Monday, December 21, 2009

Psalms 109:8

Here's a sign that is posted outside of a local business. I took it at night becaue I wanted to write this article before it gets taken down. I had to bump up the brightness and contrast. If I get a chance to take a photo in the day, I'll post that as well. Despite the photo being very low quality, it is quite readable. I guess that's what counts.

Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Psalms 109:8

A sign that suggests prayer for my country, with a scripture reference, seems pretty harmless at first. That is, until you look up the verse. These people really are praying that our president dies so that Biden can take over his office. In my opinion this is hate speech. I'm very sure (though I have no proof) that it's because our president is black.

The traditional credit for writing this verse goes to King David. The same man who wrote the anti-atheist verse, Pslams 14:1. Do people really want to take advice from a man who had his best friend killed so that he can screw his wife? Do people really want to take advice from a man who chose to have 70,000 of his people die instead of himself being exiled?

Note: As far as I know, The Ranch House Cafe is not affiliated with the business that put up the hateful sign. So, please don't send them any complaints.

Note: CafePress removed t-shirts with this inscrpition on them.

Edit: I took a better picture of the sign, so I replaced the night time one with a better, yet still low quality, day time picture. This time I had permission to take the picture. If you still want to see the crappy night time pic, click here and here.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

ibex
That someone would want to quote such filth only a believer could justify. If you have hate it sure is the source to use. Not many books can equal the bible for intolerance, murder, raw vengece, and hate. It advocates it.
Living in this area I hear many people quote scriptures for their bigoted beliefs. The president is one of the favorite for letters to the editer, editorials, email jokes, not a true christian man. Compairing him and his wife to apes, chimps eating bananas. (emails, signs at tea paties are examples
Robert you called this one for what it is,racist.

Lorena said...

My favourite of King David's sins is that he did nothing when his son Ammon raped his half-sister Tamar.

I find that unforgivable--after all, Tamar was David's daughter, too.

Another abominable Bible story that makes me want to puke.

Robert Madewell said...

Right on Ibex,

The business happens to be a local sign shop. If I ever need to advertise, remind me not to use them.

I debated whether to post the name of the business or not. They're in the phone book.

fuuuuck said...

Have some cultural relativity, Lorena ;)

Maybe I really should have been an anthropologist?

Robert Madewell said...

The next verses are even scarier!

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Psalms 109:9-14

When you take into account the context of that verse, it sounds like a call for an assassination. You know, there are nuts out there that just might take that passage seriously enough to put hands to "the lord's" work.

Anonymous said...

ibex
Psalms 109:9-14
No overkill here, gosh even the birds coming to their bird feeder would suffer the same fate as this family? Who to leave out?
With inspirational stories that warm the heart, (bible) love, and a tri-everything god to look up to for guidence.
It just doesn,t get better then this.
Forget the other gods, the christian god should be idiolized and worshiped.

Anonymous said...

I've seen this before, and never heard it used to mean Obama should die. The reason prayer is asked for is because the people posting it fear that America is the one who will die and be replaced as a world power. You are upset over something you've completely misrepresented. Isn't that what you accuse us of constantly? I also see you have suggested that it was probably racist. No evidence of this, but you still bring it up just to add more to hate. You are the hateful one here Robert.

Robert Madewell said...

Anonymous 10:13 said, "I've seen this before, and never heard it used to mean Obama should die. "

Did you not read before and after the verse to get it into context? I even posted the following verses. Psalms 109:9 says, "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

Anonymous 10:13 said, "I also see you have suggested that it was probably racist."

Yes I did!

Anonymous 10:13 said, "No evidence of this, but you still bring it up just to add more to hate."

And, I admitted that I have no evidence. It's just a suspicion. I may have been a little out of line, but I still can't shake that suspicion that it's racially motivated considering where I live. If I later decide that I'm wrong, I'll admit it.

Yes, I do bring it up because, I live in a very racist and intolerant area. Not everybody, of course, but it's out there. There's KKK groups and Neo-nazi groups here and they don't hide. They're out in the open.

Anonymous 10:13 said, "You are the hateful one here Robert."

Matthew 7:1

Robert Madewell said...

Also Anonymous 10:13,

"Let his days be short"

I take that phrase to mean his life, not his term. Back in David's time, there were no terms of office.

I suggest you read the entire 109th Psalm. It is a violent and brutal poem. I would never have used it as a prayer for anyone.

Robert Madewell said...

Oh Yeah! Merry Christmas!

Laura said...

Yeah, where you live, it probably was 90% racially motivated, considering that area tends to vote Democratic (is that correct?) and is famous for its racism. So sorry I moved away!

Robert Madewell said...

Laura said, "... considering that area tends to vote Democratic (is that correct?)"

Use to be, but I'd say that this area has swung way over to the right. Last election we were completely in the red.

"So sorry I moved away!"

I'm joining you! Judy landed a nice job in Fayetteville. We're going to rent out the house and move to your neck of the woods, by mid Janurary.

Unknown said...

As Americans, by posting this sign, they are practicing their American right to free speech much like you're doing in this blog. As much as it may or may not offend some, it is their right to do so.
I honestly do not believe that it is based on hate or racism, but is merely base on an opinion that our soveriegn government would do much better with someone else heading up the Executive Branch.
It seems to me, however, that you believe that it is perfectly alright for you liberals to express you opinions, but not for those conservatives who still believe that our countries democratic republic is worth saving.

Robert Madewell said...

"As Americans, by posting this sign, they are practicing their American right to free speech much like you're doing in this blog. As much as it may or may not offend some, it is their right to do so. "

I agree.

"I honestly do not believe that it is based on hate or racism, but is merely base on an opinion that our soveriegn government would do much better with someone else heading up the Executive Branch."

I disagree because I suspect that this business is run by a member of a Christian Identity church. Please, research them.

Also, the very next verse says, "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow."

That sounds like a call for death to me.

"It seems to me, however, that you believe that it is perfectly alright for you liberals to express you opinions, but not for those conservatives who still believe that our countries democratic republic is worth saving."

Not at all. However, if someone says something out of hand or hateful, I have the freedom of speech to point that out. That's what happerned in this case. I didn't ask the store owners to remove it or change it.

I actually like seeing the hate messages because it is evidence of what I've been saying all along about fundmentalist intolerance. I'll take a picture of it and post it on my blog. However, I have never demanded that any church or store owner remove the message. I can't say the same for christian groups regarding secular messages.

As a matter of fact, I've seen more examples of theists trying to silence non-theists than the other way around.

Anonymous said...

To all those interested in Psalms...

Have you read the Psalms Code?

A complete and free download in pdf format is available at:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24346955/Psalms-Code

Enjoy.