Wishing death on Obama?

I got info that a pastor in Phoenix, Arizona is preaching and praying for President Barack Obama's death. I'm in absolute shock yet not surprised by some rare few people in this country.

Here's the story via www.myfoxphoenix.com:




Pastor's Obama Rants
'Incomprehensible'
Protesters counter parishioners at
Sunday service

Updated: Sunday, 30 Aug 2009, 10:34 PM MDT
Published : Sunday, 30 Aug 2009, 6:43 PM MDT

TEMPE, Ariz. - The sermons at this east valley church are stirring controversy and for some, causing alarm. Pastor Steven Anderson says he's a man of God, but some are horrified at what he's preaching.

Anderson is standing by his controversial sermon, entitled "Why I Hate Barack Obama." Video of the sermon has hit YouTube, and he's taped explaining why he hates the President and praying for his death.

Sunday at church, Anderson told FOX 10, "I hope that God strikes Barack Obama with brain cancer so he can die like Ted Kennedy and I hope it happens today."

Anderson is continuing to encourage his parishioners to pray for the president's death, but says he doesn't condone killing.

"I will not take the law into my own hands. I will not take up any arms. It's a spiritual battle, spiritual warfare."

Sunday, about 30 parishioners of the Faithful Word Baptist Church were met by a handful of protesters.

"A pastor, a man of the cloth, doesn't condone assassinating people. He's not a pastor, he's a pas-turd," said protester Bill Demski. Some of the protesters tried to go into the church, but were denied.

"I find it incomprehensible that someone can say they believe in the message of Jesus and preach hate," added protester James Jones.

Tempe Police patrolled the area to make sure tempers didn't get out of hand, while many parishioners walked into the church carrying guns on their hips.

One of them was Christopher Broughton, who got national attention when he brought an AR-15 assault rifle to an Aug. 17 rally outside the Phoenix Convention Center where President Obama was addressing veterans.

We asked him if he wanted to clarify what the impact of Pastor Anderson's sermon was on his decision to bring a gun to the rally, but he had no response.

Anderson says his sermon about wanting Obama to die was not meant to rile people up. "If anything, I was talking him down," he said, "Not riling him up."

Pastor Anderson says his hatred of Obama and former president Bush stems from his views on abortion and the Iraq War.

"Look up the word hate. Look up the word abhor, the word loathe. You'll see there are a lot of people that God hates, and so we should hate. But see, I didn't write that, that's in the Bible."

The pastor says that since his sermon on Obama was posted on YouTube, he and his family have received death threats.

"If people want to wish deaths on me I don't have a problem with that. But when people say, 'I'm coming to kill you and your family within the next 36 hours,' that's different than them hoping or wishing something in their mind," said Anderson.

The White House had no comment.

What are your thoughts on this?

Follow the madness: twitter.com/madbloggers
Check out more from The Mad Bloggers