Pastor Steven Anderson calling for Obama's death

August 29, 3:18 AMNY Atheism & Skepticism ExaminerMichael Rosch

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Pastor Steven Anderson

Even before Barack Obama was elected president, there were signs of a growing far Right-Wing fringe movement that seemed to want to destroy him. And pretty much since day one, Obama has had to deflect preposterous accusations that he is a fascist or a communist or a Nazi, or a racist, etc. And that rhetoric has increased even as the Obama Administration has opened a dialogue with the American people in a way that no administration in recent memory has done, with local town hall meetings to discuss the important issue of healthcare reform.

But now it's gone beyond just harmless hyperbolic rhetoric. Fanatics are starting to act out in some of the most abject ways. And now the fanatics have started packing heat. After another incident of a fanatic bringing a gun to a town hall event, last week, an Arizona man named Chris Broughton brought an assault rifle and a handgun to an event where President Obama himself was in attendence. Broughton had the day before this event attended Faithful Word Baptist Church, where Pastor Steven Anderson delivered an hour-long sermon devoted to nothing but describing in extreme and vitriolic detail the depths to which he hates Barack Obama, appropriately titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama." Further, Anderson went out of his way to explain that he doesn't just hate Obama's values or politics, but everything about him and that, according to Anderson, so does god. Also in the sermon, Anderson repeatedly emphasized how he planned to pray for Obama's death, how Obama was going to burn in Hell, and how he wanted Obama to "melt like a snail."

Two major issues that have been raised over this have been whether guns should be allowed so close to the president and whether Pastor Anderson's sermon can be reasonably viewed as inciting violence.

First, with regards to the gun issue, those defending guns being allowed near the president (about 99.9% of which seem to be anti-Obama), the main arguments are that it's their Second Amendment right and that in the heartland, guns are nothing more than harmless fashion accessories not intended to be viewed as a form of intimidation or violence. And quite frankly, I find these excuses to be unbelievably disingenuous and absurd. When Bush was in office, citizens weren't even allowed to wear t-sihrts critical of him at events where he was present. Now, given the long history of political assassination in this country and the 400% increase in threats to the president's life, anyone who genuinely doesn't think allowing armed citizens close to the president is naive at best.

I have no problem with people having the right to carry guns, but that doesn't mean they have the right to bring guns anywhere they please. Moreover, it most certainly was not the Founding Father's intention for the Second Amendment to be used to justify lethal weapons becoming fashion accessories. It goes without saying that when attending an event where the president will be in attendence, you should leave your weapon at home and find some other way to showcase your manhood. We don't know what is going on in these people's heads and if they're a potential presidential assassin, but we shouldn't have to find out after the fact. Reasonable precautions should be taken, and keeping out armed citizens is a reasonable precaution. It's common sense. Nobody's taking people's guns away. You just shouldn't be allowed to bring them to an event where the president is attending. If you really can't understand why, I recommend seeing the film, Inglorious Basterds. And if you're carrying an AR15, you're dangerous even if you have no intent to use it because an AR15 is not a fashion accessory but a lethal weapon. It doesn't help that everyone who's strongly disagreed with me on this point so far has revealed a completely callous attitude to the idea of Obama being shot and killed.

 But then there's the issue of Anderson's sermon. He clearly holds a position of influence, plus he's claiming to be promoting the word of God himself.

So can this be seen as inciting violence? Is this akin to shouting fire in a crowded theater? After hearing it, Chris Broughton brought guns to the Obama event. And though Broughton claims he had the idea to bring the gun in advance, even if that's true, it doesn't necessarily get Anderson off the hook. Such extreme rhetoric could push an already unstable man over the edge. Now I agree with Mike Brooks from the CNN interview linked to above when he suggests Anderson is one of these people who knows how to walk that fine line without making a direct threat on the president's life. And while I'm usually a defender of free speech, when you add the influence of a religious leader who claims to speak on behalf of God, I'm not so sure Anderson gets a pass.

Are we cutting him more slack than we normally would because he's hiding his manipulation behind the curtain of religious freedom? Had this been outside of a religious context, would people be quicker to say he's inciting violence? I don't know. But one thing is clear. He can reasonably defend his position using the Bible without distorting it and as much as people like to believe the Bible teaches peace and love, it doesn't. While you'll find no passages in the Bible singling out Obama as any worse than anyone else, on purely Biblical grounds, he's not far off the mark in his indictment. The god of the Bible does hate Obama and pretty much everyone else too. If Anderson's view of the Bible has one flaw, it's that he's cherry-picking his passages, which Alan Colmes surprisely does a fantastic job of exposing in this interview with Anderson. And in that interview, after already admitting to incorrectly branding Barney Frank a criminal in another equally vitriolic rant intended for a completely different person, Pastor Anderson denies any and all responsibility for any actions that might be incited by others who have been influenced by his words.

Fortunately, so far, no serious damage has been done and as far as I know, nobody has been harmed as a result of Anderson's sermon. Next time, we might not be so lucky. But regardless of whether or not Anderson has a legal right to deliver his hate speech in the manner he did, one thing that I think most rational people can agree upon is that his preaching such passionate preaching from the pulpit for the president  to die was inappropriate and irresponsible. And if you can listen to the whole sermon in one sitting without finding it repulsive, it's a good sign that you're mentally disturbed.