The Rev. John Hagee to Speak at Rally for Israel

The Rev. John Hagee, founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, will speak at "A Night to Honor Israel" at 6 p.m. Sunday at Without Walls Central Church in Lakeland. He will be joined by Ofer Bavly, Israeli Consul General in Miami.

Members of a Lakeland synagogue will participate as well. Cantor Victor Geigner of Temple Emanuel will sing the Israeli national anthem near the beginning of the service and a member of the temple will blow the ceremonial shofar, or ram's horn, Geigner said.

The rally is intended to demonstrate solidarity between Christians and Jews, said the Rev. Scott Thomas, pastor of Without Walls Central. It is the third such event hosted by the church.

"We want to let the Jewish community know we are standing with them and praying for them. ... The Bible tells us as Christians to stand for and with Israel. It's a scriptural mandate," he said. "Christianity could never stand without Judaism. The founding fathers of the Christian faith were the founding fathers of the Jewish faith."

Hagee is pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, a large Pentecostal congregation. In books and sermons, Hagee has stated that Israel is at the center of a scenario that will include the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ to Earth, a theology known as "Christian Zionism." He has expressed unequivocal support for the policies of conservative Israeli political parties in Israel's land disputes with the government of the Palestinian Authority, and his organization also lobbies the U.S. government on behalf of Israel.

Last year, Hagee was forced to withdraw his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate John McCain because of previously published comments that charged the Catholic Church conspired with Adolf Hitler "to exterminate the Jews." Hagee subsequently issued an apology.

My response:

Humph...

Hold The Hallelujahs

Thoough they state different reasons, this Time article discusses how well Evangelical Christians will really receive Sarah Palin.

McCain and his aides may not want to say hallelujah just yet. While Palin is inspiring rhapsodies from the lions of the Christian right, her appeal to more moderate and younger Evangelicals — as well as independent swing voters — may be limited.

There is no doubt that Palin will help calm the doubts of that core Evangelical base and leadership. While many pundits have wondered whether social conservatives will recoil from the news that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant, they're clearly not grasping the mores of that community. If Bristol Palin were the daughter of Democratic parents, she would undoubtedly be held up as an example of the failures of a liberal, permissive culture. Instead, she is viewed — as are the majority of teenage mothers in Evangelical churches — as a Christian who sinned, is forgiven, and needs to be embraced and supported.

The revelation about her daughter's pregnancy, and the fact that Palin herself chose to give birth to a baby with Down Syndrome, are just another part of the compelling picture Palin can paint of her faith. She was baptized in the Catholic Church and for most of her life belonged to an Assemblies of God congregation — a Pentecostal denomination. In high school, Palin was the local leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and most recently she moved her family to a nondenominational Evangelical church in her hometown.

That move away from the Pentecostal Church, which took place in 2002 when Palin first ran for lieutenant governor in Alaska, is the only potential sign she has given that her religious beliefs might be a political liability. Her spokeswoman now says that Palin does not identify herself as a Pentecostal. Historically Pentecostals and other Evangelical Protestants haven't always gotten along, largely because of theological differences. Pentecostal theology elevates the role of the Holy Spirit and includes belief in spiritual gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues. But the groups have often been able to set aside their doctrinal disagreements for political purposes. Pat Robertson, a Pentecostal, and the late Jerry Falwell, a Fundamentalist, famously had bitter theological disputes but still joined forces as leading figures of the Christian right. (See photos of Jerry Falwell here.)

Palin's red-meat conservatism and Evangelicalism will almost certainly play well with those party faithful who attended the Republican National Convention this week. But with fewer than 60 days until Election Day (and a month before the start of early voting in many states), the McCain campaign's continued courting of the more traditional base spells trouble for any efforts to expand his appeal to independent voters and less conservative Evangelicals. If so, McCain may find himself quoting a bowdlerized verse of Scripture in November: What does it profit a man to gain the Christian right and lose the White House?

Read more of the article.