 |
|
|
|
|
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 »
Next entry »Tiny church finds original King James Bible
« Previous entryHunger strike aims at congressional cuts
|
  About this blog
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.  |
|
|
|
Is he serious? An atheist country dominated by radical islamists? As a professor, shouldn't he at least look up the words in the dictionary before he uses them? Gingrich used to have some interesting ideas, but lately he seems to be taking a page from Sarah Palin playbook, and just saying things that sound scary, whether they make any sense or not.
"a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists" – so you're afraid of atheist Islamists?!? Somebody needs to sit down and have a talk with Newt. Preferably with words less than 3 syllables. Don't worry, Newt – like you, Americans are too stupid to become atheists.
I'd DEFINITELY prefer an atheist US to a gingrich US
Not one shard of pottery, remarkable. I understand that the tribes of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years in the same pair of shoes. Did these archaeologists find any shoes?
Who is Gingrich? Never heard of him. I guess he spends to much time in church!
Secular atheist radical islamists? What an idiot. He's like the dillweeds that call atheists Satanic. IF you're islamic or worship Satan, you're not an atheist. You're a Muslim or a Satanist.
So, radical Islamists are Atheists, huh? Why not throw neo-pagan and devil worshiper in there too... I mean its all the same thing right? You are either with the Powerhouse Church of the Presumptuous Assumption of the Blinding Light or you are against it.
kudos for the firesign reference...
Whatever happened to separation of Church and State??
Propaganda lies playing on the simple minds of religiously fanatic Americans, trumping up no doubt a preemptive strike on Iran and separating religious ideologies further than we already are. Talk such as this are equally paranoid as Ahmadinejad's.
I miss the 60's when the news was filled with one extremist killing another.
i suspect you'll be feeling very nostalgic sooner than you think.
Right! Christian like Gingrich who cheats on his wife and has multiple affairs...I'll take atheism over this any time of the day.
I want someone who will serve as our leader, not someone who has shown throughout his life, that he only serves himself.
Newt is counting on ignorance and hate, and he is correct. Americans are as dumb as rocks. Americans elect people like Bush and Palin. Now the so called smart ones [liberals] won't admit that Obama is an amoral war monger. Yep dumb as rocks.
Gingrich is the Republican gift to the Democrats. Palin, Huckabee, Romney, doesn't matter. Obama's gonna hit another landslide!
If it looks looks like a toad, sounds like a toad, then it is a toad. Kissing him is not going to turn him into a prince.
One again Newt has shown what an ignorant and bigoted person he is. How can a country be athiest if it ruled by muslims? The founding fathers wanted a separation of church and state. All one needs to do is look at the middle east to see what countries that are run by relegion come to. Everyone should be afraid of these types of candidates and the Tea Party in paticular. They prey on the fears of people who are under educated and have no real understanding of what the party is trying to accomplish. If you think this comment is unfair just remember what that woman from Alaska(I refuse to say her name) said about what she called overeducated people. I was unaware that being educated was a detriment to our country. It is obvious that the Republican party wants this country to be uneducated since the first thing they want to do is take away from education instead of requiring the rich to pay there fair share to keep social programs running in this country.
Well put!
i think it;s obvious gingrich would make a lousy president because he is to religious.he would not be able to make the distinction between seperation of church and state. his decisions would be bias and based on relgion not what is best for the country.personally i think we need an atheist president who can make choices and decsions based on whats best for the country and the country alone.
I'd mch rather have an athiest US than a Christian US.
Well, we know now that when Newt gets on his knees – it's not for praying, it's to turn a quick trick for some votes.
I don't think he understands the idea of mutual exclusivity. If it's a country dominated by radical Islam, it cannot be atheist. Atheism does not mean a lack of belief in the Christian interpretation of God. It means a lack of belief in any God, Goddess, or pantheon thereof in any faith, religion, or cult (that last part may be redundant).
This public information announcement was brought to you by a proud godless heathen. Pray or not, you're still worm food!
Right On Mate:
If the former Speaker of the House does not really know how incompatible Islam is with atheism then he is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is or he is basing his politicing on fear. Either way he is pandering to a base consisting of people who say the President was raised in Kenya and that the battle of Lexington& Concord was fought in New Hampshire Next up: a takeover of the Government by radical Quakers.
No need to worry, that white haired GUY sitting on a cloud in the sky, who looks down on the bombing of little children, old people rotting of cancer, people being tortured and religious leaders and politicians speaking in HIS name among other things, he won't let the good old US down, would he?
Get over it, listen to Steven Hawking, HE doesn't exist. Just an easy excuse for man immortality and immorality.
Love it!!!
Um... so which is it? "a secular atheist country" or "one dominated by radical Islamists"? Because those are two completely opposite things. Just sayin'
More importantly radical Islamists are bad because their Islamists, they're bad because they're radical, and contrary to popular belief that can apply to anyone who believe in anything. Newt Gingrich for example...