Any time the citizens of a state, particularly a democracy, invoke their faith to pray for the demise of those they oppose politically, we should be concerned. When the call for such prayers becomes one of the most popular Google searches in the country, we should shake, especially those of us who believe in God, prayer and the Bible. Psalm 109, verse 8, went viral this morning in just that way.
Among the world's top Google searches today are phrases that contain the words "Psalms 109 8", and "Psalm 109 8 prayer for Obama". For those of you who may not know that particular verse, it reads "May his days be few, may another take over his position." And before anyone excuses this toxic use of scripture as nothing more than the wish that President Obama not be re-elected to a second term of office, the next verse in the psalm reads, "May his children be orphans and his wife a widow".
In fact, the entire chapter is about the prayed for death of an evil person. Not to mention that anyone who knows enough Bible to have thought about this verse in particular, surely knows the entire chapter and appreciates its message. Pretty scary stuff.
All this is especially upsetting in light of the last weeks' events at Fort Hood. Exactly how long is it going to take us to figure out the danger of linking faith claims and violent fantasies? How is it that the very same people who would have wanted to curtail access, and rightly so, to the hate-filled, violence-inducing, sermons to which Major Hasan listened, do not cry out against these prayers and those praying them?
The issue is not the scripture quoted or the name by which God is called by those doing the praying. The issue is invoking the God in whom any of us believe, to act as executioner of those with whom we disagree.
From Yigal Amir, who murdered Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to Major Hassan who murdered 13 and wounded 30 more, to whomever might step in on behalf of a "Christian nation" to make the words of the Psalm 109 a reality, each was inspired by prayers and scriptural readings not unlike those of the millions who made verse 8 a top Google search this morning. There is no place for such prayers in any of our faiths and until we all stand up and say so, at least a little blood will be on all of our hands.
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Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
"And before anyone excuses this toxic use of scripture as nothing more than the wish that President Obama not be re-elected to a second term of office, the next verse in the psalm reads, "May his children be orphans and his wife a widow".
Which is precisely why the "prayer request", if you will, is not cited as Psalm 109:8-9 or simply Psalm 109 for that matter.
Personally, I think the entire matter is being over analyzed. It's a joke. And as such, the point of the joke is in the eye of the beholder. If you think it funny / humorous, fine. If you think it in poor taste / off color, that's fine too.
This is no worse (in some respects, mild) compared to some of the comments made about President Bush during his tenure in office. It's Obama's turn now.
Man up and take the hit.
Just sayin'.
It sickens me, as a practicing Christian, to see people taking Biblical Scripture, that's supposed to be Holy, out of context with the overall and complete message the author is making. Way too often, people enjoy carefully selecting specific chapters and verses when making statements about their own political and personal beliefs. For example, the talking points of Psalm 109:8 cannot be made without including the verses prior to and following 109:8.
It's obvious these people haven't read the entire Bible, and/or, haven't studied the authors of the various chapters of the Bible, to more understand where they fit into God's plan, who they are addressing, and what they are trying to say. In Psalm 109, this chapter was written by King David. I advise people to read this entire chapter, for David is NOT telling the people of 2009 to pray for harm to come to our president (Obama).
When people use Holy Scripture to condemn another one of God's children, wishing them and/or their family harm, or for any other toxic self-centered destructive reason(s), well quite frankly, they are corrupting the Holy Word of God. That's indeed a sin.
I advise people to stop taking Holy Scripture out of context to substantiate/justify their own personal belief systems, make political statements, and/or for any toxic self-centered reason. This is NOT what the Christian Bible was meant to be used for!
It sickens me, as a practicing Christian, to see people taking Biblical Scripture, that's supposed to be Holy, out of context with the overall and complete message the author is making. Way too often, people enjoy carefully selecting specific chapters and verses when making statements about their own political and personal beliefs. For example, the talking points of Psalm 109:8 cannot be made without including the verses prior to and following 109:8.
It's obvious these people haven't read the entire Bible, and/or, haven't studied the authors of the various chapters of the Bible, to more understand where they fit into God's plan, who they are addressing, and what they are trying to say. In Psalm 109, this chapter was written by King David. I advise people to read this entire chapter, for David is NOT telling the people of 2009 to pray for harm to come to our president (Obama).
When people use Holy Scripture to condemn another one of God's children, wishing them and/or their family harm, or for any other toxic self-centered destructive reason(s), well quite frankly, they are corrupting the Holy Word of God. That's indeed a sin.
I advise people to stop taking Holy Scripture out of context to substantiate/justify their own personal belief systems, make political statements, and/or for any toxic self-centered reason. This is NOT what the Christian Bible was meant to be used for!
No matter how someone interprets Psalms; where was the outcry from people making movies that fantasized the asassination of President Bush? If you want runaway Socialism...move to Argentina or Cuba.
Oi! Mike M.. the Hebrew scriptures are not "the xian bible". They are our (Jews) patrimony, period. What the founders of your multifarious factions stole/appropriated is of little moment. Don't carry on the habit of the roman church & try to lay claim to everything in sight.
Reb Hirschfield, This Obama is an evil man. There is no averah in a Pulsa D'nurah against such a beast.
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