Rick Perry Just Wrote Off the Catholic Vote

From The Star-Ledger

By Paul Mulshine

Rick Perry made it plain he doesn't care if he gets any votes from what is by far the biggest religious group in America when he invited the anti-Catholic John Hagee to address that prayer rally of his.

Here's what the Catholic League had to say of Hagee back in 2008 when he was backing John McCain for president:

When he meets with Catholics, he is going to be asked about his ties to Hagee. He should also be asked whether he approves of comments like this: ‘A Godless theology of hate that no one dared try to stop for a thousand years produced a harvest of hate.’

“That quote is proudly cited by David Brog in his recent book, Standing with Israel. Both Brog and Hagee clearly identify the Roman Catholic Church as spawning a ‘theology of hate.’

Hagee has since backed away a bit from those remarks, but anyone paying close attention to this sort of thing has to realize that's just politics. His writings indicate a deep hatred for the Catholic Church. If you doubt that, look at this book excerpt:

When General Titus came marching from Rome in 70 A.D, the Jews were crucified on Roman crosses while their wives and children were forced to watch. This bloody demonstration of mass crucifixion was brutal proof that no one could resist mighty Rome and live!

What happened to the family of our Lord when Hadrian came from Rome in 135 A.D. to crush the Second Revolt? How dare these stubborn monotheistic Jews, loyal to the God of Abraham, refuse to bow their knees to a pagan culture that served hundreds of gods? The sons of Israel fought valiantly until one half million perished at the point of Rome's sword!

Constantine, a Roman emperor who ruled in 306-337 A.D., "Christianized" the Roman Empire. In one day, with one swing of the pen, he made Rome's version of Christianity the official state religion.

That religion was and is full of idolatry!

The monotheistic Jews refused to worship statues of men, birds and animals. The words of God as given through Moses still rang in their ears,

"Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one" [Deuteronomy 6:4].

"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me" [Exodus 20 3].

The theology of the devout Jews was more than pagan Rome could understand and certainly more than it would tolerate. The Roman conclusion was;

"The Jews are just stubborn, rebellious people!"

Constantine and his clergymen at the Council of Nicea quickly began enacting a series of restrictive edicts against the Jewish people.

There's a lot more where that came from, but basically what Hagee is trying to do here is the same thing many Muslim fanatics try to do: Paint their own religion as the sole monotheistic faith while describing other religions as pantheistic in nature.

In that regard, what really drives Hagee and other Protestant fundamentalists people crazy is the "Roman" part of the Roman Catholic Church. They believe that when the church found a base in Rome it got corrupted by Roman civilization, i.e. by the most successful and inventive civilization in human history. All of that knowledge and learning that was passed down from Plato to Aristotle to the great Catholic thinkers like Aquinas and Augustine was really the work of Satan - something Hagee has said in almost as many words.

Anyway, he's certainly free to believe that sort of thing. But why Perry would want to be anywhere near him is a mystery - unless it means Perry's not in the running for president.

Let's hope that's the case. Our tolls are already high enough.