Praying for Obama's Death On President's Day

[kpete]

Praying for Obama's Death

by John Avlon

................

At a time when some people confuse losing an election with living under tyranny, it’s perhaps no surprise that a day set aside for marking past presidents’ birth has become, for some, a day for praying for the current president’s death.

Praying for President Obama’s death has become a sick cottage industry for some evangelicals on the lunatic fringe. Bumper stickers, T-shirts, and teddy bears are sold with the wholesome-sounding slogan “Pray for Obama” but tagged with the more troublesome “Psalm 109:8”—which reads “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership” followed by “May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.”

“If you have an evil leader above you, you pray that Satan will stand by his side and you ask God to make his children fatherless.”

In Wingnut circles, it’s known as the “Imprecatory Prayer.” Offered not just from select pulpits, but increasingly expressed through tweets and forwarded via email, this decidedly un-Christian Christian subculture has found its most enthusiastic advocates in a few Obama Derangement Syndrome-afflicted preachers—notably Orange County’s Wiley Drake and Arizona’s Steven L. Anderson.

Pastor Wiley Drake kicked off this Presidents’ Day Weekend with an email blast to his supporters saying “Imprecatory Prayer is now our DUTY” and announcing a daily teleconference call to advance the cause. Drake has been an enthusiastic advocate of imprecatory prayer since he announced that God answered his call with the murder of Kansas abortion clinic doctor George Tiller in church last May. “George Tiller was far greater in his atrocities than Adolf Hitler,” Drake said at the time, “so I am happy. I am glad that he is dead.” This emboldened him to add “the usurper that is in the White House … B. Hussein Obama” to the list said in his church on Sundays.

more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-14/praying-for-obamas-death/?cid=hp:mainpromo3

[BrklynLiberal]

1. and how is this NOT treason, terrorism, or both??????????????

At the VERY LEAST, the tax status of these people need to be examined...IN DETAIL!!

[cali]

5. it's definitely not treason. It's not terrorism but it could be construed

as a threat and they do need to keep an eye on these maniacs.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tailormyst]

39. It's not treason to "wish for" someone's death

Which is basically what prayer is. I can't tell you how many times I wished for Cheney or Rummy or W to bite it.

[demtenjeep]

2. This is just disgusting!

Definitely not Christian either.

[Zoeisright]

3. I reported him to the FBI.

And then sent the asshole a 'nice' note telling him so.

[thereismore]

8. Nice! nt

[ChicagoSuz219]

12. Thank you. n/t

[Turbineguy]

4. Asshat should be praying

for a Public Option. That way he can go and get treatment.

[opihimoimoi]

6. Is this Their Best??? Can't win by the voting booth...gatta win by praying for the opponents demise?

How sick and weak is THAT?

This is SO HIGH SCHOOL... its Pathetic and disgusting

[The_Commonist]

7. “George Tiller was far greater in his atrocities than Adolf Hitler..."

And some of the yokels will actually believe that.
Is there some sort of "pre-emptive strike" that could be used against this "man of god?"
Satan? Are you listening? Might wanna get in on that action, dude...

[LWolf]

10. "imprecatory prayer" is sick, to say the least.

A true symptom of the condition of christianity in the U.S.

A sign of crisis for the "soul" of America, however one may interpret "soul."

I am not a fan Of Barack Obama. I never have been. I've always been appalled by his centrism, corporatism, and right/republican leanings.

I don't want him to be president, I don't support his administration, and I'd be glad to see him lose a Democratic Primary when the time comes.

It's not personal. It's about policy. Mostly. When the policy hits me personally, as it does with current Education policy, it becomes more personal. It's still, though, about the policy.

Personally, I wish Obama, and his family, the best of health.

Why does political opposition so often translate into hate?

[KonaKane]

16. It's not a prayer. It's a homicidal fantasy.

Calling it a prayer is a defamation to the term.

[LWolf]

18. Perhaps.

Although these people certainly aren't the first to "pray" for their "enemies" to be defeated.

Whether you call it prayer, meditation, or emitting energy into the cosmos, it can be done with ill intent as well as positive.

And using prayer/meditation/etc. to "wish" harm to others, whether a fantasy or not per your belief system, is crossing a line into psychopathy, imo.

[DFW]

11. Does this mean they'll all tear their hair out if Obama is alive tomorrow?

Not that it would break my heart, although if you know anyone with a wig shop, you could pay next year's rent........

[ChicagoSuz219]

13. I'm Jewish...

...and even I know Jesus is not smiling about this. WTF are these people thinking?!?

[MrScorpio]

14. Looks like the Taliban wing of Christianity is working overtime

Jesus!

[immoderate]

15. Fortunately, nothing fails like prayer...

Hey gang, why don't we all pray for world peace? Nobody's tried that yet.

--imm

[AlinPA]

17. The republican base at work, praying. nt

[EmeraldCityGrl]

19. It doesn't get more depraved than this.People like this are capable of anything.

I would pay double the taxes I pay now just to see these churches lose their tax exempt status.
Most people would vote for changing the tax code, even religious ones. Unfortunately there isn't
a politician out there with the balls to suggest it.

[nytemare]

20. Why should they retain a tax-free status?

??

[janet118]

21. These are not Christians . . .

Jesus says this:

Luke 6:27-36

<27> "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, <28> bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. <29> If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. <30> Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. <31> Do to others as you would have them do to you."

Tell it, Jesus.
Too bad that those who claim to follow You, refuse to listen to Your teachings.

[ThomCat]

23. They can quote the bible too.

Unfortunately for you, they are Christians. They're just Christians who interpret things very differently than you do, or we do.

Besides, if they aren't Christians, then what are they? They certainly aren't suddenly Jewish or Buddhist. They aren't Atheists.

I think the most you can say is that they are bad Christians. But they are still Christians, none the less.

:shrug:

Of course, they are almost certainly saying the same thing about any Christians who support Obama, claiming that you can't be a real Christian.

So again I would ask, if other people deny you your Christianity, what are you, all of a sudden?

[janet118]

27. I believe that Christ transformed the Old Testament philosophy . . .

from "an eye for an eye" into "turn the other cheek." He was a radical in that way. If one believes in Christ's philosophy, then he/she should study the Bible quotations that are supposedly from Jesus, not from the Old Testament. I guess the people who pray for Obama's death are Christians in the sense that they choose to call themselves Christian. But I think a more appropriate name would be Christianoid - performing Christian-like rituals, but not acting upon Christ's words.

Sure, they can call themselves whatever they want to. Can I call myself a Marxist and run a hedge fund for oligarchs? Sure, I can. Does that make me a Marxist? I don't think so.

[ThomCat]

28. That begs the question.

If the run their lives based on how they interpret the Christian bible, base their lives around their churchs, and self-identify as Christians, then if they aren't Christians, you haven't answered the question of what are they.

And who defines who is Christian and who isn't? Almost Every Christian I have ever met engages in the exercise of declaring who is and isn't a real Christian. Everyone takes it upon themselves to have the authority to decide if everyone else is a Christian or not.

So apparently you can decide if they are, and they can decide if you are. So then either you both are, or nobody is.

So anyone who thinks they are a Christian, but somebody has some authority somehow to declare them not a Christian, now what are they? :shrug:

If you have the knowledge and authority to say what they are NOT, then you should be able to say what the ARE. So what are they?

[lib_wit_it]

36. Hypocrites. Racists. Bigots. Lamebrains. Rednecks. Liars. Morans.

[AspenRose]

29. Matthew chapter 7

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, **you will know them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'"**




A lot of people who call themselves Christians, and who think they're doing Christ's will, aren't. Jesus (in the passage above) is looking at people who had the IMAGE of being a Christian down-pat, and judges them based on their actions (or inaction), not their words.

And he doesn't claim them as one of his.

Joe Lieberman has been saying he's a Democrat for how many years, now. Would YOU call him a Democrat based on how he acts and votes? Why not? He says he's a Democrat, so he must be one. Right? We have to claim him. He's one of ours, right?

Pay attention to what people DO, not what they SAY or who they SAY they are. Maya Angelou says, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Jesus basically said the same thing: "Know them by their fruits."

[ThomCat]

30. Again, it's easy to say that someone isn't a Christian

But then what is he? What are they? What religion are they devoting their lives to? What bible are they interpreting? What church are they suddenly going to?

You have the power to declare that someone isn't a Christian so surely you have the power to declare what they are instead?

:shrug:

[AspenRose]

32. I can't help you.

I don't claim to have any kind of power. I consider myself a follower of Jesus. That means I take his teachings and attempt to apply it to my life.

Jesus has said that not everyone who is claiming to be a Christian, IS a Christian. And that you can spot that based not on what they say, but how they act. Whether they act Christ-like or not...that's what I go by.

And praying for someone's death is not anything I can recall Christ doing.

Honestly I see the same kind of thing in operation here at DU all the time. People here call themselves "progressive," and then proceed to defend right wing talking points. Do you go with what they SAY they are, and take their word for it, or go with what they're demonstrating themselves to be? There's no "power" or "authority" to that. You just connect the dots. I don't bother getting into figuring out whether they're socialist, PUMA, Freeper, etc. if they aren't progressive or liberal. I just take note that what they're calling themselves doesn't mesh with what is coming out of their "mouths."


So I can't help you.

[ThomCat]

33. I spent the past few days with a friend's family

and one of them was a right-winger aunt who likes to declare about who is Christian and who isn't, with quite a bit of certainty too.

The only thing people on all sides seem to have in common is that everyone is declaring "only good people can be Christians. They aren't really Christians because they aren't good enough. But I am. I'm Better than them."

Nobody states that last part, 'I'm Better than them" But it's there. "Christianity is mine, and for people like me. We're better than those supposed Christians."

I wonder who is really saintly enough to really be a Christian everyone would agree upon. Are there any actual Christians anywhere in the world, or just lots of people who are all "not-Chistians" of some kind in someone else's eyes, walking around claiming to be Christians?

[janet118]

35. Well said. If you call yourself a vegetarian but you eat meat . . .

Are you a vegetarian? It's what's inside, not what's on the label.

The ultimate criteria for being a Christian is being loving. How do we know that? Because, in the Bible, Jesus says as much. So those who pray for another Christian's untimely death can call themselves whatever they want - Jesus' words contradict them.

"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble."

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

[Betty Karlson]

37. apostates

Those who belief in habits and superstitions, and those who copy rituals of one religion to revamp an other, these are all called apostates. And being a Calvinist, I do not hestitate to denounce these people's beliefs as un-Christian.

I am increasingly reminded of medieval times, when political power struggles were fought out with accusations of "usurper" (see that quote about the usurper in the White House), "birth rights" (Obama's birth certificate), and prayers against all "infidels" and "heretics". In reality, the Catholic Church of the ime was ridden with apostasies and superstitions - the heretics were usually a lot closer to the biblical truth.

Taken together with the elimination of the middle class and the introduction of a financial aristocracy, I am really wondering if we are all somehow involved in a mass experiment on historical recreation - without knowing it.

[janet118]

38. Thanks for that word . . .

it's perfect.

[Dinger]

22. Hope The Secret Service Steps In

Sickening shit.

[mainer]

24. So if God doesn't deliver -- does it mean God likes Obama?

How will their logic get around the fact that God isn't doing what they want? Will they take it to mean that God doesn't exist? Or that God wants Obama to live?

[Tailormyst]

40. I think so !

[Blue_Roses]

25. wtf?

:wtf:

[Divine Discontent]

26. regardless of what happened, God wouldn't have killed anyone for a prayer, these sick f*cks are nut

right wing false religious types that really don't know their supposed religion and just hate... no other way to put it!

[and-justice-for-all]

31. Stupid, ignorant and delusion people...

Bush Co has all the blood on their hands and yet they condemn Obama; and for what I am still at a lose.

[WeDidIt]

34. True practitioners of Black Magick

Pure evil.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

These people are more evil than any Muslim terrorist.

[glen123098]

41. If you have a problem with Obama...

Wouldn't it make more since to pray that Obama would "see the light" and become one of them. Why don't they pray that? Why must they pray for the death of a man?