Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Fox News]

A Phoenix-area pastor has started to draw protesters to his congregation after he delivered a sermon titled, “Why I Hate Barack Obama,” and told his parishioners that he prays for President Obama’s death.

Pastor Steven Anderson stood by his sermon in an interview with MyFOXPhoenix, which reports that the pastor continues to encourage his parishioners to join him in praying for the president’s death.

“I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today,” he told MyFOXPhoenix on Sunday. He called his message “spiritual warfare” and said he does not condone killing.

Read more here.

[From me]

This is the same guy who got tased on purpose to say he was persecuted.

My Bible says this in I Timothy 2:1-2

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

I see no where that we are to pray for a death of another. Christians like this make it hard to share our faith because it makes us all seem unreasonable. I will pray even harder for President Obama. I do not agree with most of his policies but he needs my prayers for wisdom and strength not that he should die.

What do you think?

[The Independent Alligator]

About 125 people of diverse religions, ages and races gathered in front of the Dove World Outreach Center Wednesday evening for a prayer vigil in response to a sign recently posted by the center.

The sign reads “Islam is of the Devil” and was placed Sunday in the church’s front lawn. It was vandalized and torn down that evening but was re-erected on Monday, said Terry Jones, the pastor at the church.

Nicolette Guerrero, a UF sophomore who was present at the vigil, said she came to send a message to the church that posted the sign.

“If we keep going on with this, maybe they won’t post another one,” Guerrero said.

Jones said that the church, located at 5805 NW 37th St., does not plan on taking down the sign, and that more messages will be displayed in the future.

“We think we are losing our heritage as a Christian nation,” Jones said as one of the reasons the church put up the sign.

Jones said Islam’s growing popularity in the United States needs to be addressed because Christians are not standing up for what they believe in.

“To be a Christian, you would have to agree with that sign,” Jones said.

He said the sign is not meant to attack individuals but to attack the religion of Islam because it is oppressive and violent.

Read more here.

[From me]

What purpose does the sign serve? Do they really think Jesus would want that sign posted? Why not build relationships with Muslims with the hope of sharing Jesus with them. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and if we can be friends with them we might help them see that he is the Messiah. But if we make them angry before we even become their friends, how is that going to lead them to Jesus?

What do you think?

[Christian Post]

Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress on Thursday to expand federal protections to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals, a move conservatives say would criminalize those who simply speak against homosexuality. Addressing the Senate Judiciary Committee, Holder argued for the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, saying “the time is now” to protect communities from violence based on bigotry and prejudice.

Named after a gay man killed in 1998, the bill would add violence against individuals based on sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability to the list of federal hate crimes.

Opponents of the bill say expanding the federal hate crime law is unnecessary considering state and local governments already prosecute violent crimes. But Holder argued that there are instances where the federal government needs to come in.

He also insisted that the bill would be used only to prosecute violent acts and not speech.

“It is the person who commits the actual act of violence, who would be subject to this legislation, not the person who is simply expressing an opinion,” he said, responding to concerns from clergy and other religious leaders who say they could face prosecution just for expressing their religious views on homosexuality because their teachings could be blamed for inciting violence.

Holder’s assertion, however, does not convince Christians that the bill will not lead to an abridgment of free speech.

Dr. Robert A. J. Gagnon, associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, points out that the explicit mention of “the free speech or free exercise clauses of, the First Amendment” was removed from the version that was passed by the House in April.

“There is nothing in this bill that explicitly prevents any homosexualist-activist judge, of which there are many, from ruling that calling homosexual acts a grave ‘abomination’ by appeal to Levitical prohibitions constitutes an inducement to violence,” Gagnon states in an article series arguing against the hate crimes legislation.

The Pittsburgh Seminary professor views the bill as “the Trojan horse of an aggressive gay/transgender lobby.”

He argues that it offers “to the public the ’sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ law least likely to meet with massive public resistance.” And once the horse is within the city walls, then passing other laws on sexual orientation and gender identity will be relatively easy.

Moreover, he contends that placing “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” alongside “race,” “color” or “national origin” “ensconces in federal law the principle that homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality are as benign as race, gender, and disability – an aspect of human diversity that must be affirmed and celebrated.”

“Those who refuse to go along with this principle then become encoded in law as hateful, discriminatory bigots,” he notes.

On that note, Gagnon says the hate crimes bill is not primarily about protecting homosexual and transgendered persons from violence, as they are already protected by existing state laws. Instead, the bill is really a hate-promotion bill, he argues.

Read more here.

[From me

If someone is murdered isn’t that enough to prosecute them? What difference does it make if they are killed for their faith, beliefs, color or sexual orientation? Is this bill an attempt to bypass the 1st Amendment? Murder and violent crime are horrible and should be prosecuted to the highest. But what difference does it make if someone called them a name? I wish the Westboro Group would go away. But I do recognize their 1st Amendment rights to speak. I don’t like it but understand it. Is this new law going to attempt to stop Bible believing churches from speaking truthfulness about lifestyles that Bible says are sinful? How is it hate to tell someone the truth? What am I missing?

What do you think?

[Buffalo News]

Dozens of counterdemonstrators swarmed three members of a Kansas-based hate group when they tried to protest near a Main Street church where a memorial service for a Continental Flight 3407 crash victim was being held this afternoon. The protesters, from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., left the area near St. Joseph University Catholic Church, near the University at Buffalo’s South Campus, at about 1:50 p.m., only a few minutes after they arrived. Counterdemonstrators, carrying plain white flags and banners, surrounded the three Westboro picketers as Buffalo police looked on. Patrick McGrath, a freshman at Buffalo State College, attended the counterdemonstration and said, sarcastically, he hoped the Westboro members got their word out in the few minutes they walked along Main Street.

The Westboro demonstration was intended to coincide with what the hate group thought would be a community prayer service for victims of the crash being held at Zion Lutheran Church, just two blocks from where the protesters gathered. However, church officials said they were holding normal Sunday services.

“Hatred in the name of Jesus is a despicable thing,” said Zion Lutheran Pastor Randy Milleville.

Read more here.

[From me]

I don’t know what God the Westboro people serve but it isn’t the one I know and serve.  Why would anyone try to hurt people during a time of grieving. Even if you believe someone is in hell, don’t pour salt on the wounds of those who are in pain.  Give hope. Show compassion. Be Jesus for those who don’t know Him. 

What do you think?

[BTW] if you’ve never seen my interview with Shirley Phelps-Roper you can watch it here.

[Seattle P & I]

Want to witness a religious circus this holiday season? Look no further than the third floor of the state capitol in Olympia. A controversial Kansas church known for blaming American casualties in Iraq on nationwide tolerance for homosexuality has asked the state for permission to erect a sign stating that “Santa Claus will take you to hell.”

The sign would join a Christian Nativity set, three signs mocking atheism, andthe one that started it all - the sign from the atheist group Freedom From Religion whose message that “religion hardens hearts and enslaves minds” sparked a furious nationwide debate over the nature of atheism and the boundaries between church and state.

According to the Spokesman Review, the text of the Westboro Baptist Church’s message would read:

“You’d better watch out, get ready to cry, You’d better go hide, I’m telling you why ‘cuz Santa Claus will take you to hell. He is your favorite idol, you worship at his feet, but when you stand before your God He won’t help you take the heat. So get this fact straight: you’re feeling God’s hate, Santa’s to blame for the economy’s fate, Santa Claus will take you to hell.”

The state is also reviewing requests for a display depicting “The Spaghetti Monster,” a fictional figure often cited in philosophical debates about the existence of God, a “Festivus” pole, which refers to a mock holiday from a “Seinfeld” episode and – in a surprising show of normalcy – a sign from a Christian woman in Bellevue who wants to offer blessings on all people.

Read more here.

[From me]

I’d hate to see what is in the Phelps stockings.  Probably a lump of coal. I’m curious if anyone has actually turned to God from the antics of the Westboro crowd.  Do you really think Jesus would act in the ugly manner that the Phelps family and the members of Westboro act?  If you have never watched my interview with Shirley Phelps Roper you can watch it here.

What do you think?