Obama Needs Prayers Amid Growing Hostility

Obama needs prayers amid growing hostility
by Colbert I. King - Sept. 18, 2009 12:00 AM
The Washington Post

On Aug. 16, pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe told his congregation he prays for the death of President Obama. In his sermon "Why I Hate Barack Obama," Anderson preached: "I'm not going to pray for his good, I'm going to pray he dies and goes to hell."

Anderson is not the only man of the cloth to wish widowhood upon Michelle Obama. In June, the Rev. Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., said he was praying for Obama's death.

Anderson, however, was explicit in his wish: "I'd like him to die of natural causes. I don't want him to be a martyr; we don't need another holiday. I'd like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer."

I pray God will not answer their petitions. While I'm at it, I'm going to send up one for the people of the Secret Service who endeavor to protect the nation's 44th president and his family.

There's something loose in the land, an ugliness and hatred directed toward Barack Obama, the nation's first African-American president, that takes the breath away. The thread of resentment is woven through conservative commentary, right-wing radio and cable TV shows, all the way to Capitol Hill.

Look back to Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last week and South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson's crude "you lie" shout. Witness the boorish behavior in the GOP seats.

They are an inspiration to Obama-haters.

It's not just those calling on God to harm the president who cause worry.

The day after Anderson's "I Hate Barack Obama" sermon, Chris Broughton, a member of Anderson's congregation, appeared at Obama's speech in Arizona with an AR-15 and a pistol - not to harm the president, Broughton said, but to exercise his constitutional right to have weapons.

Then there are walking time bombs.

Richard Poplawski of Pittsburgh hated Jews, feared Obama was scheming to take away his guns, and thought Obama got good press because he was Black. In April, Poplawski fatally shot three police officers and wounded a fourth when they showed up at his house in response to a 911 call. Then there's George Sodini, who went to a Bridgeville, Pa., health club in August and shot and killed three women and wounded nine others. Sodini wrote of Obama: "The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man."

OK, now let me have it: "King, you're generalizing, making a big story out of small, isolated examples. People like Anderson, Broughton and Drake, and shooters Poplawski and Sodini, are kooks, representing no one but themselves. Most people who oppose Obama don't want him dead. They wish him and his family no physical harm." I won't argue with that.

What I will say, however, is that a lot of malicious words have been thrown around about Obama since his election: words that inflame and that inspire the kind of hatred spewed from those Arizona and California pulpits.

Do the Andersons and Drakes have a right to say they hate Obama and want him to die? Yes. Did Poplawski and Sodini have a right to trash the "liberal" press? Yes.

Still, the depth of the hostility is extraordinary.

If the president of the United States ever needed heartfelt prayers, it's now.

Colbert I. King is a Washington Post oped columnist.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2009/09/17/20090917king18.html

PRAYER FOR BARACK OBAMA

Father God, May Your Holy Light shine upon Barack Obama,
May Your Holy Light surround him and may he be protected

Lord Jesus, May Your Presence go ahead of him and come behind him,
May Your Presence kiss his forehead and cushion the soles of his feet.

May the Holy Spirit inspire him and touch his heart,
May his words carry strength, and inspiration and hope,
May he be used by You, Father God, to help us heal our Nation
May his enemies be confounded, their hatred turned back on them, and their wicked schemes be defeated permanently.

May the Shield of Righteousness be in his left hand
May the Sword of Truth be his to wield
May You, Lord Jesus, forgive this country its transgressions as we attempt to begin to change our path from wrong thinking and violence, to justice and peace,

May the Holy Spirit protect Barack Obama from all harm and guide him to victory for the sake of all the people who seek liberty, justice, and prosperity for our nation's citizens and for the citizens of our world.

And So We Pray, In Jesus Name, Amen.

http://www.republicansforobama.org/?q=node/2963