Parsing Parsley

ABC’s Brian Ross delivers on McCain’s “spiritual guide”

Good for ABC News and Brian Ross, who are finally giving Pastor Rod Parsley, an important Christian conservative ally of John McCain, the kind of scrutiny he deserves.

As Ross detailed in a report that aired this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, Parsley—whose endorsement McCain solicited, and who the senator has called “one of the truly great leaders in America”—has views on Christianity and Islam that many would consider no less troubling than Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American screeds.

Here at CJR, we’ve noted (along with many others) Parsley’s history of “controversial” comments before. He has called Islam a “false religion” and “an anti-Christ religion,” and warned of a “war between Islam and Christian civilization.” He sees no difference between violent Islamic jihadists and ordinary Muslims, declaring, “What some call ‘extremists’ are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam.”

So, let’s consider how Parsley stacks up next to Wright as a reflection on the candidates’ abilities to govern effectively, and therefore as an issue for the campaign press. On the one hand, Wright was Obama’s long-time pastor and spiritual mentor who officiated at the candidate’s wedding and helped bring him to God. Parsley, by contrast, is not personally close with McCain. Aside from appearing with McCain at an event in February to announce his endorsement, Parsley has had little direct contact with the candidate before or since. It’s true that McCain referred to Parsley as a “spiritual guide,” but there’s no reason to think that McCain’s religious or spiritual views have been meaningfully shaped by Parsley.

But on the other hand, Ross’s report showed that a number of Middle Eastern news outlets have picked up on Parsley’s comments, along with his relationship with McCain. As a result, many in the Muslim world are, rationally or not, beginning to fear a President McCain—which could significantly complicate the crucial task of improving America’s image in the region, were McCain to win in November. So in that sense, Parsley arguably deserves more scrutiny than Wright, whose demagoguery, however offensive, probably wouldn’t hobble an Obama presidency in the same way.

We can understand the press concluding that Wright deserves more attention than Parsley, thanks to his closer relationship to the candidate. But given the weeks of coverage that the cable news outlets, which do so much to shape perceptions, lavished on that story, a few skeptical reports about McCain and Parsley don’t seem like too much to ask. But so far, those same outlets have been remarkably uninterested. We hope the ABC News report starts a trend.

–By Zachary Roth

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well, first of all let me say that Parsley is a raging bigot. his comments are nothing short of racism. and mccain sought him out to reflect his spiritual reality. summary? mccain is a bigot and racist. as for the war mongering of parsley? well mccain is the man who projected a 100 yrs war. and who doest bush/mccain fight? people of color whose countries have coveted resources (oil) and americans at home who use their constitutional rights to protest!

as for rev. wright: well, was he wrong? i dont think so. was he out of place–yes.
but wright didnt promote ongoing war. he didnt promote a military uprising. he spoke of his congregation taking care of its own. how radical–running soup kitchens and helping with other survival needs. isnt this what the bush administration promotes? let the churches take over the social service needs of the people. now wright, and by association, obama are evil for supporting social service aid programs for those in the community of the church.

what is so bad about wright? he simply called it as history has presented it. but how dare a person of color try to define history. racism is based on white elites writing the hisory of others. and wrght had the audacity to speak truth to power.

parsley? wright? no contest here.