McCain Adviser Rod Parsley: America Founded to Destroy Islam

Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus isn't just another preacher who has endorsed John McCain, he is someone whom McCain has hailed as a "spiritual guide." Parsley has also made some incendiary statements about Islam — that Christainity is locked in a war against Islam, that America was founded in part to destroy Islam, and that Christians need to wake up to their duty in this battle.

Why hasn't this gotten more attention from the news media? This is more like a pattern than an isolated incident — it follows closely the revelation that John McCain actively sought out the support and endorsement of anti-Catholic preacher John Hagee in Texas. How is it that a white Republican can get away with seeking out support from bigoted conservative preachers, but a black liberal politician has to make a major speech to respond to criticisms about comments by his own pastor — comments never approved of or sought out?

In his 2005 book Silent No More, Parsley states explicitly there is a "war between Islam and Christian civilization."

"I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know that this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore."

Parsley is not shy about his desire to obliterate Islam. In Silent No More, he notes—approvingly—that Christopher Columbus shared the same goal: "It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America." He urges his readers to realize that a confrontation between Christianity and Islam is unavoidable: "We find now we have no choice. The time has come." And he has bad news: "We may already be losing the battle. As I scan the world, I find that Islam is responsible for more pain, more bloodshed, and more devastation than nearly any other force on earth at this moment."

Parsley claims that Islam is an "anti-Christ religion" predicated on "deception." The Muslim prophet Muhammad, he writes, "received revelations from demons and not from the true God." And he emphasizes this point: "Allah was a demon spirit." Parsley does not differentiate between violent Islamic extremists and other followers of the religion: "There are some, of course, who will say that the violence I cite is the exception and not the rule. I beg to differ. I will counter, respectfully, that what some call "extremists" are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam."

The spirit of Islam, he maintains, is one of hostility. He asserts that the religion "inspired" the 9/11 attacks. He bemoans the fact that in the years after 9/11, 34,000 Americans "have become Muslim" and that there are "some 1,209 mosques" in America. Islam, he declares, is a "faith that fully intends to conquer the world" through violence. The United States, he insists, "has historically understood herself as a bastion against Islam," but "history is crashing in upon us."

At the end of his chapter on Islam, Parsley asks, "Are we a Christian nation? I say yes." Without specifying what actions should be taken to eradicate the religion, he essentially calls for a new crusade.

Source: Mother Jones

Is John McCain in any way being "guided" by Parsley's ideas? Does McCain believe in any way that it is part of America's nature to combat Islam, that Islam is an anti-Christ religion, or that there needs to be a new crusade against Islam? American voters deserve to know this sort of thing. We can't expect a person to agree with everything said by their own pastor, but in such cases legitimate questions can be raised about what a candidate really thinks.

Here, however, we are hearing from a religious leader whose support McCain has both accepted and supported — and while we still can't assume that he agrees with everything Parsley has said, it would be a mistake not to raise stronger questions when views like the above come to light. Even if we ignore the comments regarding Islam, we can find all sorts of noxious social views which raise serious questions about what McCain himself believes:

Parsley, who refers to himself as a "Christocrat," is no stranger to controversy. In 2007, the grassroots organization he founded, the Center for Moral Clarity, called for prosecuting people who commit adultery. In January, he compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis. In the past Parsley's church has been accused of engaging in pro-Republican partisan activities in violation of its tax-exempt status. ...Parsley decries the "spiritual desperation" of the United States, and he blasts away at the usual suspects: activist judges, civil libertarians who advocate the separation of church and state, the homosexual "culture" ("homosexuals are anything but happy and carefree"), the "abortion industry," and the crass and profane entertainment industry.

Parsley argues that Islam is a serious threat to the United States, but I would argue that Islam is only a threat insofar as it attacks basic liberties that are supposed to characterize America. Parsley himself, however, attacks some of the same liberties as radical Islamists. Parsley's complaints could easily come from any number of mullahs who treat American secularism as a satanic movement and a reason for turning to violence to defend the True Faith. So does John McCain agree with all of this or not?

Even if we ignore all the above social views, we can find disturbing parallels between how Parsley runs his church and how Republicans have been running the government. Parsley's church has even been criticized by other Christians:

Exactly how Parsley purports to “help” the poor, both black and white, is evident in his practice of Word of Faith theology, also known as the “prosperity gospel.” Word of Faith is a nondenominational religious movement with no official church hierarchy or ordination procedures, which emphasizes the absolute prophetic authority of pastors, the imperative to make tithes and offerings to the church, and the power of an individual's spoken word to lay claim to their spiritual and material desires. Purveyors of Word of Faith, like Parsley, teach their flock to “sow a seed” by donating money to the church, promising a “hundredfold” return. ...The most prominent critics of Word of Faith are Christians who consider it a heretical distortion of the Bible. According to these critics, Word of Faith preachers prey on people of modest means, promising prosperity in return for putting money in the pocket of a self-anointed prophet. Ole Anthony, president of the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation and a leading Word of Faith critic, regards the emphasis on financial abundance as evidence of God's blessing as “the oldest heresy in the church.” He describes Parsley as a “power-hungry” man, living “an extravagant lifestyle that has become the hallmark of televangelists these days.” With his wife and children, Parsley resides in a 7,500-square-foot house valued at more than $1 million.

Word of Faith ministries like Parsley's operate in secret. Without transparency, the extent of their fund raising and how they spend the proceeds are unknown. In his responses to my written questions, Parsley said that his church has never applied for membership in the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a voluntary-membership organization of nearly 1,200 evangelical groups that requires, among other things, public disclosure of audited financial statements and reports, including financial information about specific projects for which a ministry is soliciting gifts. Parsley claimed that World Harvest conducts an annual independent audit “through the scrutiny of the board of directors,” which consists of himself and his parents. (Council standards also prohibit insiders from maintaining exclusive control of church governance.) He does not make that “audit” available to the public, however, nor does he provide documentation of how money he says he raises for humanitarian projects is spent.

Parsley's secrecy has led Ministry Watch, a conservative Christian organization that monitors financial accountability practices, to give his and several other well-known Word of Faith organizations an “F” rating for transparency. World Harvest, through its press agent, claimed that its resistance to disclosure “is consistent with the policy of most churches across the country.” But Rod Pitzer, Ministry Watch's director of research, said that World Harvest's lack of transparency is “very unusual” and that the “vast majority” of Christian organizations are becoming more transparent.

Pitzer also said that Word of Faith theology is “self-serving,” “harmful to other people,” and “not orthodox.” In fund-raising appeals, for example, Parsley has urged people to burn their bills and donate to him to free themselves from debt. Through his Web site and television program, Parsley sells “covenant swords” and “prayer cloths” -- kitsch objects that he claims will bring the purchaser miraculous freedom from financial problems as well as any physical or emotional ailments. He has written that “one of the first reasons for poverty is a lack of knowledge of God and His Word,” and that “the Bible says that to withhold the tithe is to rob God.” He pressures his congregants to tithe 10 percent of their gross income, in addition to offerings, which are aggressively sought two or three times during each service. Yet not even donors can learn precisely where their money goes.

Source: American Prospect [emphasis added]

So, how much of this does McCain consider to be a "guide" to how public institutions should be managed? What does he think about a church which solicits donations from poor people on the promise that those donations will be repaid by God several times over? What does McCain think about an institution that doesn't submit to independent oversight and isn't interested in financial transparency? Does McCain agree that a primary reason for poverty is an absence of true Christianity, as opposed to factors like education, jobs, substance abuse, discrimination, etc.?