Theocrats to Pray for McCain's Death
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 11:48:03 AM EST
The more theocratic elements of the Religious Right have a disturbing habit, (more like a practice) of invoking "imprecatory prayer" -- a call for God to literally pour his wrath down on those they consider to be his enemies. Last year, for example, Rev. Wiley Drake, then a Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention made news when he called on his followers to pray for God to smite members of the staff of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. (Drake was angry that the organization had reported Drake to the IRS for endorsing Mike Huckabee on church stationary, among other apparent abuses of his church's 501(c))(3) tax-exemption.)

The most recent target of theoractic imprecations is none other than Republican presidential candidate John McCain. They hope that an act of God will make Sarah Palin president.

But before we get to McCain, let's get a little background: In the summer of 2004, Townhall columnist and radio talk show host Doug Giles declared it is time to call the wrath of God down on the enemies of Christianity, namely Islam.

Radical Islam is incorrigible, period. So face it and embrace it. We are not going to convert or appease these cats. We have nothing they want. There is nothing to negotiate. They want us exterminated. Capisce?

That said, what do we, Christians in particular, do when faced with an implacable radical enemy? Just sit around sing "Kum Ba Yah" and hope these bad guys will leave us alone? That's what a lot of five-watt light bulb, spiritually neutered believers are doing. Just sittin' around hopin' and wishin' or worse yet, ignoring the viable millennial threat of militant Islam. I, for one, will not take a passive stance against this aggressive enemy. You cannot be lame and win this game with these guys. So, as a Christian, I suggest the following:

After a short, brutal, list he launches into the main point:

Five: As people of faith, dust off and use what's afforded to the believer within the Old and New Testaments, namely the imprecatory prayers.

What is an imprecatory prayer?

It is a prayer asking God to crush a clear enemy of His, an enemy which is an aggressive adversary of freedom and peace loving people.

Well, that is quite a standard, and one that is arguably prone to abuse. That said, at least two people have written in recent days that hope that McCain/Palin are elected so that they can pray for God to crush John McCain and to elevate Sarah Palin to her rendevous with destiny.

Antiabortion militant and all-round theocratic activist Jay Rogers of Florida, whose blog is called The Forerunner, writes:  

Pray for John McCain's salvation and speedy death. (Google The Forerunner's articles on Imprecatory Prayer if you think this is harsh.)

And then there is this guy, a self-described Christian Reconstructionist whose blog handle is Ixion, and is apparently from Tennessee:

McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, suddenly made me want to vote for him, as long as the LORD smites him while he's in office. She's consistently conservative on all the issues, and if she's good enough for The Forerunner, she's good enough for me. The Forerunner agrees with me that McCain must be smitten, as well, so I'm obviously not alone in my viewpoints.

After a long response to a well-researched Daily Kos diary by Dogemperor, discussing Palin's religious history and raises some important concerns, Ixion comes back around to his main point.

May the LORD cause McCain/Palin to win the White House in 2008, and then smite the godless McCain in favor of Palin. Amen.

He then concludes his post about Palin in a most unusual fashion:

Anyone that can earn the approval of Phyllis Schlafly and the Texas GOP (the platform of which can be found HERE) is a winner in my book. Anyone that can win the support of Focus on the Family and Concerned Women of America is a winner in my book. Anyone that can earn the wrath of Christian hating Frederick Clarkson is not only a winner in my book, but deserves to be put into a heavenly hall of fame. Finally, anyone that makes the Kostards piss their pants is a winner in my book.

Anyway, the definition of God's enemies, as we have seen here, can be highly subjective. To Wiley Drake, it is staffers at Americans United; to Doug Giles, it is all of Isalm. To Jay Rogers and Ixion, it is the "godless" John McCain. From this sampling, it is probably fair to assume that God may have a lot of incoming. But what if God is not impressed? What will these men do then?




Display:
What worries me is, what if militant Christians are not impressed with the imprecatory prayer results? If Obama/Biden are elected, I worry about the reaction of many of these wingnuts.

by trog69 on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 12:18:35 PM EST

Stuart Shepard prayed for a drenching rain to prevent Barack Obama from giving his acceptance speech. What he got instead was a hurricane that has cut into the GOP convention. Sometimes, you don't get what you pray for, and it may rebound on you.

by khughes1963 on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 12:48:20 PM EST

isn't Schlafly somewhat less approving of Palin since she canceled an appearance at a recent whacko religious pro-life event?

by pattyp on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 01:59:11 PM EST
got a link?

by Frederick Clarkson on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 02:00:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/09/schlafly-chides.h tml

Although more accurately, Schlafly is really annoyed with the McCain campaign, not Palin so much. So maybe it doesn't really count.

by pattyp on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 02:09:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I wish I knew half as much as people give me credit for;-)  

Anyway, yeah, the McCain campaign has largely kept her away from the press. I guess since they didn't adequately vet her, they have to at least see that she is well-briefed -- even if that means putting Schlafly's nose a little out of joint.

by Frederick Clarkson on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 02:36:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

more than I do about the political side of religion. :-)

On a related note, am I the only one who subconsciously wants to spell/say "Chafely" in place of "Schlafly"?

by pattyp on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 04:04:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]






The most extreme elements of the religious right are not happy with McCain as their standard bearer. Many were disappointed by Huckabee's rise and fall. Now they see another chance to put one of their own in office with Palin. We can probably expect to see more of this kind of imprecatory prayer (literally calling on God to damn someone). The Secret Service should keep an eye on this and make sure they limit there actions to prayer. After all, many of these same people come from the wing of the anti-abortion movement that cheers on doctor killers.

by John McKay on Wed Sep 03, 2008 at 04:08:58 PM EST

Palin running the country-what a joke that would be. It wouldn't take long for people to realize they were stuck with a President who makes George W. Bush look like an expert. voip Perhaps a fiasco of that magnitude would push the U.S. into adopting something akin to the vote of no confidence that many parlimentarian democracies have. We could sure use it. virtual private server

by alexdenipaul on Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 01:57:30 PM EST


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