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| if it isn't one thing, it's something else |
I don't know about you, but I have to get myself in shape for the opening night of the World Series. May I just say a "LET'S GO ROYALS."
Meanwhile, god is casting down the wrath again. If it isn't one thing it is something else. You'd think a being who is all knowing, all powerful, omnipotent, and all that would have just cleared all the stuff that gets on his/her/its/ their nerves out of the way a long time ago.
But no....
Bill Berkowitz, who has the misfortune of being a San Francisco Giants fan, is responsible for the following piece from TruthOut.
Ridiculous Pastor John Hagee: Ebola is God’s Judgment on America for Trying to "Divide Jerusalem"
BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT
(Photo: Paul Wharton)I know you've been waiting for it. And now you're getting it. One of this country's most influential evangelical Christian pastors is claiming that Ebola is God's judgment on President Obama for attempting to divide Jerusalem. Before you slap your forehead, and scream for mercy, remember that nearly every awful event that has happened over the past umpty-umph years – from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, from tornadoes and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 -- is a result of God's judgment, according to many American Christian leaders.
"I want every American to hear this very clearly," Pastor John Hagee said on a recent broadcast of Hagee Hotline. "The prophet Joel says in the third chapter, 'I God will bring all nations' and hear that phrase—'all nations' includes America, 'into judgment for they have divided up My land, the land of Israel.' God says when any nation divides up the land of Israel, they are subject to judgment, and dividing Jerusalem is dividing the land.
"Our president is dead set on dividing Jerusalem. God is watching, and He will bring America into judgment. There are grounds to say judgment has already begun because he, the president, has been fighting to divide Jerusalem for years now. We are now experiencing the crisis of Ebola.
"We have a crisis in our economy. We are worried on every hand that we are going to be attacked by radical Islam, and there are some very rational voices saying we are their next target. We are a nation that has a crisis of leadership. We are in chaos, in crisis. Anarchy is running our nation in Ferguson, Missouri."
So here we have Hagee, a well-known expert on race relations (not) maintaining that, "Anarchy is running our nation in Ferguson, Missouri." To be honest, I'm not even sure I know what that means other than Hagee attempting to lump apples, and prayer beads together.
("On the same broadcast, host Matthew Hagee cited Matthew 24:7 to claim that the current Ebola crisis is a "pestilence," and thus, a sign of the end of times, and the second-coming of Jesus Christ," the Jerusalem Post reported.)
Pastor John Hagee is no run-of-the-mill evangelical preacher. He is the founder of a multi-million dollar media empire anchored by his San Antonio, Texas-based Cornerstone Church, which boasts perhaps as many as 20,000 active members. He is the founder of the Christian Zionist organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), which has, according to CUFI leaders, more than one million members.
He is also the man who got in deep trouble during the 2008 presidential campaign, when after Sen. John McCain managed to seek out and get Hagee's endorsement, a video surfaced that showed Hagee claiming that that God had sent Adolph Hitler to hunt the Jews, chase them from Europe, and drive them to Palestine. McCain was forced to disavow Hagee's endorsement.
Hagee's Global Evangelism Television (GETV), was characterized by People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch as "a one-stop destination for all your John Hagee Ministries-related needs. ... featur[ing] live events along with music videos, short messages, looks behind the scenes, and current and archived sermons."
In a video titled The Agenda to Destroy America, Hagee "spent a half-hour talking directly to the camera about how Communists have succeeded in taking over America," Right Wing Watch pointed out.
Hagee was also included on Foreign Policy-compiled list of the 50 Republicans who have the greatest influence on the GOP's foreign policy.
In an early August column, titled, "Is Deadly Ebola Outbreak the First Bowl of 'Revelation' Judgment?" Charisma News' Jennifer LeClaire reported that, "Liberia's church leaders are claiming the deadly outbreak is a plague God has sent to punish the nation for 'immoral acts' such as homosexuality." LeClaire pointed to a report by Liberia's Daily Observer which noted that "more than 100 bishops, pastors, general overseers, prophets, evangelists and other ministers of the gospel who are part of the Liberia Council of Churches have resolved": "God is angry with Liberia, and that Ebola is a plague. Liberians have to pray and seek God's forgiveness over the corruption and immoral acts (such as homosexualism, etc.) that continue to penetrate our society. As Christians, we must repent and seek God's forgiveness."
In a more recent column titled "Is John Hagee Right? Is Ebola God's Judgment for Dividing Jerusalem?" LeClair, news editor for Charisma, revisited the God's judgment claim. "Is Ebola God's judgment on America? I honestly don't know. I do believe God has lifted His hedge of protection, in part, over this nation. Some call that discipline. Some call it judgment. Some don't believe God is involved in it at all. But I am praying about what Hagee said and what could happen next."
The only sure thing that will happen is that when the next tragedy strikes, or when the next natural disaster hits, there will be some evangelical Christian preacher declaring it to be an example of God's judgment.
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