Chris Broughton, 28, made national news when he showed up to protest a speech by President Barack Obama in Phoenix, Arizona with an AR-15 automatic rifle slung over his shoulder and a handgun. While Broughton claims that his (apparently legal) actions were not meant to threaten the president, there was more to the story than a single citizen’s dubious actions and pronouncements. Local print and television coverage in Phoenix, and bloggers all over the country, have led the way on an interesting and important story of religion and politics that has been almost entirely ignored by the traditional media.
Here is what they missed.
The night before Broughton’s fifteen minutes of fame, he attended a fiery Sunday sermon by his pastor, Rev. Steven L. Anderson, at Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. Rev. Anderson, also 28, explained not only “Why I Hate Barack Obama,” but also why he and God both want the president dead. “When I go to bed tonight,” Broughton’s pastor declared, “Steven L. Anderson is going to pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell.” He even goes so far as to claim that:
God appointed [Obama] to destroy this country for the wickedness of the United States of America. God appointed him because that’s what our country has turned into. That’s who we deserve as a president.
And yet, even though we may deserve Obama, Anderson urges his congregation to pray for the president’s death, issuing imprecatory prayers and repeatedly asking God to kill the president. Most dramatically, and in an interesting shift to the passive voice, he said Obama “ought to be aborted” because the president is pro-choice, and therefore a “murderer.” Despite all this Anderson has insisted to reporters that he was not calling for vigilante violence. Ditto for Broughton, who told a reporter for the Phoenix New Times: “I don’t care how God does it, I’m not going into further detail than that,” said Broughton. “It would be better now than later.”
“However it happens, I’m going be happy that it happens,” he continued. “I’m gonna be a happy man… I would rejoice.”
While our national media and political culture often succumb to the temptation to classify people who take extreme political acts, particularly of violence, as lone nuts, in fact such people are not necessarily either nuts or alone. Even when acting individually (as Chris Broughton did when he brought an automatic weapon to an Obama speech), they are frequently operating out of a particular religious, cultural, and political context. Absent the distraction of a horrific crime, the story of Chris Broughton and Steven L. Anderson provide a perfect example. In fact, Broughton had discussed his act in advance with Anderson, who praised him afterwards, writing “Good job, Chris!”
At a teabagger rally in Arizona, Anderson denounced both the Republican and Democratic Parties, declaring without a hint of irony that Obama, the “worst president” in American history, is “selling us into slavery and serfdom.” Further research revealed Anderson’s involvement in the Constitution Party, the third largest “third party” in the United States. In a June speech to the state convention of the Arizona Constitution Party, he introduced himself (in addition to being pastor of a church) as the owner of a “firearms business” operating in “several states” and closed with a plea for an American government based on God’s laws as set out in the biblical book of Deuteronomy.
The Constitution Party (which has tended to be the political home for people with views strikingly similar to Anderson’s) is frequently dismissed as a fringe party of little electoral consequence, even though its significance lies elsewhere. It is in fact a steaming hotbed of far-right factions with theocratic, vigilante, and sometimes revolutionary ideas whose like-minded members get together to make their plans, just like any other organized faction in American public life. The party says it is 100% pro-life and pro-gun.
Many of the party’s early leaders were Christian Reconstructionists, or were heavily influenced by Reconstructionism, including party founder and three-time presidential candidate Howard Phillips. Reconstructionism is a theocratic systematic theology whose seminal thinker, the late R.J. Rushdoony, spoke at the Constitution Party’s founding convention and was a longtime advisor to Phillips. Reconstructionism was one of the significant theological catalysts for the modern religious right; a movement, like other social and political movements throughout history, that has transcended party identification.
The Constitution Party has also been a political home to a wide array of militia proponents, including one of the movement’s leading theorists, Larry Pratt head of Gun Owners of America; Rev. Matthew Trewhella, founder of Missionaries to the Preborn (who has urged parents to buy each of their children “an SKS rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition” for their church militia); Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry (who ran as a Constitution Party candidate for Congress in 1998, but who has since become a Republican); and even Rev. Michael Bray, a convicted felon and longtime leader in the Army of God.
Like the Reconstructionists, Anderson believes in the death penalty for homosexuality, and the death penalty for abortion (which is of course understood to be murder). And these points are highlighted in the sermon he gave the night before Obama’s speech in Phoenix:
… you’re going to tell me that I’m supposed to pray for the socialist devil, murderer, infanticide, who wants to see young children and he wants to see babies killed through abortion and partial-birth abortion and all these different things—you’re gonna tell me I’m supposed to pray for God to give him a good lunch tomorrow while he’s in Phoenix, Arizona? Nope. I’m not gonna pray for his good. I’m going to pray that he dies and goes to hell.
But no one should come away from this story without a sense of the depth and breadth and virulence of the views being expressed or that Anderson sees his views as anything other than the truth and an effort at common sense. Fortunately, diligent bloggers have been on the case, notably TPM Muckraker, Crooks and Liars’ Dave Neiwert, Pam Spaulding, PFAW’s Right Wing Watch, and the excellent reporting of the Phoenix New Times.
Interestingly, nationally syndicated liberal radio talk show host Alan Colmes conducted a particularly penetrating interview. When Colmes asked Anderson what his response would be if someone killed Barack Obama in response to his sermon, he replied: “I wouldn’t cry about it.”
Colmes said to Anderson: “You want the president dead…”“Absolutely,” Anderson agreed. “Now that doesn’t mean I’m gonna kill him. But you know what? I believe he should reap what he’s sown.”
“[Obama] deserves to die, because he’s a murderer.”
“I’m not going to take responsibility for other people’s actions,” said Anderson. “You know, it’s ridiculous how I’m supposed to be held accountable for what anyone who listens to my sermons does.”
In fairness, Anderson says he also thinks that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney also deserve to die for their alleged crimes of torture and the deaths of a million Iraqis in a war he opposes. But lest anyone think that such views betray a kind of moderation, his views on homosexuality, which may one day make him a contender for the mantle currently held by the infamous Rev. Fred Phelps, will probably check any such temptation:
Anderson claims among other things that all gay people are “predators” who are “infecting our society”; that they are on a “rampage”; that the disease is “exploding in growth.” He claims that homosexuals “recruit” via, among other things, child rape and molestation and that God commanded that homosexuals “should be taken out and killed.”
“[E]very good king of Israel,” he claims, either “got rid of” or “exterminated... the sodomites…”
He rhetorically asks “how do we stop it?” remarking only that “they have no natural predators,” leaving it to the imagination of the listener as to what might be done. He is an artful demagogue who seems to be well aware of the line between wishing homosexuals and the president to be murdered, and directly calling on anyone to act.
In the course of another sermon he angrily denounces the United Methodist Church because, as he puts it, “ten percent of their preachers are queers”:
“I’ll stand behind the pulpit call them the fag that he is. I am here to preach the Bible.”
Anderson’s anger is hair-raising as he shouts: “I am not going to stand by… and let faggots run the church! It’s bad enough that we’ve got a bunch of faggots running the government!”
It might be tempting to dismiss Anderson as the meaningless leader of a small congregation whose post-controversy service drew, by his own account, only forty-nine. But he says such extraordinary things all the time—as his effective and demagogic appearances at teabagger rallies and other venues of the far right have shown—and it doesn’t take large numbers of people, acting singly or in cell groups, to commit horrific acts of violence in God’s name.
Virulent ideas, and a will and a capacity to carry them out, are all that matter. We have seen many such cases in recent years in which at some point, actions meet the demands of the words of leaders with particular ideas about what God may require.
Tags: alan colmes, assassination, chris broughton, christian reconstructionism, constitution party, death threats, fred phelps, hate speech, homophobia, larry pratt, matthew trewhella, michael bray, militia, obama, pfaw, randall terry, reconstructionist, steven l anderson, teabaggers
Cuckoo!!!
REALLY scary.
"you’re going to tell me that I’m supposed to pray for the socialist devil, murderer, infanticide, who wants to see young children and he wants to see babies killed through abortion and partial-birth abortion and all these different things—you’re gonna tell me I’m supposed to pray for God to give him a good lunch tomorrow while he’s in Phoenix, Arizona?"
No, I'm not going to tell you that.
JESUS told you that 2000 years ago.
You're to pray FOR your leaders, not for your leaders to DIE.
Do you mean to say that Jesus wanted the Germans to pray FOR Hitler to be successful in implementing his goals? Pray FOR him to be healthy and happy?
I'm trying to figure out who is nuttier -- this preacher or a guy who is still calling participants in the TEA Party movement "teabaggers".
Just recall statements of Pat Robertson, the late Jerry Falwell, and that Hagee giy....
and these people call themselves Christians... so much for God's Love huh? these ppl are a DISGRACE TO my faith! I pray that Obama lives a long and happy life... and these ppl learn to love and not HAte!
Frankly, I'm shocked that the author, a Christian I'm guessing, even if a liberal one, would use the term teabaggers, when it describes a sexual act between homosexuals. That was made clear when the Hollywood crowd used it several months ago, disparaging the Tea Party goers.
Why is it, that when liberals protest, its patriotic, but when conservatives do, its not patriotic? Always seems to be a different standard.Liberals only want free speech if that speech happens to agree with what they believe. It doesn't work that way.
Are liberals so bereft of vocabulary and dignity that they always have to resort to name calling, character assassination, and generalities, such as "typical of all conservative Christians." I could just as easy say,"all liberal Christians are apostates." But, they aren't.
And yes, having someone pray for someone to die goes against the very nature and being of true Christianity. Better for them to pray Obama somehow gets kicked out of office, rather than die. Or, have an epiphany and "see the error of his ways." That would fall more in line into what Christians ought to do. We are not to pray for the success of an evil, or misguided leader. If you think that, you misunderstand Scripture. Perhaps it would behoove some to actually read it, rather than parrot terms they hear.
Yes, we are to pray for our leaders, so they will lead us in a Godly way, among other things. And, when they don't? We are to still pray for them. But not so they continue to lead in an ungodly or wrong way. God never wants us to pray for the success of something that is wrong, but to pray for wisdom. THAT is what we are to pray for, for our leaders. Wisdom.
And, I pray that it may touch the author of the article and the readers as well, who seem to be so easily lead by a word craftsman.
First of all, IIRC, the "Teabaggers" named themselves that, and liberal commentators just ran with the joke.
As to the 'protestors being patriotic when they're liberal and not when they're conservative'
I'd just say it's very much the same reversed.
Look at how Fox News covers the protests now "true uprisings of people justifiably fed up with the system"
Now, look back at how they did it when GWB was in office "These protesters are loons!"
The whole "it's fine when my side does it, but when the other side does it they're wrong" thing is a crime both sides are guilty of.
Though I will admit I think the Republicans are more guilty of it, mostly because I myself DID bash my fellow 'liberals' who compared Bush to Hitler, and spouted wacky conspiracy theories, and I don't see nearly as many 'conservatives' doing the same in kind.
And I never heard any 'liberals' claiming they wanted Bush to die, and his leadership was, at the very least, equally opposed to Christs teachings.
I also think that the Bush-Hitler comparisons were over the top. Hitler set the bar pretty high for other megalomaniacal mad-dictator wannabes. He was also a much better public speaker than Mr. Bush. No, Bush didn't have the chops to make a Hitler; as a blustering buffoon with a penchant for militaristic theatrics, the best he could hope for was Mussolini. I have, in fact, referred to him on many occasions as Genralissimo Busholini, and I'm only sorry I couldn't get the phrase to catch on.
I never prayed for him to die, because that would have given us President Cheney, which is almost too horrible to contemplate. I have never prayed, exactly, for any misfortune to befall him, but I have long harbored a deep and abiding hope that he will be afflicted with a painful boil on his bum.
My only prayer, if prayer it may be, for Mister Bush is that whatever Powers there may be reward him justly and in full measure for what he has wrought.
So may it be.
As to the preacher described in this article, it's plain that the God he claims to worship is a lot crazier than the one I was taught to believe in when I was a lad at St. Francis of Assisi School. What would dear old Francis make of him, I wonder? The difference between a Christianity of love, gentleness, and humility and this lunatic's blood-drenched anger quite literally beggars description.
And it's no good trying to argue with him, because you can't refute Revealed Truth, even if it's just one maniac's version of revelation.
God help us.
Please.
I understand your sense that liberals are being hypocrites, but be honest - the conservative Christian voice is all this nation has heard for nearly 30 years. The extremists such as this preacher, are ratcheting up the rhetoric to death threats because they no longer are in power or have their chosen leaders in office. More to the point, the are acting as if willing the death of people with whom they disagree is all right. It is NOT. We have already had deaths of minorities and police and a doctor at the hands of this kind of extremist. Words matter. This article is about the words of extremism, and for you to avoid that central concern is worrying. Please focus on the real issue - pastors are now praying for the death of our president. The rest is pretty much unimportant.
I cannot understand why people who believe in a god like this would want to go on living -- why bother, if you believe you are ruled by pure ugliness and rage? Do they go on enduring it just to get to the afterlife they believe in? I cannot fathom how exhausting and difficult it must be to get through a lifetime that is so much about ideas and abstractions and things to come after death and has so little to do with one's actual experiences on earth. The only joy they seem to get is from condemning others, but they are only ever condemning people who don't believe in the same bizarre abstractions they do (i.e., like telling someone who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that there's no Santa . . .)
"I cannot understand why people who believe in a god like this would want to go on living -- why bother, if you believe you are ruled by pure ugliness and rage?"
Unfortunately, it's not that hard to understand. Some people enjoy "ugliness and rage". A lot of people in fact. Most major religions have had their "holy war" factions, and periods in history where those were dominant. These are the personality types that get attracted to such a faction. The actual teachings of the particular religion are almost irrelevant to that process.
-Steve
They Tea Party Patriots chose their name; they are the ones who set themselves up for ridicule.
Also, I think that the previous administration was a perversion of Christianity at best. I'm looking for where Jesus told us to wage war against other countries etc etc etc
You are right about the previous administration. Their claim to be "christian" is a perversion of the name.
I don't understand why people like him are allowed to walk freely around and spread such ridiculous information. People like this truly scare me because if it wasn't homosexuals then it would be lynching African Americans. All I can say is that if the government is willing to arrest people for doing things as simple buying supplies for bombs or hacking websites then why not people who openly promote the death of our president. Because despite what anyone says this guy is going to convince someone that its his god given right to hurt people that are going against gods word. This guy is the reason why people do dumb shit like bomb churches full of black people, rape and kill gay men, assassinate presidents. I just know this guy scares me and I don't see any positive coming from him, just bad omens, very bad omens.
He's allowed to walk freely because he has the right to speak freely. You stupid liberals never understand that. You'd deprive him of his rights. Typical socialist liberal.
It was your boy Bush and his handler Cheney who had people arrested for wearing anti-war tee-shirts to Bush rallies. Obama's allowed armed gun nuts at his. It's not the liberals who jail and kill their enemies, it's the conservatives and the 'Christian Right'. Pull your head out of your ass and face the truth for once.
Check webster for the definition of liberal, it is indeed quite a complimentary tag!!!
First off; You say that inciting others to injure, hurt, or kill the U.S. President is "freedom of speech." Wrong. Freedom of speech is just that; however, inciting immediate violence or defamation falls outside the First Amendment's protection. Such as in Brandbenberg Vs. Ohio in which the Court ruled that "...Government cannot punish inflammatory speech unless it is directed to inciting and likely to incite imminent lawless action." 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
Second, It seems fitting that you would use the term "Stupid Liberal" when you are the one who is ignorant. Liberal is actually a flattering term and I imagine Jesus Christ would be classified as a Liberal, by even you. Liberal:
lib·eral (lib′ər əl, lib′rəl) adjective
1. suitable for a freeman; not restricted: now only in liberal arts, liberal education, etc. 2. giving freely; generous 3. large or plentiful; ample; abundant 4. not restricted to the literal meaning; 5. tolerant of views differing from one's own; broad-minded; specif., not orthodox 6. of democratic or republican forms of government, as distinguished from monarchies, aristocracies, etc.
7. favoring reform or progress, as in religion, education, etc.; specif., favoring political reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual; progressive.
I'll take that, thank you.
Thirdly. Do you know what "Socialist" is? Or are you reading bumper stickers, listening to Rush Limbaugh and watching Faux News again? You are confusing "Socialism" with "Communism." Idiot.
Socialist/Socialism: Socialism, economic and social system under which essential industries and social services are publicly and cooperatively owned and democratically controlled with a view to equal opportunity and equal benefit for all. "
Socialism in America:
Medicare; Veteran Affairs; Food Stamps/EBT; Medicaid; Disability; FEMA; Social Security (I bet you expect to collect this, one day right?)
So, go back inside and color something. Recess is over. Turn off Rush Limbaugh, and study. You'll never make it out of 2nd grade until you do.
Thank you jnickj6 for your comment and wisdom. I get so tired of feeling like a bad Christian because I am a "liberal" (a word that I've come to hate because it seems to be almost like a 4-letter word these days). Isn't it interesting that all of us liberal crazies are the ones who are trying to promote peace, acceptance and love?...sounds a lot like someone else I know. I'm pretty sure if Jesus were here today, in flesh, that he would be considered a liberal, a socialist and a crazy man. Why else would they have killed him?
Needless to say, everyone should understand and realize that the word "liberal" is not a bad word and we should not be ashamed to be labeled as such....If you follow Christ, you should be liberal, peace-loving, accepting of all others (even our more conservative brothers and sisters). He was and he called us to be also.
"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." I live by this passage...it's the only way I keep my hatred and anger in check.
I saw 3 brave protestors standing outside this "church" in Tempe, as 30 armed members entered the building. WHY isn't every House of Worship standing outside there screaming SHAME, SHAME, SHAME, or blowing ram's horns til this nest of vipers collapses.
LDS elders, Catholic Bishops, Rabbis, Rick Warren where is YOUR outrage?
Preach it, Brother!!
Fair warning "pastor" Anderson, you or your twisted congregation harm Barney or any LGBT citizen, the secret service will be the LEAST of your worries.
Most of the so-called Christians who write such caustic diatribes do not follow the Christ who showed us how to love everyone. They must be doing a Marcionite excision of parts of the Gospels that don't sit well with them. Please, God, open their eyes to their own logs so they will remove them before trying to remove splinters from the eyes of others.
God allowed obama to be elected as judgment on a wicked, perverted country. America endorses and promotes all manner of evil, and then they are such theological morons that they expect God to bless them. Ain't gonna happen. Things are going to get much worse.
God didn't "allow" Obama to be elected. The voters of this country elected him. God, if he exists, is not a registered U.S. voter. And in fact, if he exists, he doesn't give a flying flip what happens to this country, or this planet. The sooner we get that through our thick heads, the sooner we'll grow up and take some responsbility for what we're doing and quit attributing it to the monsters under the bed, or some abstraction in the sky.
You need to take your pills, honey. Don't skip a dose--you know what the doctor said about missing your medication.
If you review all the material available around this whole affair, this crosses the legal threshold of incitement to violence, and against a seated President. This is confirmed by the actions Broughton, and his statements. But, its hidden under cover of religion as SLA is the preacher, so its a difficult cause. Wonder how many copy cats there will be?
I cannot believe that so many are actually supporting the ugly statements made against the President of the United States ( or anyone for that matter ) by those who perceive themselves to be Christains {?}. Christians ?? If it wasn't so sad it would be funny !
The definition of THE STATE is that entity in which all absolute power is invested! The free execise of religion in America is at the pleasure of the Government. Open public death threats against a sitting President is NOT ALLOWED under any conditions. It is only allowed to go on because Obama has the wrong person as Attorney General (AG)of the United States. It is the responsibility of the AG to clamp down on the chorus of rising voices calling for the killing of President Obama.
Government cannot studiously ignore the rising number of voices publically calling for the death or murder of President Obama. When Eric Holder took the oath of office as Attorney general, he accepted the task of doing everything in his power to protect the President. This is not a job just to be performed by the Secret Service. The AG is in charge of the Dept of Justice and he needs to put a few of these miscreants in jail for public uttering of threats on the life of the President. Some people might argue as to the real effectiveness of putting these loud mouth clowns in jail. Well, I can tell anyone of this opinion, that when the Government decides to tie up an individual in legal proceedings, it can take years and much expense to resolve. This rabble rouser certainly has the right to pray for what ever he wishes in private, but he does not have the right to publically announce his prayers or wishes in this regard, thereby urging others by implication to act likewise.
When the AG takes action against this group of preachers of murderous violence against the President, it will send a chill through such miscreants and other like minded individuals thereby putting an immediate halt to their rapid expansion. (A NGO agency that has compiled a tremendous successful record in this regard is the Southern Poverty Law Center in their ongoing battle against racists organizations in America such as the KKK, Neo Nazis, Skinheads, and Christian Identity.) If the AG doees nothing we will soon reach a point where someone will be enticed to initiate a violent act against the President. My question to Eric Holder do we actually have to wait for such a tragic event to occur before you decide to take action?
This "pastor" is saying what most religious right leaders are too smart to say in public. He calls for the death penalty for homosexuals and adulterers and most likely for any other violations of "God's laws" . He gets his ideas straight from the bible and when a fundamentalist evangelist or politician says he wants to rule, I mean govern, by God's laws this is exactly what they mean. People this upfront about what the religious right really wants should be on TV everyday untill America is shocked out of it's " They cant be all bad they are Christians" mentality.
He is an artful demagogue who seems to be well aware of the line between wishing homosexuals and the president to be murdered, and directly calling on anyone to act.
His sister, Raani Starnes, walked the same line last fall when she wrote that it would be "poetic justice" if "some radicals" blew up a highschool with gay-friendly policies.
This is the first I've heard about him having a gun business (he usually takes credit for an alarm business); I guess that would explain the arsenal visible in the last few seconds of this video from his wife's blog. (Check out the original post title in the URL!)
is not only a homosexual act, it's practiced by millions of heterosexual Christians, too. In point of fact there isn't a single thing that gays do sexually that straight Christians don't enthusiastically do.
Christian and closeted gay man.
People who speak these things cannot be called "Christians" at least not in the way that people who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ can, however, these same people are, after all, just following the teachings of the most violent book ever written. The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad. The thing that really pisses me off is the comments of a few of the people here, obvious Obama supporters, who find this talk disgusting and deserving of prosecution; all the while supporting a man who sat for years listening to reverend Wright spew forth his hatred for our country. If it is wrong on one hand it is also wrong on the other. All of you grow up and truly look at the man you elected.
If Rev. Wright, a black man, publically expressed a death wish for President George W. Bush just how long do you think that he would have remained a free man? Federal agents would not only would have put him in jail, but they would have put him under the jail. I suggest that you take a long look at yourself in the mirror....
Quit crying foul when it is your man being attacked, yet remain silent when he does the attacking. I voice the same opinion whoever it is that spews forth this type of ignorant rhetoric. And how typical of the socialist leaning, power hungry, liberal left to make comments without even having the guts to leave a name. But then I supposed that way when you're proven wrong, or blind, you can then claim to have no knowledge.
I'm sorry Kevin, but you are dodging a legitimate questioning of your integrity... You have alleged that Rev. Wright did the same thing. A fellow reader asked you to verify your statement and you wouldn't (couldn't ???) and therefore you lose this exchange.
Calling down God's judgment on our country in a prophetic context is entirely different that what this false minister Anderson is doing. There are ethics to cursing and he is NOT following them... God does not behave in the manner Anderson is alleging that divinity acts; therefore his is bearing a false witness - as well as blaspheming. If he were true to the very principles he espouses, he'd allow himself to be stoned to death... You don't seriously expect that he'd have the integrity to submit to that, now do you?
Kevin. You are confusing Socialism with Communism. You sound like an idiot. Quit babbling and go study. YOu also do not know what Liberal means, so go read that as well. Now;
Rev. Wright was not entirely in the wrong for what he said. Furthermore, I cannot see God "Blessing" this country for its past misdeeds over the last Century. I believe that we have damned ourselves already, so Rev. Wright was only calling it like he saw it. I have to "very marginally" agree with him. But, he did not incite a riot, and did not call for murder.n I re-iterate, His speech/sermon did not incite harm, defamation or murder. The Supreme Court has already ruled in Brandenberg Vs. Ohio 395 U.S. 444 (1969)that inciting harm and lawlessness by speech is illegal and does not fall under the First Amendment protection.
I would have these fans of this sociopath check out preacherette Stevie's video at 17 yo when he's tarted up with a WHAM wannabe highlighted hairstyle.
the feelings he has of hating gays, is self loathing he sees in the MIRROR.
I think not only does this pastor need help and prayers, but also all the other pastors who are supporting and promoting this kind of negative message. Think about how things could be different if everyone took their focus off what they see wrong in people and promote Christ's unconditional love and peace. This preacher is displaying what he hates not what he loves. Unfortunately, he will reap what he sows, multiplied. My prayers are for a change of heart for this preacher and many others out there, my prayer is for the families, the children and the uneducated listeners that love and believe the voices of their pastors. My prayer is also with our President and his family, that he be able to lead and make good decisions in the face of such violent rage and hate. We as a people should come together and pray for our Leaders, and pray God's will be done and that Love and Peace rule this nation and the world.
As this article and the ensuing commentary suggests, we have our own issues with religious fanaticism in the US. And, yes, it's a strength of our country that we have laws protecting the rights of free speech. However, we also have responsibilities as citizens of a democracy to participate in a way that strengthens the union instead of widening the divide.
There are studies that show religious fanaticism grows as people come to believe they have no hope for a good life on earth - they start focusing on the afterlife. Despair is the root of evil. We need to understand why our brothers and sisters have lost hope for this life, and help them see that this life holds infinite promise and possibility if they will just open their hearts.
Believe it or not there are people everywhere with this same view... Some of these folk are teaching your kids in school, some are working on your cars, some are working with the fire dept., police, restaurants you eat in, they built homes that you live in, they even ride the same busses, trains and airplaines you travel in... They're everywhere so keep your eyes open and pay attention to your surroundings ...
This could have been very legit story had the author not discredited himself by using the word "teabagger". I don't believe that anyone that attends the Tea Parties call themselves 'teabaggers'.
Actually, many have embraced the term and it is in common use: http://www.zazzle.com/teabagger+gifts
Isn't hate speech against the law? Inciting others to violence against the law? This poor man is obviously demented and needs help, and others need to be protected from his venom.
Perhaps the good pastor should hook up with Michelle Bachmann. She is starting a good Republican suicide cult.
check:
http://www.flatustheelder.com/wordpress/
I think the guy is too extreme and he might not be stable. I do understand he doesn't like obama and that is understandble, but he is going way to far.
Rapture Forums
Yes, and all because this guy is a racist.
This is the beginning of the economic earthquake for the USA. Troubles bring out extremism. The state of the USA (caused by indifferent citizens) is run by a two party system of the same ends but using different methods. The more the government helps, the worse off life in the USA will be. Unless, we get them all out of our office. Put in right minded people. I think of people who vote democrat or republican like the nut in this article. You who do vote them in follow much,much worse than this guy.
I would like to know how you formed this opinion about the Republican Party and/or the Democratic Party? Do you research topics before you form an opinion based on actual facts? When you write to Religion Dispatches, for instance, are you writing opinions based on facts? You are certainly right that there are unethical people within the government structures, but are you saying that neither party has government representatives who are right-minded?
I think the answer can be found in this guy's opinion that Presdent Obama is worse than the gun nuts who want to kill him. He knows he can't come on a progressive website and convince us Republicans are better, so he wants us to agree all politicians are bad and he wants to see if he can convince any progressives to help vote them all out of office. He didn't need any research to come up with that.
The moral bankruptcy of the Religious Right is evident in their willingness to stomp around, carrying guns with them, as though "might makes right." The reality is that they're just small-minded, parochial people whose deep personal insecurity drives them to latch onto fiery fundamentalist teachings. They listen to furious preachers, arm themselves to the teeth, and rage sanctimoniously about how evil Obama is, in order to feel better about themselves.
In the process they've forgotten the very Jesus Christ whom they claim to follow. They utterly reject his own words, e.g. "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" and "he who lives by the sword will die by the sword." They even reject the life-lesson of self-sacrifice he taught -- not in words but in deeds -- by allowing himself to be taken into custody, tried, and executed. None of that has any meaning to them. They've disposed of the apolitical and nonviolent Jesus of the gospels, and remade him into a vicious, warlike tyrant whose sole interest is political, who demands kingship in every sense of the word, and who has in his service a true army willing to fight, and even kill, for him.
All because they just can't deal with the fact that an African-American Democrat won the election in 2008.
It's pathetic, and juvenile too. These people desperately need to grow up, accept that they lost the election in 2008, and behave like grown-ups ... perhaps for the first time in their lives.
Here's my own blog entry on this pastor and his imprecatory prayers.
Nothing in life is permanent. No news there.
As for what Jesus taught you please see Matthew 26:52 as well as Matthew 22:21, Mark 12:17, and Luke 20:25. If you refuse to obey Jesus' own explicit instructions, then you cannot call yourself a Christian.
Oh, and his name is "Obama." You may not like him, but at least show enough respect to spell his name right. Purposely misspelling his name as an expression of your rage, is a childish thing to do.
Our President deserves the respect and admiration of all Americans for what he is working so hard to do. President Obama came into office to right the wrongs of the past administration, and he is doing that every day. When it was so unpatriotic to be against the Iraq War of choice it should be considered very unpatriotic to start right off lying and hating our fairly elected President.
While I was never a supporter of the Iraq War, and never voted for Bush, I also do not support what obama is trying to do. The kind of country, and world, that obama wants is very different from the one I want.
I'd rather have Obama's world than live in a theocracy.
I know you would. You need not worry. There will not be a theocracy until Jesus returns, and the odds are, you'll be dead by then.
...In addition to the other corrections, the next Presidential election, to which I assume you are referring, is to be held in 2012. Every four years, man. You can't toss him during the Congressionals.
And are you still reading Revelations? Here I was thinking reasonable people read that symbolically and/or allegorically these days...
It's Revelation, without the "s". And I'm not surprised at your thinking.
There are churches like this in more places than you would want to think. In many of them they are told to support republicans only. Democratic presidents will be called the anti-Christ if they are able to be elected in spite of all the determination to keep them from being elected. They will be sure to politicize from the pulpit and tell everyone how to vote. This is a serious problem in America.
In more "churches", so-called, than I would want to think, liberal "pastors", so-called, are telling their congregations to support obama, and the democrats. This is an even more serious problem in America.
The serious problem was pastors not speaking up as we descended into war.
Absolutely.
don't be surprised that if you pray for someone to die and go to hell that when you, yourself, go before Jesus...your prayer might just be answered as He has said..."judge not lest ye be judged"
He is just a lost soul who needs serious mental care. His "church" is not different from a Satanic cult, when you think about it for two minutes. They could spend their time praying for world peace.
I wrote a comment earlier tonight,and I am, again, using part of my comment because I truly am interested in how people form opinions about people, events, political conflicts, etc. So, here goes...
I would like to know how you formed this opinion about the Democratic Party? Do you research topics, before you form an opinion, based on actual facts? When you write to Religion Dispatches, for instance, are you writing opinions based on facts? If not based on facts, do you write your opinions based on the"gut"feelings that you have about a topic?
Tomorrow night I will be speaking to a large group of College students about the difference between Religion and a Relationship with God. A Relationship with God changes our lives, our hearts, motives, and actions. NO ONE with a true relationship with God through the blood of Christ would ever pray that Pres. Obama would die and go to hell. They would recogize their own sin, their own destiny to the fire pit except for the grace of God, and have a desire to love people as He does. Religion turns people off to a true relationship with God. Unfortunately, sadly, tragically, there are people like this pastor turning more people away from God than towards him.
Unfortunately there is no difference between "religion" and "having a relationship with God." Believing in a God ... a prerequisite to having a relationship with him! ... is an inherently-religious notion.
It's nice that you want to sever your belief system from the perceived baggage that goes along with the label of "religion" -- it's a common wish -- but in the end, the very meaning of the word "religion" includes "having a relationship with God."
It cannot be avoided.
Viewing things horizontally, you are correct. A real relationship with the living God through Christ may appear to be just another religion listed in the phone book. But Jesus told the top religious leader in Israel, "Unless one is born again, they cannot SEE the Kingdom of God. When one truly becomes a follower of Christ, they see and act differently because of the life-change Christ truly brings. This is a life long process as all of us are sinners, a work in progress. Both you and I have faults, failings and weaknesses. But by God's grace and power, we can all change. I stand on what I have said above, pure religion is an expression of belief but not necessarily a relationship with God through Christ that transforms a life. I know this must be lived out and seen by others, which is the tragedy of people like the idiot "minister" and others like him that provoked this whole discussion
Forgive the length of the verbiage above...simply put, and I stand on this, a person who know God does not think or act like this pastor.
WOW! Some things never change let us remember that Arizona was the LAST state to legalize the celebration of Dr. King's birthday. I think it is unwise for Americans to think that because President Obama won by such a large margin that we are living in a liberal progressive country. There are many people who are angry because they are poor and lack opportunities and instead of directing their anger towards a capitalistic system that has exploited them they want to direct it towards President Obama, immigrants, minorities or gays. This new white power movement is very illogical how can you be 100% poor life and poor gun??!! As people of faith we need to pray for the presidents protection while shedding light on this violent discourse especially in the church.
http://ecumenicalwomen.org
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