A Side of Parsley

Here's the ABC Report on "Reverend" Rod Parsley that apparently caused McCain to distance himself from the whacko:



Here's what McCain said about Parsley in accepting his endorsement:

"One of the truly great leaders in America"

"A moral compass"

"A spiritual guide"

May 22nd is Pastor Renouncing Day for John McCain

Yesterday I wrote about "Pastor" John Hagee and his unbelievably offensive sermon claiming that Hitler was sent by God to force the Jews to Palestine. Apparently that video making the mainstream media was enough to make McCain "renounce" his endorsement from Hagee; not to be outdone, Hagee then withdrew his endorsement from McCain. ABC News ran video (watch at this link) of crazy McCain endorser "Reverend" Rod Parsley in which he

describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."

Here's the "Reverend" Parsley in action, interspersed with McCain's wet kisses to Parsley after he endorsed him:


NYTimes: McCain Cuts Ties to Pastors Whose Talks Drew Fire

Senator John McCain on Thursday rejected the endorsements of two prominent evangelical ministers whose backing he had sought to shore up his credentials with religious conservatives.

Mr. McCain repudiated the Rev. John C. Hagee, a televangelist, after a watchdog group released a recording of a sermon in which Mr. Hagee said Hitler and the Holocaust had been part of God’s plan to chase the Jews from Europe and drive them to Palestine.

Later in the day, he also rejected the endorsement of the Rev. Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio, whose anti-Muslim sermons were broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

CNN: McCain officially rejects Hagee endorsement

ThinkProgress: McCain rejects Parsley’s endorsement.

Media Giving McCain Another Free Pass

Rod Parsley (photo via Evangelical Right)


Columbia Journalism Review: Rod Parsley’s Free Pass
Jeremiah Wright gets torched, while McCain’s “spiritual adviser” offends with impunity

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have religious allies who have made controversial, and sometimes flat-out offensive, public statements. But the media have treated them very differently.

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Meanwhile, John McCain has a Christian ally of his own. At a rally in late February, McCain appeared with Rod Parsley, the pastor of an Ohio mega-church, and called him a “spiritual guide.”

Parsley has his own history of controversial statements. As David Corn reported this week for Mother Jones, Parsley has called for Christians to wage war against the “false religion” of Islam, in order to destroy it. He does not distinguish between Islamic extremists and ordinary Muslims. “What some call ‘extremists’ are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam,” he has written.

And it’s not just Muslims he’s got it in for. Last year, Parsley’s organization called for people who commit adultery to be prosecuted, and in January he compared Planned Parenthood to the Nazis.

But the press has largely shrugged off the Parsley story. I couldn’t find one mainstream American news outlet that has so much as mentioned Parsley’s extremist views since McCain appeared publicly with him in late February.

McCain has the media eating out of his hand.