina being a divine judgment on the gays of New Orleans is more appalling.

Unsettling as these statements are, they express relatively familiar, low-impact bigotries. The best reason to dislike Hagee is not how he interprets the past but what he wants for the future. As a believer in dispensationalism, Hagee embraces a very specific theodicy: the 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. Those who share this theology see the establishment of the modern state of Israel as a key milestone. Future ones include the ingathering of the Jews within Israel, the expansion of the nation's borders to the Nile and the Euphrates, and the re-establishment of the Temple in its original site, which—small problem—will require the removal of the Dome of the Rock.

After that, things really get moving: Different sects have different sequences, but these often include a Rapture, when the dead whom God wishes to redeem are resurrected and the living who are chosen for salvation are brought to heaven; the Second Coming; and the Antichrist's annihilation in Armageddon. For some dispensationalists, the Jews will also have to die in the process. According to some who have studied Hagee's works, he has a special exception clause for the Jews, who can accept Jesus as their messiah. In case you think these views are not very widespread, consider the 60 million or so volumes of the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins that have been sold, probably the foremost conduit of dispensationalim into the American public.

Perhaps one should not get too exercised about the religious beliefs of others. But Hagee, like many who share his faith, works hard to turn his beliefs into reality. Not all Christian Zionists are dispensationalists—there may be 20 million or so of the former—but lots of them share the conviction that Israel should not give up an inch of land for peace, lest history's railway go off track.

They also have exercised significant influence over the administration's Middle East policy. Though George W. Bush has been pursuing a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians for the last year, the influence of Christian Zionists had something to do with the inanition of American diplomacy for the first six years of the Bush administration—not as much as the White House's aversion to Yasser Arafat or obsession with Iraq, but not, as they say in the trade, bupkes. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, point man for the Christian Zionists until his resignation, was reportedly asked by the White House to OK Bush's 2002 speech outlining U.S. policy and declaring support for a Palestinian state—the follow-up to which verged on nil.

Would others of John Hagee's persuasion have as much influence in the McCain White House? Political candidates often court people whose worldviews and goals they don't actually embrace. Given how broadly Hagee's views are shared among Christian Zionists, it would be helpful to know whether the pastor's view of the Holocaust is the only thing John McCain finds unacceptable.

VIEW AS SINGLE PAGE
Print This ArticlePRINTDiscuss this in The FrayDISCUSSEmail to a FriendE-MAIL
Share on FacebookPost to MySpace!Share with MixxDigg ThisShare with RedditShare with del.icio.usShare with FurlShare with Ma.gnolia.comShare with SphereShare with Stumble Upon
Daniel Benjamin is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He served as director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council staff in 1998-99 and is the co-author of the The Age of Sacred Terror and The Next Attack.
Photograph of John Hagee by Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images.
Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum
What did you think of this article?
POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES
Washington Post
The Washington Post
OPINIONS
Assessing Sarah Palin
Topic A | Political experts weigh in on McCain's running mate.
Meyerson: Pure Identity PoliticsCapehart: A Hail Mary Pass
PLUS » Froomkin: The Anti-Bush