Why the GOP is the Party of Choice for Sociopaths and Psychopaths

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 04:04 pm

“[O]utlaw the practice of witchcraft and Satanism in the US military, lest we offend the God of Heaven.”

-       John Hagee

“But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

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-       Thomas Jefferson

The Republican Party has become the party of choice for sociopaths and psychopaths. By now it should be more than obvious why this is true. Sure, these people are going to have problems regardless, but conservatives are more than happy to supply them with ammo, both literally and figuratively.

Do I even have to write an article after providing the very different quotes given above? Okay, I suppose I do. But rather than talk about bullets and guns laws and “Second Amendment remedies”, I am going to talk about the hate that pulls the trigger.  Let’s be up front about this: most of what I want to say I can’t put into print. But let me take a deep breath and try.

Watch the video from Right Wing Watch:

John Hagee clearly needs a refresher course in American history and in particular the Constitution.  Likely, if he reads anything it was written by David Barton or by somebody equally ignorant and dishonest.

Look, I just took after these people yesterday (Trapped by Religion) and here they have me back at it the very next day. There is simply no excuse for this sort of willful ignorance on the part of people who should know better (by that I mean people with at least a grade school education and a better than room temperature IQ), and no clearer example can be made of Gerd Lüdemann’s assertion that Hagee’s religion is incompatible with the pluralism inherent in a modern liberal democracy.

It fits in pretty well with the sort of theocracy the Constitution prohibits, however. In fact, it fits in very well with the sort of tyrannical religious bigotry inherent in the church for the better part of 1500 years before the Enlightenment freed the human mind from religious superstition and intolerance.

To make matters worse, Hagee told atheists to get out of America “if our belief in God offends you.” What happened to turning the other cheek? Isn’t that what Hagee is supposed to do according to his professed belief in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? If he wants to be like Jesus, what he should have said was, “We’ll turn the other cheek if our belief in God offends you.” I won’t even get into how he missed the boat on the whole “love your enemy” thing.

I read the Bible. I’m pretty sure that’s in there.

The Young Turks have a scary collection of Hagee sermons if you care to expose yourself more fully to this man’s all-consuming hate. Watch the video from TYT Network (suggested: purification rituals before and after viewing, or at least a bath afterward, perhaps some counseling):

It’s safe to say nobody knows hate like John Hagee, perhaps not even Brian Fischer.  John Hagee is the guy who went on record as saying hate is the only way to save America. He’s apparently still serious about it. And of course, he is the guy who said that God allowed Hitler to kill millions of Jews to give them the needed nudge to go back to Israel. And yes, Hagee is the same guy who said God tried to destroy New Orleans with a flood because he hates gays and lesbians and that God kills birds when he throws a temper tantrum. This is what Hagee calls taking “America and the world back to the God of our Father, asserting all the while that it makes him “America’s preacher.”

A better name for it would be destroying America.

I know, right now you’re saying, “WTF! Why give this a** clown time?” The simple answer is that a lot of people listen to this a** clown. He is an influential preacher and his slimy mode of talk is going to weigh with voters on Election Day.

His own church – Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas – has, according to Wikipedia, has more than 19,000 active members and he poisons many more minds than that thanks to modern technology. He is CEO of Global Evangelism Television (GETV), a non-profit, off which he apparently makes a much better living than Jesus – in other words, Hagee isn’t limited to a change of clothes and a well-worn pair of sandals –  and:

Hagee is the President and CEO of John Hagee Ministries, which telecasts his national radio and television ministry carried in the United States on 160 TV stations, 50 radio stations, and eight networks, including The Inspiration Network (INSP), Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), and Inspiration Now TV. The ministries can be seen and heard weekly in 99 million homes. John Hagee Ministries is in Canada on the Miracle Channel and CTS and can be seen in Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and in most Third World nations.

And though Hagee is a pastor is happily supports presidential candidates through endorsements – from Alan Keyes in 1996 to John McCain in 2008; the latter actively sought Hagee’s endorsement. It’s safe to say to borrow a metaphor that I am David and Hagee is Goliath. I cannot hope to reach 99 million homes.

I wrote last September that I would be hard pressed to cram so much excrement into so small an area. Seriously. You really have to be an accomplished liar to do what Hagee has done. Well, here we are almost a year later and Hagee still has excrement pouring out of his mouth, and is completely missing the point of the whole American exercise as conceived by our Founding Fathers.

Really, if anyone should leave, it is Hagee, because he refuses to get along with the rest of us and to follow the Constitution. Meanwhile, as Towleroad said last year, “For the love of God, someone get this guy on a morphine drip.” Given Hagee is only the tip of the iceberg, I’d say morphine drips all around. It might be the difference between life and death – for the rest of us.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.