 |
| Cartoon by Dave Walker - www.weblogcartoons.com |
. .
I first saw this cartoon on La Gringa's Blogicito here . I never thought I would use it. Bloggers sometime have to look for things to blog about. This time one of my friends handed it to me on a silver platter.
I was advised that there is a bumper sticker going around the US saying “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”. That sounds nice, until you read Psalms 109 in its entirety. Then it is not so nice. I am not the only one who thinks so. If it said "Pray for Bush or McCain " I would still be offended. I would not care who was President, this is would still be offensive.
I think this should be conceived as a terrorist threat. Threatening the President is a felony under Federal law. If you get arrested, you can be put in jail without a lawyer; without habeas corpus; with no attorney, and they don't have to tell anyone where you are. Under the Patriot Act, you can be kept indefinitely. I know that everyone thinks that cannot happen, but it could. We gave up most of the protection of Bill of Rights when we let the Patriot Act become law.
First, I recommend reading the whole Psalm. You will see how that seemingly innocuous verse was taken out of context. People should read the whole chapter in the Bible before pulling out one verse that suits their needs. Mine favorite is, when I am in a turmoil, "And it came to pass......". I find that very comforting. The rest of the verse says, "Verse 41 when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary , the ( babe ) leaped in her womb ; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost
Christian Science Monitor says it is sinister here. ABC News says while it is offensive, it is protected speech here. USA Today, in its Faith & Reason column asks, Psalm 109:8 bumper stickers -- a wrong-hearted prayer for President Obama? and then asks, "In that context, are these folks actually urging us to pray for Obama's death?. here
The joke is actually on the people who think this is funny. If you to the beginning of the Psalm, you see that this is David praying to God and asking him to help him with his accusers, probably Saul and his advisers.
Psalms 109:1-3
(1) Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; (2) For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me: They have spoken unto me with a lying tongue. (3)They have compassed me about also with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause.
Sound familiar? How about the accusations that President Obama is a socialist and trying to socialize the government? Not so. He is a Democrat, and he is a liberal. He is a man who was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth with a sliver spoon in his mouth. He knows there are many working poor who do not have basic health insurance because they cannot afford it. How about the accusations that it is his fault that the economy is so bad? Not so. The economy started to bottom out in 2008 before his term. How about the one that he is spending money faster than any president before him? Not so. The fiscal year for the US is from October-September. This is George Bush's budget until September 1, 2010. Then we will have an Obama budget, and he vows to make cuts.
In verse 6-7 David asks God to put an evil man over the accuser and let him be brought to justice.
Verses 8-20 are the scary part, Particularly verses 8-10.
Verse 9-10: (9) Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. (10. Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places.
Verse 9 is definitely a call for assassination. There is no other way for his children to be fatherless and begging in the streets and their mother, his wife a widow. Verses 10 is a curse on his children .
Verses 21-31 are verses of praise (psalms) to God, and asking God's blessing on him (David). I won't bore you with the various commentaries, but you can read them here .
One of my readers sent me these verses from 1 Timothy 2:1-4. According to her comment, Nero was in power when this was written. If St. Timothy could ask his flock to pray for Nero, we can pray for whomever in is the oval office, whether it be Democrat or Republican.
If someone put that on a bumper sticker I would buy one, even if no one here in Honduras could read it.
If you still think that horrible bumper sticker is funny, I will pray for you, that your eyes might be opened.
Tomorrow, I promise I won't quote the Bible so much. I do have something in mind.
This is Miss PittyPat's Truth for today
No comments:
Post a Comment