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March 28th, 2011
02:11 PM ET
Gingrich fears 'atheist country ... dominated by radical Islamists' Newt Gingrich at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor Hours after declaring Sunday that he expects to be running for president within a month, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he's worried the United States could be “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists,” in the foreseeable future, according to Politico. Gingrich was addressing Cornerstone Church, a megachurch in San Antonio, Texas, led by the Rev. John Hagee, an influential leader among American evangelicals. Hagee's endorsement of then-presidential candidate John McCain in 2008 was plagued by controversy. McCain ultimately rejected the endorsement over remarks Hagee had made about the Holocaust, in which he appeared to say that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God's will by hastening the desire of Jews to return to Israel, in accordance with biblical prophecy. "God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. ... Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them.' That would be the Jews,” Hagee had said in an earlier sermon. “Then God sent a hunter,” his sermon continued. “A hunter is someone who comes with a gun, and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter." McCain rejected Hagee’s endorsement of his campaign after learning about the comments in May 2008. "Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said at the time. Hagee then withdrew his endorsement of the Arizona senator, which he had offered three months earlier. One irony of McCain rejecting Hagee’s endorsement over his Holocaust remarks is that the Texas evangelist leads the Christian Zionist movement. Hagee is founder and national chairman of Christians United for Israel, which features Elie Wiesel and other Holocaust survivors at its events. Here’s what Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church on Sunday evening, according to Politico:
Gingrich’s church appearance comes amid a broader campaign to court religious conservatives. On Monday, Hagee released a statement praising Gingrich's appearance at Cornerstone. “It was such a great honor to welcome Mr. Gingrich to our church, and hear him describe the centrality of faith in our nation,” he said. The statement also included praise for Hagee and his wife, Diana, from Gingrich. “It was truly an honor to be with John and Diana at Cornerstone," Gingrich said. "Their dedication to serve is inspirational.” soundoff (2,228 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Obama will soon drive this once great Republic into a godless slime pit with no redeeming values.
Except for being godless, which would be a tremendous achievement of which we could all be proud. The first country on Earth to shake off Iron Age supersti-tions.
Duh, is that before or after Mortgage Backed Securities ?
yeah, peg it all on Obama – it is your fault voting for corporate lackeys starting with Regan.
LMAO.
I'd rather the US became a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists than have Gingrich as President. Actually, I doubt either is likely, but speaking hypothetically that would be my preference.
Sorry Newt, I don't think frothing out the mouth attempts to marginalize minorities plays too well with voters anymore. Not this one at least.
I am extremely happy to see that so many people see through Newt's feeble efforts at trying to drum up xenophobic fear mongering among the populous. He is the last person who should be talking about cultural or religious issues. He is a hypocrite and lately I question his sanity. He might be regarded as the idea guy, but his thoughts are divisive and potentially destructive. A figure who should have faded from the spotlight years ago.
I believe that this country has become a corporation owned country. I believe that politicians and politicians want to be's like Newt are so full of "it" and so full of fraud that they will do anything ....anything at all to make money. I think Newt Toot my horn is the worst possible type of person this country has to offer. He is right up there with the rest of the tea bags and republicans who cut every single safety net, any and every thing needed to help the real people of this country, so they can give tax breaks and tax cuts to the corporations that own them. They are the most miserable examples of human waste you see in the world, no make that the universe.
Dear Mr. Gingrich,
The United States already is, and always has been a secular nation, you dopey theocrat.
NEWT LIES/ NEWT LIES/ NEWT LIES
This dude newt never met a Muslim or even been to a mosque to listen to what they say. I been to a temple, church and synagogue. I am a muslim, therefore i KNow my religious brothers and sisters are not out there to hate me. Just stupid right wingers conservatives who want political gain will fear what they dont know.
Gingrich is probably one of the most hypocritical "Christians" in the world. He has zero credibilty.
I sopuprt your basic sentiments, but I don't quite agree with:(5) Find a way for politicians to run for office without paying anything. The ones who donate the most to politicians get the most back from them.The problem is that taxpayers would be subsidizing campaigns, and you can be sure that politicians would continually expand what campaign aid the taxpayers give. I would prefer to: Only allow campaign contributions by individual citizens. (Not corporations, special interest groups or political PAC's) Keep the current maximum campaign donation limit, (If campaign contributions are free speech the wealthy should not be able to use their free speech to buy a politician.)(8) A politician will be declared a business. They will pay their own expenses. They will be under the same regulations they make for businesses and have to pay unemployment, Social Security, and file the same paperwork the other businesses have to.Correction: Political Campaigns should be run as a business. We already have politicians operating their offices as a for profit semi-private business, with cushy business wheeling and dealing, while giving taxpayers the business.Reply
This same guy touts the founding fathers all the time and what they want. They made a secular country where every religion or lack thereof was accepted. In the future, Republicans will be listed as an example beside hypocrisy. Democrats may be dumb, but Republicans are evil hypocrites.
Don't worry newt, the Muslims will take over.
When Facism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross. – Sinclair Lewis.
This is a clear example of what Lewis stated. Goebells would be proud of Herr Gingrich.
so, true! And I think we are already there...
Hey, Newt...this country was an "atheist" country...before your white ancestors slaughtered the original inhabitants.
Ummmm, most Native American tribes wouldn't be called 'Atheist'.
So, here is the most (only) interesting aspect of this to me. Whatever one thinks of their politics, politicians like Newt Gingrich, Jimmy Carter and Pat Buchanan are smart, articulate men. Smart enough to lead the US Congress, run for President, and, in Carter’s case, succeed in doing so. I doubt that any of these men would be easily fooled on most matters.
Yet they are ardent god nuts, even creationists. Pandering to the christian right does not fully expain it. I believe these otherwise bright, articulate men have a true, meekly accepting, uncritical, belief in the Christian god as the creator of the Universe.
What allows otherwsie smart men to have their inner skeptic totally neutered to the point that they accept the sheer nonsense required to believe in a god in the 21st Century?
Sadly, I know first-hand that some people vote for politicians who are "true Christians" or "have faith in God" as their sole criteria. One of the people in this example had a Masters degree in English and was teaching classes on argument. Sooo total FAIL.
Your point being.....
You make an interesting point, but I'll ask you to consider something:
You say "What allows otherwsie smart men to have their inner skeptic totally neutered to the point that they accept the sheer nonsense required to believe in a god in the 21st Century?" But aren't you simply following the current popular trend by arguing that Creationism is nonsense? Have you actually researched the issue? I am not arguing for it, it's just funny to me when people call Christians blind followers of religion, when most non-religious people are blind followers of professors.
If you do the actual research and wrestle with the questions and come to a conclusion, I will respect your conclusion. If you have done that, good for you, but most people who sound off against religions have not. If it were 100 years ago they would be on the side of those mocking evolution.
Fear-mongering...and pandering to the lowest intelligence-level individuals out there. Typical tactic by a politician who knows he has no hope of winning, but merely wants the dialogue to go his way.
This country could do with a little LESS religion being crammed down our throats from the pulpit and from government leaders. I know I'm an American...and I don't need Jesus in my life to be one.
"secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists" makes no sense, since one has nothing to do with the other, except as fearmongering. As a Christian, I would rather have more secular humanism and a few more Muslims than people like him, who are the exact opposite of Jesus, yet use His Name.
I fear America becoming a hypocritical country dominated by sound bite machines without souls or sense of right and wrong who are only in government for the cashflow. oops...already there.
My opinion is that he is an idiot and trying to suck stupid persons money. He is about himself only and if you are dumb enough to listen to him then you have a problem also. Thank you
Obviously, Mr. Gingrich is speaking with emotion and without rationale.
As a secular humanist, I believe in freedom of religion and secular equality. I reject extremism in all it's forms, including those fometed by Mr. Gingrich.
here here!
Amen to that!
ramen!
yes, indeed. Religion and religious countries cause the wars of the world. The countries with the highest population of Atheism and non-denominational beliefs seem to be the most peaceful. But yet, we are told to be alarmed when our country is has a growing population of Atheism. As if they are trying to make some sort of correlation between an Atheist / Non-Denominational group/country and being uncivilized and barbaric, as if they people posses no morals and conscience. Complete propaganda.
i do not support Ginrich nor am i favour of anti-muslim rhetoric, but it would be imprudent to dismiss entirely Newt's fears....i believe the evidence of islamic fundamentalism having hijacked several countries overtime is solid grounds for his concerns...the people of some of those societies are now uprising against oppression underpinned by islam. Newt's fears are not baseless...
Jesus Freaks and Holy Warriors on the Right, Banksters and their 'elected' government sock puppets in the Middle, and dead quiet on the Left, which Clinton buried and Obama is now paving over. The Jesus Freaks will get their way eventually simply because Americans get stupider by the day (nice feedback loop, eh?), and America will become unrecognizable to us secular humanists, while endless, Orwellian holy wars between Jesus and Mohammed will be all that remains of human civilization.
Lawrence – I hope we never get to the picture you decribe, but I am NOT ready to say that it is totally unrealistic! 🙁
Newt needs to get a life!