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December 21, 2007
How Many Constituencies Can Huckabee Annoy?
This Sunday, Mike Huckabee is going to visit John Hagee's Cornerstone Church. Who is John Hagee? Kathryn Jean Lopez breaks down his beliefs in this column.
In Hagee’s “black history” of the Catholic Church, for example, Catholics were far from only guilty of sins of omission when it came to the Nazis, they also gave Hitler his blueprint, according to Hagee. In a speech this year, Hagee pointed to the Catholic Church as having provided the jumping-off point for the Holocaust, claiming: “That was really drawn by the Roman church. [Hitler] did not do anything differently. He only did it more ruthlessly, and on a national scale.” The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has long been concerned about Hagee’s rhetoric, calling him a “veteran bigot,” accusing him of distorting Catholic teachings and misrepresenting Church history. The League has cautioned that, “Tone matters … and Hagee’s tone is nothing but derisive.”In 2004, the Catholic vote was instrumental in President Bush's re-election. Bush won Catholics 52%-47%, and they make up about 24% of the total U.S. population. That's a pretty big group that it seems unwise to alienate.
Although Utah isn't completely Mormon, the state contains a very large percentage of them. In 2004, 71% of voters in that state went for Bush/Cheney, their strongest showing in any state. As we well know, Huckabee hasn't done a lot to endear himself to Mormons.
Now, I'm not asking Huckabee to endorse theology with which he personally disagrees, but is it too much to ask that he not go out of his way to irritate Catholics and Mormons who might otherwise be inclined to vote Republican?
Posted by slublog at December 21, 2007 08:57 PM
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Comments
Hush! Don't jinx him!
Posted by: MainiacJoe at December 21, 2007 09:10 PM
I am Catholic and I am not annoyed. George Bush spoke 8 years ago at the anti Catholic mecca of the USA that being Bob JOnes University. McCain told me I should be annoyed as well as all the other Catholics. Well as you so well point out we were not
Oh by the way who got that endorsement this year. Well Romney did. I was not annoyed at that.
As to Hagee. I am a Catholic Apologist and one must understand that Hagee is a tad of a goof. Much of his anti Catholic statements is based in his weird view of Judaism and Chrisitanity. He is a odd ball in Evangelical circles. Anyway he bashs all the ancient Church Fathers. It turns out that Coservative Eastern Orthodox Rod Dheher is not annoyed by that as well. As he points out in this very good piece
http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2007/12/huck-hagee-and-tolerance.html
He so well points out srt of the double standard all these being annoyed is all about. Oh and he sort ot shows up Mrs Lopez in a fuuny way. DOnt get me wrong I like Mrs Lopez in a way. She is ort of an attack dog that just bites bites bites and operates under the assumption we shall forget what she wrote just 6 months ago. One thing about NRO. They can do a 180 degree turn with a straight face quicker than anyone
Posted by: jh at December 22, 2007 04:22 AM