"I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god — whether it's Hindu, Buddha, Allah — that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons," [Pastor] Conrad said.
"And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they're going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day."
Before I get into my thoughts on this, let me just state one fact; Barack Obama has stated that he is a Christian numerous times.
My Take:
Whether you consider him "your kind" of Christian is for you to decide, but nevertheless he is an Institutionalized Christian. But he is African American with a Muslim name. What can he say? He was born that way. I guess that means he can't be President because to the Brainwashed Institutionalized White Christians from these parts, he's the boogie man. I guess they never could fathom that this could happen. So they have to do something. Let's make stuff up about him. We can convince them, after all he's Black and has a Muslim name to boot. Should be easy.
This prayer is sickening. Imagining the thousands there bowing their heads, going along with the prayer and then giving an emphatic Amen after it makes me want to cry.
Whether they like it or not, God doesn't care who the President will be. It all comes from our free will. And whoever told them that God cares, lied to them.
And if God did care, I would sure hope that He would point out their bigoted, divisive, and shameful ways.
What is so ironic about this prayer, is that while he mentions "their God" versus the "Correct God", he himself is not praying to the "Correct God". He's praying to "his God". And "That God" isn't the God spoken about in the Bible.
This gets worse by the day.
6 comments:
I agree.
Botts, I think what this comes down to is the revelation that racism has never truly disappeared in this country...it has simply gone underground.
Once it became "wrong" to be a racist, white people just quit complaining about blacks publicly. But inside, the same resentments remained.
I think a lot of the complaints that whites have against blacks are for similar reasons that institutionalized Christians have against atheists, gays, agnostics, and anyone who isn't in agreement with them. I am going to capitalize this for emphasis: WHEN WE ARE FORCED TO CHANGE OUR PRACTICES IN THE NAME OF FAIRNESS AND DEMOCRACY, IT OFTEN MEANS THAT BAD WILL ACCOMPANY THE GOOD. This means that whenever things get better for someone, it often means it gets worse for someone else. When you level the playing field to bring someone up, it means that someone else has to go down.
For example, desegregation was the right thing to do. Segregation should never have existed. But you cannot deny that while many blacks were better off, that many whites were also much worse off. They saw the values of their houses plummet. They saw their neighborhoods disintegrate. Yes, it was mostly due to their own fault and due to their own prejudice, but it DID happen...and many whites still resent the price they had to pay.
I don't believe in genetic differences, but I think it is foolish to deny that there are in fact cultural differences between blacks and whites in America. Of course it is the white man's fault that many of these cultural differences exist...but after all these generations that is now a moot point. White people no longer care how we arrived at the point we are at...they just want the problem to go away. I genuinely believe that at this point in our history that most whites are willing to forget the past and move on and be accepting...but the sticking point is moving on, and not dwelling on the past. When black leaders call for whites to continue to make restitution for past wrongs, most whites feel that enough is enough.
It is human nature to NOT embrace change...we are happiest when our lives are safely predictable. Change is always accepted slowly...it is how we evolved as a species, by being cautious. When tremendous change is thrust upon us (even when it is fair change) we tend to react with panic...we flee from neighborhoods and try our hardest to shield our families from the unknowns.
Botts, when you see angry people remember that angry people are FRIGHTENED people. These people are angry because they are scared to death. They are scared to embrace diversity, because they are scared their kids will end up on drugs, or gay, or rejecting God if they are exposed to these things. They are scared that this country could end up with bombings in malls and restaurants. Quite frankly, they don't give a rat's ass about ANYONE'S freedom, if they think eliminating those people will make them safer. Yes, they want to return to the Beaver Cleaver world, where one never had to deal with other races or religions encroaching on one's practices. And really, can you blame them? I grew up in that world myself, and frankly it was absolutely wonderful. But as an adult I now know that while I was enjoying my world, millions of others were suffering in theirs. And I can no longer stick my head in the sand, as did my parents, and pretend that other people's woes are no concern of mine. But, there are still lots of people who want to do just that...they want to pretend that the suffering either does not exist or that it is not their concern. They want their happy ostrich lives back, and the people like you and me and Brian and countless others are telling them they can't have it. So we do have to expect a little backlash.
As always, I am rambling all over the place. I wish I had a quick answer as to how to fix everything. In many ways, I believe that your version of Christianity (which I also as the true version) is the answer. For instance, if more supposed Christians realized that they were financially prosperous not because they were being rewarded for their goodness, but because they were being tested to see if they would follow Christ's directions to feed his sheep, I think the country would be a much happier place. Whether you believe that Jesus was God or whether you believe that he was just an awesomely wise rabbi, the results should be the same...you follow his teachings and you are a better person for it.
Kodiak:
"Whether you believe that Jesus was God or whether you believe that he was just an awesomely wise rabbi, the results should be the same...you follow his teachings and you are a better person for it."
10/13/08 1:07 PM
Bravo!!!!
Even if Jesus never existed as the New Testament tells us, his philosophy regarding how people should relate to each other is clearly an excellent set of guideliens for all of us! One does not need to believe in God or in Jesus as His son and Messiah to recognize the wisdom in his teachings. Now, if only many "Christians" could stop letting the later interpretaions of Jesus' message and their preoccupations with the trappings (all man made) of religion, the world would surely be both more receptive to and observant of his core teachings.
The so-called 'left-wing' media is promoting the 'scary-black-dude' notion all the time.
'Cops', "Bad boys, Bad boys, whatcha gonna do when they come for you?"
How many shirtless black would be car thiefs, corner store robbers, drug-dealers and on and on do we have to have injected into our minds before we are suspicious of them all?
Pboy, your's is a good point. Of course the problem is perception, but it goes deeper than that. Almost everyone can point out an incident they have witnessed with a black person under arrest, but how many have witnessed a white person arrested for a white collar crime? Very few, because most white collar criminals are not prosecuted.
I am an accountant. Do you have any idea how many times in my life I have witnessed embezzling or outright theft of property or services? Scores and scores. Do you know how many times I have seen someone arrested? Never. Not once. In fact, they are rarely even fired. One fellow accountant stole an entire computer system and was given a PROMOTION, because he had just completed his MBA at company expense and they didn't want to 'waste their investment.'
Ted Nugent was spouting off on Faux News a few nights ago, bitching about people on assistance "And yet," he said "they still can afford their weaves, they can still afford their bling." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he was complaining about blacks. And yet, I wonder, how many of these people The Nuge actually spoke with...did he see their canceled welfare checks? Does he know for certain they are on assistance? Or is he just assuming?
I think almost all of us who are hard working have witnessed people, both black and white, buying items with food stamps and yet wearing jewelry or chatting on a cell phone. Yes, it is annoying as hell. We want people who are living in poverty to ACT like they are living in poverty, goll dang it. We are righteously indignant when they dare to turn up their noses at our cast-off clothing, as some women were witnessed doing during Katrina. By Gum, they should take our leavings and be GRATEFUL, we say to ourselves.
But, that is not how human nature works. We are thankful for only a moment when people offer us a hand up...beyond that, we become resentful. We resent taking your hand me downs, we resent that you have more than we do. Because to be unendingly grateful we would have to admit, on some level, that you are BETTER than we are. And when you are beaten down, sometimes your pride is all you have left. Maybe you did whatever it took to get that cell phone, because it is the way you prove to yourself that you are NOT a failure. The human mind works in mysterious ways.
I don't think there is any question that welfare comes with a hefty price tag (although not nearly as hefty percentage-wise as most people believe) but lashing out with racism because gas is expensive and your 401k has been gutted and you want to be pissed at SOMEONE is not the way to go.
One of the biggest problems is that the type of people you saw spewing hate at the McCain / Palin rallys know in their hearts that if they want to know who is responsible for the shaky state of their future that they need look no further than their own bathroom mirror. I can't tell you how many times I heard the phrase "My children are my retirement account" when I would counsel people in Georgia to put money away for retirement. It is estimated that 75% of boomers in the south have NO money set aside at all. More and more these folks are fearing for their future. They need a target for their anger, because the one in the mirror is unacceptable.
If you think things are bad now, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Botts, I noticed this story as well, and had the same reaction as you did. Horrible. Pathetic.
These "Christians" in name only are so far off the path that they'll never find their way. As you like to point out, they're on the wide, easy path and not the narrow, razor's edge path that Jesus spoke of. Hell, they're on the OPPOSITE path, leading to the OPPOSITE place, if you take my meaning. (I don't believe in hell, but I can use it as a metaphor)
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