by David Safier
The staged media event in Phoenix during Obama's speech, where Chris Broughton arrived with a rifle slung over his shoulder and was interviewed by someone who helped stage the event, has taken a weird turn, courtesy of Pastor Steven Anderson. It seems Anderson has been praying for Obama to die. Broughton, who joined Anderson's church a few months ago, was there for Anderson's sermon the day before he showed up at the Obama event packing heat.
Broughton's gun was apparently unloaded, and he wasn't anywhere near Obama, so I'm not accusing him of homicidal intent. I'm just pointing out the nature of the beast, this frightening confluence of God, revolutionary fervor and love of firearms.
You can listen to Pastor Anderson's sermons, including his August 16 sermon titled, Why I Hate Barack Obama. No, I'm not satirizing the sermon by creating a title with "Hate" in it. That's the title Anderson chose. Pastor Steven Anderson, servant of a loving God.
Here's an excerpt.
You see, any Christian will tell you that someone who commits murder should get the death penalty. Because that's what it says in Genesis Chapter 9, that's what it says in the Mosaic Law, that's what it teaches us throughout the Bible. 'Who so sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.' 'From the image of God created he Man.'
And when Barack Obama is gonna push his partial birth abortion, his salty saline solution abortion, hey, he deserves to be punished for what he's done.
And more.
Nope. I'm not gonna pray for his good. I'm going to pray that he dies and goes to hell.
It was funny when Dana Carvey as the Church Lady said to a guest, "I'm gonna have to say a little prayer against you." It was funny because it was what so many "good Christians" thought but wouldn't say aloud. Now we have a host of religious leaders who openly pray for the death of the President.
Anderson is not advocating assassination, of course.
"No where in the sermon did I advocate vigilantism," Anderson said today, reached at the church. "It's a spiritual battle."
He continued: "I'd rather have him die of natural causes anyway,
that way he's not some martyr. I'm praying for him to die just so he
gets what he deserves."
I'm glad he makes the distinction. And I suppose he feels certain no one in his congregation will take his words that anyone who violates God's law deserves the death penalty to mean they should be the executioner.
Commenters can tell me what a nice guy Chris Broughton is, and maybe they're right. But I don't know about the guy sitting next to Chris in the pews, or others listening to hate mongers in churches and at rallies around the country.
These people scare the hell out of me.
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David,
So to paraphrase, it’s OK to be racist if you’re black? Is that about right?
Did Rev. Wright pray for the death of a President? I don’t know. Not in public that I’m aware of. However, that’s not what’s at issue. We’re not talking about the Pastors. We’re talking about the people who listen to them.
In this blog post, you are trying to tie Chris B. in with his Pastors views and how that makes Chris a bad person. I want to know why you didn’t do the same with President Obama. His Pastor was at least as controversial, although in a different direction. It bothers you that Chris B. may have sat through a few sermons from Pastor Anderson, yet it doesn’t bother you at all the President Obama and his family attended a church that taught Black Liberation Theology for 20 years.
That’s what I’m referring to. If the sins of the Pastor are the sins of the Parishioner, then President Obama is more guilty than Chris B.
Here’s the link: http://arizona.typepad.com/blog/2009/08/guns-god-and-presidents.html .
As I wrote the post, I thought someone would bring up a Rev. Wright comparison. Here’s a question: Did Wright say anything about praying for the death of the President, or anyone, for that matter? What I remember is his out-of-context statement, “God damn the United States.” Even ripped from its context, that’s a far cry from wishing someone’s death, and far tamer than statements by right wing religious leaders who said God brought hurricanes on Florida and New Orleans as punishment for sinful behavior.
But there’s another side to this. Wright is a left over from the 60s when anger was part of being a black leader of a certain type — those who fell somewhere between King and Malcolm X. Obama says, rightly, I think, that these folks are part of an older generation and need to step to the background and let a new focus take hold. Not that there weren’t inequities then and aren’t inequities now. It’s just time for a new model.
When right wing white leaders adopt similar rhetoric to many black leaders in the 60s, it looks ridiculous. They want to adopt the “oppressed minority” language of the civil rights and Black Power movements, yet their real complaint is that they no longer have what they consider the “Divine Right of the Right” to run things without being questioned. Their “oppression” is in their inability to put others in their place. In other words, their “oppression” is the growing equality in this country, which robs them of their entitlement, which they consider a birthright.
Just out of curiosity, could you link me to the blog post where you talked about President Obama ‘scaring the hell out you’ over his pastor?
Now, I think Pastor Anderson is a little nutty. I think what he said was out of line for a Christian. However, I find it very interesting that the left has latched onto this and is making a big deal out of it, when we were told time and again that it was no big deal when President Obama’s Pastor (Reverend Jeremiah Wright) of 20 years said similar things about white people.
Why the dichotomy?
It is interesting because I have seen this guy before. He drives around internal border patrol checkpoints and makes a point of not allowing them to search him. I think he is actually quite correct in the respect that the policy of the Border Patrol is that they have the right to search people 100 miles from any border or entry point – which means 2/3 of the people in the country are subject to this where they live. This is an egregious violation of our rights. I believe he has actually gotten tazered and abused by the border patrol because of this.
Anyway, not that this has a bearing on the current issue – just some additional observation about Anderson.
This makes me sick to my stomach. sick.