I spent years in fundamentalist churches and attended a 4-year fundamentalist Bible Institute. Any fundamentalist who did not view the RCC as apostate was himself viewed as such. The penalty for a church member with an aberrant view of the RCC would undoubtedly be excommunication. A minister with these views would be ostracized and banned from fundamentalist circles.

So, that brings us to John Hagee and his new views on the RCC. After being raked over the coals of popular opinion following his endorsement of Sen. John McCain, Hagee has had a change of heart.

In a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, Hagee wrote: “Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful.” The letter can be found here.

Hagee has referred to the Inquisition and the Crusades as evidence of anti-Semitism within the RCC. He believed that that RCC anti-Semitism caused Adolf Hitler’s insane quest to eradicate Jews.

His letter goes on to state: “In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms, I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews. In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It most certainly does not.”

Hagee continues backpedaling on his decades of belief and commentary on the RCC by stating in another part of the letter: “In addition, I better understand that the reference to the Roman Catholic Church as the “apostate church” and the “great whore” described in the book of Revelation is a rhetorical device long employed in anti-Catholic literature and commentary.”

Where to begin? For him to say that he better understands that these are rhetorical devices used by anti-Catholic writers is absurd. Hagee is not a stupid man. He had an earned Masters degree and has undoubtedly read a book or two which referred to the RCC using these terms and then some. He knows that this view of the RCC is prevalent in the circles he has traveled in since his youth. I am curious as to whether this is a considered opinion or a political dodge.

Billy Graham went from the “great whore” view in his early life to the very inclusive view he currently holds. Graham essentially holds to a murky universalism that made me wonder what his “Crusades” were designed to accomplish. I addressed this issue some years ago in an article I wrote. I may scan it and some others and repost them another time.

The reaction of Hagee’s followers and his fellow fundamentalists will be interesting.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was election day and America was about to make a very important decision. Would it be four more years for George Bush or would we make a change and go with John Kerry? As I walked down Lisbon Street here in Lewiston, Maine, I was shocked to see that people had set-up a George Bush punching bag in front of the Democratic headquarters. They had a sign up and were soliciting people to “Punch Out Bush”. The people in front of the building were greatly enjoying delivering kicks and punches to the ersatz President.

Since I thought this was a really dumb idea I went across and spoke to the people. I was immediately greeted with jeers and one person accusing me of being an asshole against free speech. So I went inside and asked who was in charge. Again a chorus of obscenities. I turned and left and as I passed the group on the sidewalk one of them spit at my back. The crowd howled with laughter and mocking insults about me being a “Fascist Republican”. I shook my head and kept on going.

As it turned out Bush won a close election. Like the last one it seemed that America was more divided now than it had ever been. In an email to a group of people a friend asked that the day after the election we all put both Bush and Kerry bumper stickers on our vehicles as a way to begin uniting the country.

Since I do not own a car I decided that I would put the stickers on my rolling backpack. And so on Thursday of that week I set off to my CPE classes Central Maine Medical Center with Bush on one side of my backpack and Kerry on the other.

As I walked up one street I heard someone yell something about me being a “Republican motherfucker” (he could only see the side with the Bush sticker and I really was an “ex-Republican motherfucker” but that is another story) a split second later I was hit by a forearm as someone charged into me screaming obscenities. He hit me on a dead run and I flew backward about 5 feet. He follow the hit up with a couple kicks which later turned into nasty bruises. He and his friend then ran away laughing hysterically.

Do I think that these people had anything to do with the Democratic party or the Bush punching bag? No, and on some level yes. I do think they have bought into the poisonous belief that people in another party are somehow evil and therefore can be targeted with violence. How often do we hear people on both sides vilifying and demonizing political opponents? Far too often.

The most discouraging aspect of this incident was that, of the 10 to 12 people outside and 20, or so, inside, not one person spoke up and said that the vulgarity and name-calling was going overboard. Not One Person!

As we come into a new election cycle for President I am doubtful that we will see less animosity and violence. I hope that I am wrong but I am sadly pessimistic.

These are the heartbreaking words from some of the troops screwed by the Bush Defense Department:

“It’s pretty much a slap in the face,” Anderson said. “I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership… once again failing the soldiers.”

“I would assume, and I would hope, that when I get back from a deployment of 22 months, my senior leadership in Washington, the leadership that extended us in the first place, would take care of us once we got home”

He assumed wrongly.

OK, I know that the government is a huge entity and sometimes it, inadvertently, causes bad things to happen when it really intended for good things to happen. But you would think that when we are sending people into combat that maybe there would be some extra personnel assigned to make sure that they were treated fairly. And you would think that there would be a prohibition against the insulting bureaucratic sleight-of-hand where one day is removed from the orders to save money.

Yo! President Bush! Pay attention. Words are meaningless without actions to back them up. Saying you support the troops is not enough. Too few resources in combat, poor medical facilities, and this nonsense are telling me a different story.

What will it take for western nations to start using their economic clout and get some real progress for the human rights of people living under the oppression of China’s atheist government? For many years the Chinese government has held the Panchen Lama and his entire family in an undisclosed location. After his appointment they replaced him with someone chosen from a list they approved.

The litany of offenses they have committed against people of just about every religious persuasion is almost endless. Poverty, jail and death have met almost any expression of religious belief. And we in the west talk glowingly about the “opportunities” that exist for business in China. Our opportunities at the expense of the expendable humans suffering in China.

From time to time I have heard reporters making passing reference to Edwards’ growing up in poverty. And the more I learn about him the more I can see that there is no standard in current or past American life that he can use to support this claim. This is simply his lying to the people who he is trying to get to support him (You and Me).

The worst that can be said about John Edwards’ childhood is that his family was middle-class. They had many things that real poor people only dreamed about. In spinning this tale of financial woe Edwards is insulting his father who worked in a textile mill and was a supervisor. He is also insulting poor people. We, and I am poor, understand that you do not need to be poor to understand our situation or to have legitimate answers to some of the problems facing the poor. And finally, Edwards is insulting voters in general. Telling stories that are not true and thinking that the electorate is too stupid to find out the truth is arrogant and the height of Demagoguery.
Edwards cast this arrogance in stone during an interview with Chris Matthews. This is the important part:

MATTHEWS: What‘s it feel like? I‘ve never been poor. You have. I‘m not talking about the haircuts and all the nonsense. I‘m talking about your own personal experience as a human being. You know what it is like to be poor. Tell the people watching right now who have not been what it is like.

EDWARDS: Well, you go into a restaurant with your family and you sit down, and everybody—especially when you‘re young—that is the only time I was poor, Chris. And you sit down, and then you start to order something, and your father says, we have to leave, because we can‘t pay for this. And you get up and leave, and it is humiliating. It feels humiliating when you are young. And it is particularly humiliating to see your mother and father have to go through that.

So we do not want anybody to be treated without dignity and respect in this country, which is what is part of what motivates me to this cause.

This is not being poor. You went to a restaurant and found the prices were higher than expected. What does this have to do with “dignity and respect”? What does it have to do with poverty? Nothing! It is just more political BS from the Ruling Class who think the electorate are gullible saps.

Poverty is having a slice of bread with butter for breakfast. Poverty is taking the same thing to school for lunch. Poverty is then going home and having oatmeal, just plain oatmeal, and a glass of powdered milk. Imagine this Mr. Edwards. Day after day, week after week. I could go on but for those who have been poor (or still are) these are not things we use to make points or to generate support for political campaigns. This is a painful reality.

And, by the way, “dignity and respect” have little to do with income or being able to eat in restaurants. Part of it has to do with honesty and not pretending that a situation was better or worse than it was.