Politics of Christian hate: 'Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8'

[Oliver]

Quote:

There’s a new slogan making its way onto car bumpers and across the Internet. It reads simply: “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”

A nice sentiment? Maybe not...


The psalm reads:
“Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
“Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”

[full source]

I have no idea how viral that slogan/bumper-sticker is, but you Christians should be ashamed of yourself.

[A.A.Alfie]

I'm curious. How do you know they are Christians?


Additionally, it seems you have put up a false argument; it is 109.8 only that is referred to in the 'bumpers' etc and not 109.9

109.8 “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” Is this disgusting? This is all they are saying and not

109.9 “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.” This sure is..

[paiute]

Originally Posted by Oliver

I have no idea how viral that slogan/bumper-sticker is, but you Christians should be ashamed of yourself.

Conservative tears make Baby Jesus laugh.

[P.J. Denyer]

It is pretty clear in context what 'Let his days be few' means. Okay, you may be charitable and say that many of those with the bumper sticker may be ignorant of the context and think it refers to 'term in office', but only if they bought the sticker without looking up the quotation and really don't understand the language of the bible. Such a get out shouldn't be avaliable to the originators.

All in all it strikes me as a petty bit of nastyness.

[Mr Clingford]

Some conservative American Xtians should be ashamed if they are suggesting the following verse.

[DJW]

I find it difficult to get worked up about a bumper sticker.

[Darth Rotor]

Originally Posted by Oliver

I have no idea how viral that slogan/bumper-sticker is, but you Christians should be ashamed of yourself.

Only if you put that phrasing on your bumper sticker, in that context, should the issue of being a bit red faced come up. Obama is a self-identified Christian.

Your ploy, on the other hand, in asserting collective guilt, is an echo of Hitler's collective guilt accusation for all Jews.

Nice play, Oliver.

[Hux]

When you view some of the venom enclosed on the placards by the Teabaggers at the rallies, it palls this bumpersticker into insignificance.

They equate Obama with Hitler amongst many other offensive slogans. What is it with these people? I thought, perhaps wrongly, that Americans, in general, do not want their Presidents to fail? This is especially baffling since you just suffered eight years of the most stupid twat on the planet.

But for anyone, by extension, to wish these specific things onto their Chief Executive is frankly appalling. Can the sensible, decent element amongst you here tell me if there is a suspicion of racism involved in these unprecedented attacks on your President?

[Pure_Argent]

Originally Posted by Hux

When you view some of the venom enclosed on the placards by the Teabaggers at the rallies, it palls this bumpersticker into insignificance.

They equate Obama with Hitler amongst many other offensive slogans. What is it with these people? I thought, perhaps wrongly, that Americans, in general, do not want their Presidents to fail? This is especially baffling since you just suffered eight years of the most stupid twat on the planet.

But for anyone, by extension, to wish these specific things onto their Chief Executive is frankly appalling. Can the sensible, decent element amongst you here tell me if there is a suspicion of racism involved in these unprecedented attacks on your President?

Yes, there very much is. There is also quite a bit of Republican resentment - the GOP doesn't like many of Obama's changes.

[Hux]

As an outsider I can see that. Is the GOP the natural home of racism?

[Mr Clingford]

I'm not so sure it is racism but maybe more the fact that Hussein Obama wishes to murder babies and doesn't wish to execute teh sodomites.

[Hux]

I was truly amazed by some of the invective posed on those posters at the tea Parties. I trust these are very marginal people; Id hate to think that was the majority view of the GOP.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Hux

They equate Obama with Hitler amongst many other offensive slogans. What is it with these people? I thought, perhaps wrongly, that Americans, in general, do not want their Presidents to fail? This is especially baffling since you just suffered eight years of the most stupid twat on the planet.

"Pray for Bush: Ecclesiastes 10:3"

[Darth Rotor]

Originally Posted by Oliver

"Pray for Bush: Ecclesiastes 10:3"

Praying for bush is the commong hobby of teenaged boys.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Hux

As an outsider I can see that. Is the GOP the natural home of racism?

Well, from a historical point of view, conservatism tends to be just that. Yes.

[Darth Rotor]

Originally Posted by Hux

When you view some of the venom enclosed on the placards by the Teabaggers at the rallies, it palls this bumpersticker into insignificance.

Yep.

Quote:

This is especially baffling since you just suffered eight years of the most stupid twat on the planet.

Mugabe was not our president.

Quote:

But for anyone, by extension, to wish these specific things onto their Chief Executive is frankly appalling. Can the sensible, decent element amongst you here tell me if there is a suspicion of racism involved in these unprecedented attacks on your President?

You have already made your conclusion, based on your question.

Clever? No.

Unprecedented?

You know jack **** about American political history. I invite you to take a look at the vitriol and rhetoric of the first twenty years of our republic. The teaparty crowd are pikers.

DR

Do not circumvent the autocensor.

Posted By:LibraryLady

[Hux]

Originally Posted by Darth Rotor

Praying for bush is the commong hobby of teenaged boys.

Just teenagers?

Dont get further up yourself. I asked a simple question based upon an outsiders curiosity. Since you havent had a coloured President before, Id say the question of racism against the President is unprecedented. Unless you can take the time to advise me otherwise.

[slingblade]

Humanity never seems to get far from the playground. It never fails to amaze me.

[Magyar]

Originally Posted by Hux

As an outsider I can see that. Is the GOP the natural home of racism?

I would never suggest that it was an exclusive home, but yes, by every measure the GOP is the natural home of American racism, sexism and bigotry in general.

[Hux]

Quote:

the GOP is the natural home of American racism, sexism and bigotry in general.

That's bad enough. I couldnt imagine it was exclusive - at least I would hope not.

I was appalled by some of the overt hatred displayed on those placards. Has any president been equated with Nazis? Some of it was just downright lies - much like the assumptions republicans choose to make about the Uk's N.H.S. What percentage of the teabaggers do you reckon these people represent? I hope it is only a few?

[Magyar]

Originally Posted by Darth Rotor

You know jack sheet about American political history. I invite you to take a look at the vitriol and rhetoric of the first twenty years of our republic. The tea party crowd are pikers.

DR

I do have to agree with this! If you look at political rivalries like Hamilton and Burr or the stuff that went on with Lincoln the teabaggers are not that far off.

What I do have to point out is that I am not aware of such an open and sometimes blatant and sometimes veiled - as in this bumper sticker which omitted listing 109:9, IMHO, only because they were too cowardly to come out and say it, - suggestions for killing/assassinating the president.

Along with the flat out statement from Limbaugh that I think represents a large part of the Teabaggers if not most of the conservative end of the spectrum in outright stating that they want Obama to fail - AT ALL COST to the county.

[Mister Agenda]

Originally Posted by Hux

When you view some of the venom enclosed on the placards by the Teabaggers at the rallies, it palls this bumpersticker into insignificance.

They equate Obama with Hitler amongst many other offensive slogans. What is it with these people? I thought, perhaps wrongly, that Americans, in general, do not want their Presidents to fail? This is especially baffling since you just suffered eight years of the most stupid twat on the planet.

But for anyone, by extension, to wish these specific things onto their Chief Executive is frankly appalling. Can the sensible, decent element amongst you here tell me if there is a suspicion of racism involved in these unprecedented attacks on your President?

You can always generate a suspicion of racism. Certainly there's a racist element happy to show up at a protest rally against Obama's policies.

As far as being unprecedented, maybe the size of the rallies is unprecedented. The rhetoric is practically traditiional. I suspect if you google 'george bush chimp' or 'george bush hitler', you will find similar examples of vitriol.

I don't care for the hatred we frequently show our presidents, they're just men, imperfectly stumbling along like the rest of us.

[Hux]

Thank you for that. I had no idea Bush had been equated to Hitler. But of course it would not explain the racism towards Obama. I am under no illusion that the American people for the most part want Obama to succeed, for if a President 'succeeds' so does the country. But the hatred on those posters was shocking.

[Mister Agenda]

Originally Posted by Oliver

Well, from a historical point of view, conservatism tends to be just that. Yes.

From a historic perspective the Democrat party was the home of racism, while the Republican party support rights for African Americans. Even in the sixties, a higher percentage of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act than did Democrats, the bill wouldn't have passed without Republican support.

To its credit, the Democrat party changed direction and to its shame the Republican party accepted disaffected Democrat racist congressmen in order to get more Repbublican bodies in Congress. It's interesting to note that it's the Democrats who still have a former KKK member in office.

I can remember when it wasn't clear which party was the conservative one.

[Madalch]

Originally Posted by Hux

Thank you for that. I had no idea Bush had been equated to Hitler.

There was a Ted Rall cartoon decrying the comparisons between Bush and Hitler. He then went on to point out that Hitler actually won his election, was literate enough to write a book, and invested heavily in infrastructure instead of just war preparations.

[Hux]

So was the teabagger parties largely Republican/ conservative or were there large bodies of democrats there?

I can see it from the point of view of your media. It would appear that Democrats want Health care review and all the rest pay lip service to it but want to leave well alone. So it is characterised as Obamas laws. Is this correct?

[Madalch]

Originally Posted by Mister Agenda

From a historic perspective the Democrat party was the home of racism, while the Republican party support rights for African Americans. Even in the sixties, a higher percentage of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act than did Democrats, the bill wouldn't have passed without Republican support.

This is easily explained by the fact that Lincoln was a Republican, so those people in the south who regretted the outcome of the Civil War would naturally form the Democrats in that part of the country.

[Hux]

Has any President been subjected to the hatred of that particular bumpersticker?

[Shalamar]

Throw it back at them:

Pray for Republicans
Pslam 109:8

[bokonon]

I saw one this morning, not especially hateful, but still managing to mingle politics and religion. I "know" it came from a Christian because he also had a fish sticker on his tailgate.

American flag waving on the left side. On the right side

I put my hope in God
Not in a man

[FreshHat]

Pray For Obama?

I Pray For Mojo.

[Elizabeth I]

Originally Posted by Hux

I was truly amazed by some of the invective posed on those posters at the tea Parties. I trust these are very marginal people; Id hate to think that was the majority view of the GOP.

They are very marginal. The trouble is that there are a number of "commentators" - Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, et al. - who are more than willing to take advantage of those extreme opinions and demagogue that sector of the population, raising the frequency, volume and shrillness of their outbursts.

I will not say that Limbaugh, Coulter, Beck, Hannity and the rest are conservatives because in my opinion they have highjacked the conservative label as surely as the fundamentalists have highjacked Christianity and Islam. A lot of us who used to call ourselves conservatives have simply stopped self-describing that way because of them and their works. And they're a BIG reason why moderate Republicans are deserting the party in droves. In fact, I believe that they, along with Sarah Palin, bear a lot of the responsibility for John McCain's defeat in 2008.

[Mister Agenda]

Originally Posted by Madalch

This is easily explained by the fact that Lincoln was a Republican, so those people in the south who regretted the outcome of the Civil War would naturally form the Democrats in that part of the country.

I'm sure the majority of Democrats who were hard-core racists were Southern Democrats.

Republicans also pushed for voting rights for African Americans and attempted the repeal of Jim Crow segregation laws. Interestingly, despite this, a majority of African American voters joined the Democrat party while it was still strongly racist, at least from the Southern contingent...presumably due to Democrat support of unions at the time.

[Mister Agenda]

Originally Posted by Hux

Has any President been subjected to the hatred of that particular bumpersticker?

I don't think so, you would probably have to be a bumper sticker historian to know for sure, but this is the first I ever heard of it. One wonders if the next verse is meant to be implied.

My family runs Pentecostal. There is a contingent that considers Obama the herald of the antichrist, if not the antichrist himself, so I can't be surprised by bumper stickers like this. Similar was said about Kissinger and Hitler, which seems rather unfair to Kissinger. These people are always looking for signe of the apocalypse and signs of the antichrist, but I think their opinion in this case has more to do with Obama's position on abortion than on his skin color.

If Colin Powell or Condaleeza Rice were president, the Right would be fawning over them and declaring any opposition to be racism.

[wolfgirl]

I saw a guy on TV a couple of nights ago that used to be heavily involved in the xian evangelical movement but has gotten better. His take on this particular phrase (they showed it on T-shirts, hats, etc., not just bumper stickers) is "code" to a certain brand of fire-breathing xians. He calls it "trawling for assassins," meaning they put out something like this that might appeal to someone on the far fringe and just crazy enough to think that this gives them some sort of justification for violence. Then when that crazy someone does something - well - crazy, they can stand back with their hands up and say, "Well, we never told anyone to do anything like that!"

Much like the anti-abortionists who voice all the hateful rhetoric in the world, then say they had nothing to do with it when somebody takes their point a little too far and shoots an abortion doctor.

He seemed to think that this sort of thing is going in a very dangerous direction.

[Darth Rotor]

Originally Posted by Hux

Just teenagers?

Dont get further up yourself. I asked a simple question based upon an outsiders curiosity. Since you havent had a coloured President before, Id say the question of racism against the President is unprecedented. Unless you can take the time to advise me otherwise.

Coloured isn't the issue, unless you choose to make it so.

[The Fallen Serpent]

Originally Posted by Mister Agenda

...presumably due to Democrat support of unions at the time.

This actually makes a lot of sense to me. Labor rights may be a more practical immediate concern then segregation and voting rights. Presumably the African-Americans were voting for Democrats once the voting issue was no longer an issue as well. If Democrats were at the time supporting taking voting away from African Americans that would be a different tune. Also there is a matter of how it is framed. It is possible to support someone you may disagree with or even revile on a personal level if it also means supporting an overall policy that you think is more beneficial. I vote Democrat more often then I vote for anything else but I do so as a matter of compromise not because I believe everything they support is the correct action. Otherwise I would never vote because I do not believe any political party or person will be correct all the time.

[The Fallen Serpent]

Originally Posted by Mister Agenda

If Colin Powell or Condaleeza Rice were president, the Right would be fawning over them and declaring any opposition to be racism.

I highly doubt either of them would make significant progress for a Republican presidential nomination as the party currently stands. Not for their skin color but for certain views they hold. Condaleeza Rice at the least has been heavily denounced for her Pro-Choice views. Racial prejudice is a difficulty but obviously not an insurmountable one for national public office. Claiming that racism does not account for any of the current vitriol is dishonest at best, but for the most part I do not think racism is the primary source. In my opinion it appears to be more sour grapes and lack of leadership. People can get caught up in doomsaying and a certain amount of anti-intellectualism, paranoia and some false premises about liberalism and socialism has mobilized a very... ignorant subsection of the conservative base. Certain individuals in leadership positions, both media and political, have taken advantage of this and appear to think they can use it to erode the current Democrat upswing in power and influence. This of course heightens the problems. Not that I agree with him on many counts, and not even getting into certain claims he holds too, if more conservatives followed the likes of Ben Stein I think the Health Care and taxation debates woud be quite different.

Still, Obama has brought some of the closet racists out of the woodworks. On both sides of the political aisle. They try to disguise their racism in the cloak of legitimate criticism and it makes it difficult to call foul on these people without appearing to denounce all criticism as rascist. I agree, this would happen with a Republican president as well.

[Darth Rotor]

Originally Posted by The Fallen Serpent

Claiming that racism does not account for any of the current vitriol is dishonest at best, but for the most part I do not think racism is the primary source. In my opinion it appears to be more sour grapes and lack of leadership.

Hux, please take note.

DR

[Mister Agenda]

What Fallen Serpent said. A good analysis, I think.