| It is so ironic that also today we learn from The Green Miles over at Blue Virginia here that the Virginia GA Dems are evidently thinking they should tip-toe around in deference to Republicans in the GA. Here we go again!
Meanwhile over on the Republican side, Bill O'Reilly said, "its gonna get nasty. Nancy Pelosi's going to be bobbing up and down in the Boston Harbor." How is this considered acceptable anywhere? This seems like blatant incitement.
Other Republicans are trying to stoke the fury here. This week, Teabaggers threatened to burn effigies of Nancy Pelosi and Tom Perriello. We all know how Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh fulminated and stoked anger and fury day after day since our President was sworn in. Interestingly, even Glenn Beck thought "Bill O" got carried away concerning Pelosi.
Let me be clear, I am not saying all those who call themselves Republicans are doing this. However, thus far, few have condemned this increasingly militant and threatening behavior on the part of Republican extremists, which now even includes TV show hosts, radio hosts and too many in the Republican congressional delegation. Imagine if Democratic Congressional representatives or spokespersons did this during the Bush administration! We know what roll-over Dems look like from 2001-2004. What they did was roll over and give Bush most of what he wanted. They didn't even question what they should have questioned. The few who did were called "unpatriotic." Neighbors, fellow gym members (etc) "ratted" out neighbors to the police if they merely questioned the war. A peace group of senior-aged Quakers was investigated merely because it opposed the war. No one talked like these people are doing today. We may not have been happy with the direction Bush was taking us. WE may have complained about the excesses of that administration. But we wouldn't have thought the thoughts these folks are uttering out loud. But hypocrisy isn't really the point. It is so much more serious than that.
The "Pray for Obama" bumper stickers Rachel Maddow spoke of are very clever (in a vile sort of way) and appear benign to a driver who can't see Psalm 109: 8 in small print. And so they can appear to be calling for folks to pray for Obama. You know, in the arrogant way, people think someone else needs saving (but they don't).
Ironically, they those posting the signs probably think they know more than anyone else about the contents of Verse 8 of Psalm 109. And yet, it is they who seem ignorant of the full text. What is the entire context? Since I have neither of my two Bibles in digital format, I'll rely on an online version, the New International Version (NIV). BTW, Rachel quoted from the King James version.
1 O God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent,
2 for wicked and deceitful men
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3 With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.
6 Appoint [a] an evil man [b] to oppose him;
let an accuser [c] stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.
8 May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven [d] from their ruined homes.
11 May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12 May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;
may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 May their sins always remain before the LORD,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
17 He loved to pronounce a curse-
may it [e] come on him;
he found no pleasure in blessing-
may it be [f] far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied forever around him.
20 May this be the LORD's payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me.
21 But you, O Sovereign LORD,
deal well with me for your name's sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting;
my body is thin and gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God;
save me in accordance with your love.
27 Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, O LORD, have done it.
28 They may curse, but you will bless;
when they attack they will be put to shame,
but your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD;
in the great throng I will praise him.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save his life from those who condemn him.
If you read the full text it changes much.
"for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues."
I am not a theologian. I took eight courses in theology in college. I claim no special expertise in sacred texts. But it seems to me that the appropriation of this Psalm gives new meaning to the taking of a line out of context. Additionally, it is President Obama who is being maligned by "wicked and deceitful men" who've opened their mouths" against him"...And there's this: "With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. " Apparently, those swept up in the use 109:8 have no sense of irony.
Here's a commentary on that.
Whatever their disagreement with our president, those immorally hoping for his demise serve no legitimate religious purpose. Despite the irony I've noted here, the appropriation of religion to do political harm, inflame the lunatic fringe, and even incite violence, is the antithesis of the spirit of most faiths, including my own.
In the column "For God's Sake" in the Washington Post online, Brad Hirschfield asks:
But can anyone really believe that with so much blood spilled by so many faithful, and the world in such dire need of the good deep spiritual connection can provide, that this kind of religious expression is acceptable?
Please say no, and say it loudly. If we don't, the choice will come down to one between a kind of toxic faith, or no faith at all. And heartbreaking as it would be to say 'no' to faith, if those are the choices, my faith demands that I would say 'no'.
Indeed. |
