Actually, the only legitimate position for a Christian to have regarding Obama is to pray for him, full stop. As it has been with everyone who has held the office. Anything else comes from another place not Christian.
Supposedly, during the Revolutionary War, colonial merchants sold chamber pots with King George's likeness on the inside. So harsh political snark is part of our political heritage.
Where are the Christians denouncing this hijacking of their Holy Word? Actual religious Christians should take great offense at this abuse of Scripture. If it isn't the topic of many sermons this weekend, well - it should be.
@TigerTail: George III was no longer our king after 7/4/1776. He was no different than any of our other enemies, like Tojo or Pancho Villa, or Hitler (yes, I went there), or Ho Chi Minh.
@TigerTail: And as for the second part of your post, where were the VFW people when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were slandering one of their own members in 2004? Hmm? I thought that sort of thing was good for a good old-fashioned ass-whuppin'.
@HurtsSoGood: This is a tangent, but as a lifetime member of the VFW, I feel qualified to answer -- the VFW doesn't take any political positions except to advocate for veteran's benefits.
Here's the interesting part about Psalm 109:8- it's actually written by King David- and is directed at a large group of people trying to depose him (including Judas).
Psalm 109-
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.
[...]
16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
It's like the dickward that got the "man shall not lie with another man" verse tattooed on his body without noting that the very next verse is "man shall make no mark upon his body".
On the one hand, I think there are several reasons this Psalm 109:8 meme is inappropriate and reckless, but not because it's some obviously coded threat against the President. As far as we know, it isn't.
If it said, "Pray for Obama — Psalm 109:8-9," then yeah, but it doesn't say that, and it seems a little premature to make generalizations and condemnations of whole groups of people over a line they 1.) probably don't all interpret the same way, and 2.) does not actually, on its own, necessarily suggest anything sinister.
I also worry whether this kind of media attention doesn't actually worsen the "Someone's Going To Try And Kill Barack Obama" hysteria.
I'm sure CafePress yanked it for business/PR reasons, which I can understand, but censorship — even of the most questionable things — leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
@Cunning_Linguist: Yes, that is correct. I don't really have an issue with CafePress' decision, I'm sure they have investors or shareholders or whomever to deal with and could do without the PR headache. So it's understandable — and well within their rights as a private business — to yank the merch.
I'm more concerned about the lynch mob demanding for anyone sporting a Psalm 109:8 t-shirt, bumper sticker, etc. to get thrown in jail.
@Sergio Hernandez: You make a great point about people screaming for others to be arrested. If you check this link [www.binscorner.com] you will see lots of people with signs saying things like "Kill Bush", I bet they don't think those people should be arrested. On that page is a link to a video of John Kerry saying "I could have gone to 1600 Pennsylvania and killed the real bird with one stone", which is much more of a direct threat then the t-shirt in question. Do the whining democrats think Kerry should be prosecuted too? My point is both sides play these stupid games and go running to mommy when it happens to their side. They need to sack up.
@Magister: I had seen that, actually, and to be perfectly honest, it was an element of Gawker's coverage that sort of concerned me.
John linked to it rather glibly, and unless readers clicked through and read the original article, it wasn't immediately apparent that even legal experts are saying, "Wait a minute, don't jump to conclusions here just yet."
@fuckingoldman: You realize, of course, that this is a precise clone of what you said the last time the CafePress story hit, right? Only you didn't take into account anything from your last try (short version: the context is significantly different in a way that radically impacts the instances you cite)?
...Talking to you is like talking to an Etch-A-Sketch, it seems.
@Trai_Dep: If it's a clone, how is it significantly different? By definition that thought doesn't make sense. You're right, I do preach the same thing pretty much over and over. Don't get the Etch-A-Sketch analogy...
@Sergio Hernandez: just as not all Muslims are terrorists, not all the folks with said items could be meaning for the man to be killed. just out of office. you have to judge it on a case by case basis.
and i agree that cafepress was in the right, as a private company, to remove anything they want. i'm sure the folks that want to sell/give away those items will just find another way
Note to everyone who said something to the effect of "this is just like the stuff they sold when Bush was in office": check your thesauruses. 'Impeach' does not mean the same thing as 'assassinate.'
@Lysergic Asset: How about this shirt? A little more direct then the Psalm 109 shirt, don't you think? CafePress sold ths one for a while but discontinued it, as they should have. Google is a wonderful thing.
@fuckingoldman: Where is all this shit coming from? I hated GWB's guts as much as anybody; I used to be a heavy poster at DU, Smirking Chimp, and about every other website that would ordinarily be too left for me. You'd think I would have at least seen SOME of this stuff before now.
@HurtsSoGood: I'm no fan of either GWB or Obama. When I was reading the comments on this post I just knew there had to be something similar going on when W was in office. I just Googled bush death threats and up they came. I think I Googled kill Bush t-shirt too, that's where the shirt came from.
@fuckingoldman: I hope you have one of those charming "I'll keep my money, guns and freedom, you keep the change" bumperstickers on the back of your truck. I'd like to get one that says "hey fucking morons, thanks for cutting taxes on billionaires, deregulating banks and fucking the economy for the next 50 years and sticking the middle class with the bill, and starting some bullshit Christian jihad in Iraq, and while you're at it make sure healthcare ends up consuming $1 out of $3." Unfortunately, my bumper isn't large enough.
@HurtsSoGood: I think fuckingoldman took several days to dig that one up. Hell, he probably made it up, because I loathed Bush, and I never saw any negative bumperstickers or T-shirts, other than 1/20/2009. Meanwhile, I've already started seeing 1/20/2012 bumperstickers from the morons who think Saint Sarah will help them regain the White House so that they can continue deregulating banks, selling off national parks, transferring wealth upwards, charging 30% interest on credit cards, loving Jesus and passing "faith based initiatives," and saving babies from mean liberals. God help us all if these nuts get another shot at ruining the economy in my lifetime.
@ParahSalin: You are such a fucking idiot, you really need to work on your reading comprehension. I have no problem sharing my money with people that are truly needy. And yes, I will keep my guns, the law says I can. I'm middle class, so I'm one of the ones stuck with the bill you're talking about. I'm against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and have been since day one. I believe our fucked up foreign policy is what led to the attack on 9/11. With the proposed healthcare bill we would all be responsible for one third of the cost of our care. You should do some research before you write things, you're looking unbelievably ignorant. You're not smart enough to guess what I'm all about so you should quit trying.
No, these t-shirts are not funny or sarcastic. They are in bad taste. Real or idle death threats are against the law, no matter who the president or vice president is, or which party he/she came from. They are also cowardly and un-Christian. [www.law.cornell.edu]
Freedom of speech is not absolute. [en.wikipedia.org]
OK, as much as I like the sizzle of a story as written above, it's not quite accurate.
Cafe Press lets anyone create images and sell them to people too lazy to waddle on down to the local swap meet.
So, it's more a situation where a wingnut frothed himself into a tizzy, then went crazy(ier) with Cafe Press' template function.
Because true patriots try exploiting for gain the assassination of the President of the United States.
This is supported by the fact that the last RedState denizen who did the same thing had his items disappear, presumably by Cafe Press. Watch the same one happen here, then poor Cafe Press having to create some sort of macro to play Whack-a-Wingnut automatically.
Can't wait until Thankgiving break begins, because once all these guys get back home, cloistered together with their kin, they'll do what they do best: incest.
11/21/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Could this be because they were afraid of getting a little unwanted attention from the Secret Service? Bawk bawk bawk.
11/20/09
Where are the Christians denouncing this hijacking of their Holy Word? Actual religious Christians should take great offense at this abuse of Scripture. If it isn't the topic of many sermons this weekend, well - it should be.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/21/09
Disproven. QED.
#tips
11/20/09
The equivalent of kicking a guy out of your party and he retorts, "Whatever dude, I was leaving anyway."
11/20/09
Psalm 109-
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.
[...]
16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
It's like the dickward that got the "man shall not lie with another man" verse tattooed on his body without noting that the very next verse is "man shall make no mark upon his body".
Douches all.
11/20/09
*"I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet."
11/21/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
On the one hand, I think there are several reasons this Psalm 109:8 meme is inappropriate and reckless, but not because it's some obviously coded threat against the President. As far as we know, it isn't.
If it said, "Pray for Obama — Psalm 109:8-9," then yeah, but it doesn't say that, and it seems a little premature to make generalizations and condemnations of whole groups of people over a line they 1.) probably don't all interpret the same way, and 2.) does not actually, on its own, necessarily suggest anything sinister.
I also worry whether this kind of media attention doesn't actually worsen the "Someone's Going To Try And Kill Barack Obama" hysteria.
I'm sure CafePress yanked it for business/PR reasons, which I can understand, but censorship — even of the most questionable things — leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
11/20/09
11/20/09
I'm more concerned about the lynch mob demanding for anyone sporting a Psalm 109:8 t-shirt, bumper sticker, etc. to get thrown in jail.
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
John linked to it rather glibly, and unless readers clicked through and read the original article, it wasn't immediately apparent that even legal experts are saying, "Wait a minute, don't jump to conclusions here just yet."
11/21/09
...Talking to you is like talking to an Etch-A-Sketch, it seems.
11/21/09
11/21/09
and i agree that cafepress was in the right, as a private company, to remove anything they want. i'm sure the folks that want to sell/give away those items will just find another way
11/20/09
11/20/09
@Lysergic Asset: How about this shirt? A little more direct then the Psalm 109 shirt, don't you think? CafePress sold ths one for a while but discontinued it, as they should have. Google is a wonderful thing.
11/20/09
#tips
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/21/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
11/20/09
Douchebags.
11/20/09
[www.law.cornell.edu]
Freedom of speech is not absolute. [en.wikipedia.org]
11/19/09
Cafe Press lets anyone create images and sell them to people too lazy to waddle on down to the local swap meet.
So, it's more a situation where a wingnut frothed himself into a tizzy, then went crazy(ier) with Cafe Press' template function.
Because true patriots try exploiting for gain the assassination of the President of the United States.
This is supported by the fact that the last RedState denizen who did the same thing had his items disappear, presumably by Cafe Press. Watch the same one happen here, then poor Cafe Press having to create some sort of macro to play Whack-a-Wingnut automatically.
Can't wait until Thankgiving break begins, because once all these guys get back home, cloistered together with their kin, they'll do what they do best: incest.
11/19/09
Yes. Yes. Oh GODS YES!
(Comment about Thanksgiving still stands, though)