So — following up on this MOJ post — I think that John Hagee is loathesome. (How could a Roman Catholic not?) And, I blogged here at Vox Nova a few months ago about the “troubling” fact that Gov. Huckabee (who, at the time, many Catholics seemed to find attractive) had no problem hanging out with Hagee, whom I called a “virulent and ignorant anti-Catholic polemicist” (which he is) who needs to get the word about “Catholics and Evangelicals Together.” So, I certainly would rather Sen. McCain steer clear of him, too.
That said, two thoughts. First, let’s be real: No one is going to insist that Sen. Obama disavow or condemn all of his prominent supporters — I’m sure there are many — who believe that the Catholic Church is a force for evil and / or a den of lunatics. So, the “McCain must disavow” business seems a bit opportunistic. (Again, I think he should distance himself from Hagee.) Everyone knows that McCain is not anti-Catholic (just like everyone knows that Obama does not hate Jews).
Next, no one should demand that candidates disavow supporters who believe that the Catholic Church’s teachings are false. After all, this is what non-Catholics believe. If they didn’t, one assumes they would be Catholics. To me, Hagee’s anti-Catholic views are not (given that he is a Protestant minister) as objectionable as the anti-Semitic and other racialist views of, say, Louis Farrakhan. (My understanding is that there is nothing about being a Muslim that requires one to be a racialist or to traffic in anti-Jewish conspiracy theories.)
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