The Question: John McCain's spiritual guide, televangelist Rod Parsley, calls Islam a "false religion" that should be "destroyed." Should McCain renounce Parsley? Will Islam be an issue in this year's U.S. presidential election?

That John McCain courts the counsel of Christian ideologues is not terribly surprising. Previous support-seeking solicitations at the steps of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University show McCain’s proclivity for right-of-center piety. Though it is unlikely that McCain would ever follow Falwell’s folly in calling Prophet Muhammad a “terrorist”, it is no secret that McCain is theologically misguided on Islam. McCain’s recent confusion in differentiating Shia and Sunni groups in Iraq and eagerness to substantially ramp up the U.S. war on Islamic extremists could combine for an accidental war on the whole lot of them. The unfortunate fallout of such a war footing is that McCain, like President Bush, often fails to nuance his rhetoric vis-à-vis Islam. As a result, the current perception of America among Muslims worldwide would only deteriorate further.

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