Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8

Oh, isn’t that nice? Christians are promoting a prayer on behalf of our President. It’s been printed on t-shirts, bumper stickers and even teddy bears. Conservative Christians are forwarding it via email and twittering the prayer with a wink and nod to their fellow right-wingers. It may seem innocuous enough on the surface, but a quick look at the Bible or a Google search will have any rational person thinking otherwise.

According to the King Jimmy version of the Bible, Psalm 109:8 reads as follows: Let his days be few: and let another take his office. Hmmm. Not supportive of the President, but no so bad really. This is America after all and it’s a wonderful thing to live in a country where you can freely rip on the President with no fear of the secret police coming for you at night. But wait, there’s more. The verse directly following (Psalm 109:9) reads: Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Yeah, go back and read that again. They are printing a reference to this Bible verse on teddy bears. Teddy bears are toys. Children play with toys. I hate to speak in such short sentences but I want those who thought this was a good idea to be able to understand me. It was a really, REALLY bad idea, and here is why.

The tongue in check reference to basically killing Barack Obama isn’t cute and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is an historic thing that we’ve seen happen; our first African American President is in office. Let’s take a quick trip back in time. August 4, 1964 the bodies of three civil-rights workers - two white, one black - are found in an earthen dam in Mississippi. They were killed by the Ku Klux Klan because they were out after dark and had the nerve to talk about racial equality. On April 4, 1968 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He of course had a dream with which we are all familiar. President Obama’s election to office was part of that dream coming true. But everything isn’t all better. Racism still exists like a festering sore. While it has healed up some over the past 40 years, it’s there just under the surface. Racism has gone underground so to speak. But the emergence of catchy little phrases like the “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8” remind us where we can still find it if we look. It might seem hard to believe at first, but church is apparently a good place to start the search.

For a long time I’ve held the belief that if I’m respectful and I keep my opinions about religion to myself, others will do the same. For most Christians god is an important part of their life, and they too are respectful of others’ beliefs and don’t cram it down the throats of the people around them. This kind of decorum, an unspoken and diplomatic don’t ask, don’t tell policy serves a lot of Americans well, especially at work and school. But I can’t do it anymore. And neither should any of you. This “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8” has derailed the etiquette train and if I could find a rooftop to yell this from, I would.

You see, I’m an atheist. I have a bachelor’s degree in religion which is pretty confusing for most people. At first they think it means I must have a faith commitment whether it be Christian or otherwise. But ultimately it tends to keep folks guessing. If I raise holy hell (no pun intended) about just how wrong it is to pray for the death of another human being, I appear to be just a disgruntled atheist looking for reasons to point out stupid Christians. For those who know me personally, I don’t do that. And the average Christian isn’t stupid. Atheist, Christian, Islamic . . . who cares? Most Americans are just Americans. We get up, go to work, send our kids to school, pay our bills, watch some TV and do it all over again the next day. The people I’m concerned with here are the fringe of the Christian faith – the lunatic fringe to be exact.

The super right-wing conservatives who spew this kind of dangerous rhetoric are reaching those who will act on it. The power of suggestion is potent when you’ve got god backing you up. The murder of Dr. Tiller while he was in church of all places is a prime example that this is no joke. Dr. Tiller performed abortions and somewhere, somehow a god-fearing Christian got it in his head that it was okay to walk into a church and gun him down. As it was pointed out to me today by another blogger, Obama supports the right for women to have abortions. That just adds another layer to this sickening turn of events. Step right up young right-wing Christian conservative. You’ve lost your way, but we’ll help give you purpose again. Spin the wheel of probable cause, any reason will do. You’ll be hero to us and in the eyes of god too.

So to the rest of you sane, rational Christians out there – are you going to let this happen? This Psalm has nothing to do with our President. It’s a prayer of deliverance from personal enemies. I don’t know Barack Obama personally, do you? And the Psalmist has been falsely accused and is issuing a counter curse against his accuser. Gee, that doesn’t sound altogether Christian now does it? Maybe they should get some quotes famous voodoo priestess Marie LaVeau – now she could issue a counter curse! The point is that we can’t let this spread. Put a stopper in it now! If it’s forwarded to you by a well meaning friend, tell ‘em why it’s wrong. Or just delete it and send ‘em my way.

The bottom line is this. Thou shall not kill trumps an obscure Psalm. Praying for the death of anyone is wrong. And we all have to be careful what we say and promote. You just never know who is going to take you seriously.