“Religious” conservatives have a new slogan that they are putting on bumper stickers and t-shirts.
“Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”
What does Psalm 109:8 say?
“Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”
Well, that’s not bad. They are just praying for Obama to be replaced as President. Hey, I wanted Bush gone as President too, through his impeachment for war crimes. But let’s read the next verse that follows Psalm 109:8 which “religious” conservatives all so cleverly leave off the t-shirts and bumper stickers.
So, it is pretty obvious that anyone repeating, wearing, or using this slogan “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8” is actually calling for the President’s death in some form. And they want him to die sooner rather than later.
Let his days be few.
Let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless
Let his wife be a widow.
That is in the book of Psalms. A prayer book in the Old Testament. Now, I could turn this post into a tirade against those “religious” conservatives and critics of the President that thought this up. But we have done that. Despite all their protestations, they are just pure evil, hoping and praying that the President is killed simply because they disagree with him politically. Nothing can justify that. Not even the null and void text of the Old Testament. Eternal hellfire awaits them all. Indeed, I enjoy the ironic image of those “religious” conservatives shoveling ash in Hell with the likes of Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, given their recent protestations about Hitler and Stalin.
No, today I will turn my ire against the Old Testament of the Bible, the text that provides these “religious” conservatives with their murderous ideas in the first place. Let me ask you a question.
Has any other book been responsible for more death and destruction over the last 5,000 years that this one?
All sorts of depravity are justified by its text. Slavery, genocide, and murder. To this day, David Anderson opposes homosexuality simply because the Old Testament says it is an abomination. To this day, people use its text to justify their wrongful behavior. Revenge is justified by the Old Testament. Discrimination is justified by the Old Testament. Hatred is justified by the Old Testament.
Have any of you ever read the Old Testament from cover to cover?
This scene from the West Wing sums up my reaction nicely.
Save some stories about Moses, Noah, King David and the Ten Commandments that we Christians learn in Sunday School, or that we see in the Charlton Heston movie “The Ten Commandments” around Easter every year, the Old Testament depicts God as an enormous mean vengeful asshole. And because of the depravity contained within its pages, more people have been killed in the name of its verses and in the name of God than any other reason. Indeed, I dare say that today’s family friendly “religious” conservatives would want the Old Testament burned because it was too violent if it also didn’t give those same “religious” conservatives license to hate all people not like them, with the added support of Heavenly support for their hatred.
When I went to Catholic school and Sunday school, I was taught that the New Testament overruled the Old Testament, and that Christ’s commandment that we all love one another as He loved us and the world was more important than anything you would find in the Old Testament. I was taught that to be a Christian you followed both Christ’s teachings and His good works, in caring for the poor, sick and needy. So, to me, the Old Testament is worthless. And given the hatred it inspires, it is long past time to fling it into the recycle bin.
But I do recognize the other argument that the Old Testament was incorporated into the New Testament by Christ Himself, and thus we must follow both. As the apostle Paul said in Romans 11:18, “Do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
The Old Testament was the only form of Scripture which was used by Jesus Christ, the Apostles, and the first Christian community. Jesus referred to the Old Testament consistently. When the words were written, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (1 Timothy 3:16) the statement was talking about what we call the Old Testament and what was then known as “Scripture.” Indeed, the majority of God’s Word is in the Old Testament. When the Bible is divided into 52 weekly readings we don’t even get to the New Testament until Week 41!
So if you believe that Old Testament is still relevant today, you believe in a God that is giant dick, who condones and actually encourages murder, slavery and genocide, who believes that some of His own children that He created in His own image are actually abominations destined for eternal flame. I am content to follow the New Testament and his commandment that we love rather than hate each other. But I suppose if your political ideology rests on hatred, it is useless to have the Old Testament around.