First of all, sorry to all those who are sick and tired of politics threads, here's another one, and I apologize.

Anyway, I brought up the issue about Sen. McCain and his spiritual guide, Mr. Rod Parsley, in the Obama's Minister thread. For those of you who don't know who Rod Parsley is, here's a synopsis per wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Parsley

An interesting section to note is the section about his views on Islam.

"Mr. Parsley has called upon Christians to wage a "war" against the "false religion" of Islam with the aim of destroying it. 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." He also claims 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." 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."

Now, I am disappointed in Sen. Obama for going to the Church that he does. But for those criticising Sen. Obama, shouldn't you be criticising Sen. McCain for having Mr. Parsley as his spiritual guide?

Some may say the big difference between the two is that Sen. McCain has only knows Mr. Parsley for something like three weeks, and Sen. Obama has been going to his Minister's Church for 20 years. But, I think, if Sen. McCain calls Mr. Parsley a spiritual advisor, we should be critical of that decision too, no?

Besides this issue, I just want to say that Sen. McCain thoroughly impresses me, and if Sen. Obama doesn't win, I would be okay with a President McCain.

So I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks.

Dave

[Edited 2008-03-16 20:38:09]

Got back from Brazil this weekend and sad to see the Obama bash has not abated.

Quoting DavestanKSAN (Thread starter): Now, I am disappointed in Sen. Obama for going to the Church that he does.

I am too. I was happy to see that he has denounced and rejected his pastors rhetoric which I personally found offensive and disgusting. I would like to see him completely disassociate himself with this lunatic but I don't think that will happen.
On the flip side, I don't think that the McCain camp has any room to throw stones. Not only does Senator McCain have the support of Rod Parsley, he is also being endorsed by another crackpot reverend, John Hagee, who believes that God punished the citizens of New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina because they were to hold a gay pride parade that weekend.
And worse, instead of repudiating the remarks, Senator McCain says he is honored by Hagee's endorsement.
Nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qNi7tPanUA

HALFA