At my rather advanced age, I've heard a lot of right-wing hate speech -- so much that most of it doesn't shock me anymore. But I have to admit that it still surprises me when I hear it from an ordained christian minister. Consider the case of Wiley Drake.Mr. Drake is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and currently serves as the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, California. He is also a past officer of the Southern Baptist Convention, having served for a year as second vice-president of the SBC.
So this is no outlaw preacher or self-appointed religious nutjob like Fred Phelps. Drake is a respected member of the Southern Baptist community. That makes his statements on the Alan Colmes radio show all the more shocking.
After telling Colmes he had prayed for the death of Dr. Tiller in Wichita, Colmes asked Drake if he had prayed for anyone else's death. Drake answered, "The usurper that is in the White House is one, B. Hussein Obama."
To make sure he heard him right, Colmes asked, "So you're praying for the death of the president of the United States?" Drake answered, "Yes."
Colmes then asked if he was afraid he might be put on a Secret Service or FBI watch list, and Drake replied, "What I am doing is repeating what God is saying, and if that puts me on somebody's list, then I'll just have to be on their list."
Colmes asked once more, "You would like for the president of the United States to die?"
Drake answered, "If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death, that's correct."
That doesn't sound very christian to me. Even worse is that he puts his own hatred back on his God. He says he is just doing what God told him to do. I have to wonder, is God unhappy because Barack Obama is a Democrat, or because he is African-American?
The truth is that the Obama presidency is not anti-Biblical, and if there is a God, I doubt he cares who is the President of the United States (or any other country). This sick man is not praying for Obama's death because of any christian principles or beliefs. He is just acting on the disappointments and insecurities contained in his own tiny black heart.
What do you think? Is this man really a christian?
"... if there is a God, I doubt he cares who is the President of the United States (or any other country)."
ReplyDeleteAs the resident Southern Baptist commenter on this blog, I have to take exception to that. Romans 13:1 states: "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." [Emphasis addad]
That being said, the above-referenced verse, and the following one, support your opinion that "[t]his sick man is not praying for Obama's death because of any christian principles or beliefs."
"Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." (Romans 13:2).
Back on May 31st of this year, my pastor gave a sermon excoriating anyone in the congregation who disrespects President Obama, citing not only the verses above, but also 1 Peter 2:17 ("Show proper respect to everyone, love your fellow believers, fear God, honor the emperor [or, in our case, president].") Disagreeing with the President is one thing; disrespecting him (or heaven help us, calling for his death) is another matter altogether.
For those who are really curious, here's a link to the Sermon Audio (you'll need to scroll down to May 31, 2009). He starts talking about President Obama around the 5-minute mark.