How do you convince a congregation full of Jesus lovers that they should fully get behind yet another irresponsible war of choice waged by another Republican president who has no concern about the consequences of his actions that will inevitably result in countless innocent casualties?
If you’re John Hagee, the firebrand preacher behind the non-denominational Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, you air a literal pro-war infomercial right before the start of your “Epic Fury”-themed sermon.
NARRATOR: A headline that shook the world:
REPORTER: I’m joining you right now with breaking news from the Middle East: Israel has launched preemptive airstrikes against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
TRUMP: The United States military began major combat operations in Iran.
NARRATOR: Sirens are wailing, and prophesies written thousands of years ago are stepping onto the world stage. Explosions over Tehran, retaliatory strikes, nations choosing sides. And the world asks: Is this just another war?
History is not random. Empires will rise. Empires will fall. But the word of God will stand forever.
Iran. Israel. America. Where are we in the unfolding plan of God?
HAGEE: And the Bible says, “When you see these signs, lift up your heads and rejoice. Your redemption draws nigh.”
Hagee spent the next 40 minutes injecting his poisonous propaganda directly into the veins of his congregation, telling them (without citations, naturally) that Trump had “tried to reach a peaceful solution with Iran to no avail.” He ignored the nuclear deal President Obamamade with Iran which constrained its ability to build such weapons—which Trump later dismantled due to ignorance, jealousy, or a toxic mix of both—referring to it backhandedly as a “bribe to keep the peace.” And he insisted that now Israel “could enter a season of unprecedented peace,” ignoring how Benjamin Netanyahu has been a cheerleader for war for his political advantage.
At one point, Hagee blamed President Joe Biden for domestic terrorism stemming from 9/11 (when careful observers will note someone else was president).
Our sense of invincibility was crushed in a day when a handful of terrorists successfully attacked us on our own shores in New York.
Can it happen again? Absolutely. Why? Because millions of illegal immigrants that have flooded into our country, with a flood that came, with terrorists ready and willing to to attack America.
Terrorists are not coming. The terrorists are already here. Thank you, Joe Biden, for nothing.
Elsewhere in the sermon, he blamed the global state of affairs on the fact that the United States continues to condone sin— sin like the existence of abortion, and homosexuality, and embracing Communism (via the election of Zohran Mamdani in New York City), and how schools are apparently “teaching our children atheistic doctrines.” (News to me!)
But if everyone prays hard enough, he added, God “would assist the military forces of Israel to crush their adversaries,” and in the U.S., there would be “righteous revival in this nation.”
In many ways, this was the exact same lie-filledoverly bombastic sermon he’s been giving for decades. Hagee, a Christian Zionist, believes Israel has a right to take over much of the Middle East, which is why he and ally Mike Huckabee have been avid supporters of the genocide in Gaza. Hagee believes that Israel’s success will hasten end-time prophecies and bring on the Second Coming of Christ and eventually lead to everyone converting to Christianity… or else. It’s why his group Christians United For Israel is even larger than the more well-known pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.
Those beliefs have led to all kinds of controversies. Like when Hagee claimed Hitler was a “hunter” sent by God to usher in the state of Israel, or when he said Hitler was a “half-breed Jew,” or when he called the Catholic Church the “Great Whore.” He later apologized for those words but they came back to haunt him after he endorsed Sen. John McCain in 2008.
(Separately from all that, Hagee was hospitalized with COVID for over two weeks in 2020. When he was finally able to preach again, he told his congregation, “We have a vaccine. The name is Jesus Christ.” That was also a lie. Plenty of devout Christians died from COVID. Hagee just didn’t care.)
Anyway, that explains why this past weekend was cause for celebration in Hagee’s world. He has never wanted peace in the Middle East. He wants chaos as long as Israel comes out ahead. Destroying Iran has always been one of his goals, and much like Trump, Hagee doesn’t have any interest in thinking about the long-term. Hagee doesn’t care because he just assumes Jesus will rescue his people in the immediate future. Trump doesn’t care because all he wants right now is a distraction from his myriad other scandals.
And yet guys like Hagee are now controlling our foreign policy. Not people who are experts in Middle Eastern history. Not people who understand what can happen when a leadership vacuum emerges in a highly volatile region. Not people whose job it is to care about American soldiers.
Just religious zealots who believe other religious zealots need to be eradicated because their God commands it.
For what it’s worth, Hagee is far from the only right-wing extremist clamoring for war against Iran. What’s scary is that he may be the most influential.
