A Statement from Concerned Christians and Jews About the Extremist Views of Pastor John Hagee

2008-06-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

Dear friend,

As people of faith we have been deeply concerned with the extremist ideology of Pastor John Hagee and his organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI). The latest revelation of Pastor Hagee's claim that the Antichrist is Jewish, makes us believe we need to speak out to let our voices of protest be heard.

What we are asking is that all politicians follow the lead of Senator McCain to disassociate themselves from Pastor Hagee and CUFI, noting that the extremist views he represents are not representative of the great majority of the American public, and certainly not of the great majority of Christians and Jews.

We are asking that you join your voices with ours in "signing" this statement to be published by the end of June on a prominent blogsite.

To let your voice be heard simply click on the "comments" link below (with the number in front). When you get in you'll see a box for "comments." In this box put your name, title and/or address. Sign in as "anonymous" unless you have a google account. That's all. No need for comments. Your signature is comment enough. Please do so ASAP as we want to publish this by the end of June.

Thanks for speaking out!

The Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism

www.christianzionism.org

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A Statement from Concerned Christians and Jews

Psalm 122 – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem

As Jewish and Christian leaders and members of worshiping communities in the United States, we write to address the ongoing controversy surrounding Pastor John Hagee. We are concerned by the content of his statements, his organization, Christians United for Israel (CUFI), and the theological ideology of Christian Zionism underlying both.

We have concluded that John Hagee is a poor representative of how faith can inform discernment regarding public life and discourse surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is regrettable that any public figure would choose to be associated with Pastor Hagee or his organization, CUFI. We were surprised to learn that three elected officials are scheduled to speak at CUFI's upcoming "Washington-Israel Summit": Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY), and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT). We call on each of these elected officials to disassociate themselves from the extremist views of Pastor Hagee and withdraw from this event.

We feel they should do so for the following reasons:

Pastor Hagee has claimed that supporting the State of Israel is "God's foreign policy." But his work to support the State of Israel does little than ensure that Israel's conflict with the Palestinians and its other Arab neighbors will continue into perpetuity given his adamant opposition to a negotiated peace.

He prays for the peace of Jerusalem, but not its shalom, as he looks forward instead to the false peace established through a treaty offered by the Antichrist, whom, we now know,Pastor Hagee believes must himself be a Jew.

Just as his ideology blames Jewish unbelief in Jesus for their centuries of suffering at the hands of Christians and provides a simplistic justification for the Holocaust (also based on Jewish intransigence), Pastor Hagee has again found a way to blame Jews for their own demise . . . this time at the hands of their self-supplied Antichrist.

In this political season, Pastor Hagee's radical views were first exposed by his description of the Roman Catholic Church as a "false cult system" that is the "Great Whore" of Revelation 17 and 18. Ignored in most media coverage of this controversy was the fact that these attacks on Catholicism were central to Pastor Hagee's ideological Christian Zionism.

Pastor Hagee's support for the State of Israel is at the expense of many others, including the Roman Catholic Church. Now, it has become clearer than ever before that Pastor Hagee's support for the State of Israel comes even at the expense of Jews.

As CUFI sought to expand its congressional influence, Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL-MN) wrote that Hagee’s public comments “demonstrate extremism, bigotry and intolerance that is repugnant.” We agree.

Signed by:

speakout on hagee

A Statement from Concerned Christians and Jews About the Extremist Views of Pastor John Hagee