Tim Rude

Timothy Rude is an evangelical Christian pastor for the controversial Great Commission church movement at Walnut Creek Community Church in the Windsor Heights suburb of Des Moines, Iowa. Rude is best known for anti-Catholic statements while supporting the campaign of Mike Huckabee for President of the United States in 2007.

Email controversy

During the Presidential campaign, before the Ames Straw Poll, as part of the Huckabee Pastors Coalition, Rude sent an email to two evangelical supporters of the Brownback campaign, to emphasize that Huckabee was "one of us." [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/us/politics/06cnd-straw.html?ex=1187150400&en=992fc8bcc2164d9d&ei=5055&partner=RRCOLUMBUS 2 G.O.P. Contenders Duel Over Religion - New York Times ] ] [http://www.mywire.com/pubs/AP/2007/07/31/4121935?extID=10051 MyWire |
] ] [http://gcmstatementofweaknessexposed.googlepages.com/ GCMStatementofWeaknessExposed - Tim Rude, a GCM Pastor in IA, Makes Anti-Catholic Statements ] ] [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070802/28721_Brownback_Campaign_Again_Calls_Huckabee_to_Denounce_'Anti-Catholic'_Slur.htm Brownback Campaign Again Calls Huckabee to Denounce 'Anti-Catholic' Slur | Christianpost.com ] ]

Reactions to the email

After Senator Brownback demanded an apology for the "effort to demoralize his supporters," the Associated Press characterized the statement as a "Catholic slur". According to journalist Joan Walsh, "Challenged on the e-mail, Rude made things worse by saying simply, 'All I was trying to say is that Protestants should vote for Protestants.'" [http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/election_2008/2007/08/02/donohue_gop/index.html Kudos to Bill Donohue - really! - Joan Walsh - Salon.com ] ] Catholic League leader Bill Donohue retorted, "Now that his gig is up -- everyone knows about his stealth campaign against Brownback -- the time has come for Rev. Rude (what a great name!) to fess up and apologize. He might also take this opportunity to explain his lack of confidence in the ability of Protestants to discern whom they should vote for in the election." Rude later apologized, acknowledging that his statement "could be taken as anti-Catholic." [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=up_front_sept_2007 Up Front | The American Prospect ] ] Huckabee stated that his campaign neither disseminated nor condoned the message. John Rankin, communications director of Brownback for President pressed the issue, stating, "Why is Governor Huckabee hesitating to denounce the anti-Catholic comments from his supporter, Pastor Tim Rude? It is hard to imagine that Governor Huckabee thinks Pastor Tim Rude's prejudiced tactics are acceptable."

ee also

*Nick Bal
*Maryland Political Controversy (Great Commission)

External links

* [http://www.walnutcreekcc.org/wccc/aboutus/whoweare/pastors.php Pastors of Walnut Creek Community Church]

References