The Catholic Church asks us all to pray for world peace today, and January 1 is “World Peace Day” for Catholics around the world. Why, then, do the two Catholic candidates in the GOP primaries — Santorum and Gingrich — lead the field in their demands for endless war?
Memories are short, and politicians lie all the time, so why remember? Well, nonetheless, cast your memories back to Iowa’s 2008 caucuses. Mike Huckabee, an evangelical preacher, traveled to San Antonio the Saturday before the caucuses, striving to garner the support of Pastor John Hagee, of the Cornerstone Church there. Hagee, founder of Christians United For Israel, has millions of followers who want to cause a war in the Middle East right now. In fact, they want Armageddon. Why not peace, you ask? Well, they surmise, if they can force Armageddon to happen now, they can force Christ to come again during their lifetimes, and they will be able to rule with Him over the rest of us for a thousand years.
This strange view has been carefully delineated in a scholarly work by my friend and former colleague, Dr.Clifford Kiracofe. Whatever you think of it, please recall that Huckabee won Iowa in 2008, even though Romney vastly outspent him.His secret? The powerful network of evangelical preachers like himself in every Iowa county.
So is Iowa full of warmongers? By no means. Ron Paul has braved attacks from every quarter for embracing the cause of peace and freedom, and many Iowans will support him this Tuesday. Nonetheless, the Devil reads scripture, and he loves war. If he can pervert the Prince of Peace into a pagan idol of war, he will do it with glee. Libido dominandi — the lust for power and war, is the driving malevolent spirit of the City of Man. Santorum and Gingrich, please reconsider.
Update: thanks to my many correspondents who pointed out my typo: Since Pastor Hagee considered the Catholic Church to be the Whore of Babylon for fifty years, his Cornerstone Church, in, is of course not Catholic.
1:33 pm on January 1, 2012
