Joe Lieberman, in the run-up to his appearance at the Republican Convention, gives this incredibly cloying speech to Pastor John Hagee’s cult, comparing Hagee to–oh no, it’s just not possible–Moses.
A few questions for Senator Lieberman: Hagee’s flagrant support for Israel has its basis in Scripture, to be sure, but in weird Scripture–namely Revelation, the strangest book of the New Testament. Revelation is the source of the phantasmagoria known as the Rapture, in which the battle of Armageddon is fought (against the Arabs, one expects), Israel triumphs, Jesus returns in celebration, lifts all Believers to heaven…and everyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus is incinerated.
So, Senator, what do you think of all this? I suspect you’re following an, ummm, short-term strategy here: the enemy of my enemy etc. etc… But are these the sorts of “allies” you want to associate with and encourage? What does your embrace of Hagee say to Roman Catholics and relatively sane people everywhere? Is Hagee’s “support” for Israel that important?