Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Focus on The Family Wants God To Rain On Obama's Parade

(A Storm of Criticism After Pathetic Prayer Video)

Focus on the Family plucked a video from its Web site today that urged people to pray for "rain of biblical proportions" during Barack Obama's Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field at Mile High to accept the Democratic nomination for president. This, of course, would be about as effective as their attempts to have people "pray away the gay" at their "ex-gay" Love Won Out freak shows.

Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the video he wrote and starred in was meant to be "mildly humorous." But complaints from about a dozen Focus members convinced the organization to pull the video, said Tom Minnery, Focus Action vice president of public policy.

"If people took it seriously, we regret it," Minnery said Monday.

Who is Focus on the Family kidding? They are a nasty group that portrays God as a right wing bully who is molded in James Dobson's dictatorial image. The only joke here, was that Focus on the Family is covering up their true colors by portraying their ugliness as a parody.

You can only feel bad for people who have such an authoritarian, hideous view of spirituality. I hope, even pray, that they get the help they need to escape this miserable mindset in which they are trapped.

38 Comments:

Olbermann covered this story on his show last night and made a good point. If they're going to pray for rain, why not for rain in the many drought stricken areas of the south, instead of asking their "Lord and Savior" to do a cheap trick and rain on Obama's speech.
I also heard on his show last night that the RNC is millions of dollars short for their convention in Sept; seems no one wants to donate money to an obviously lost cause with a pathetic candidate.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 12:00 PM

This sounds to me like it's more Satanic than it is anything. Conjuring up rain, according to these unstable "christians", is a work of witchcraft.

If they were praying for rain for crops, that would be another story.

Clearly the rain these guys are praying for, is to cause chaos. Focus on the Family is as "Godly" as I am heterosexual.
posted by S., at 8/12/2008 12:10 PM

Focus on the Family is, along with religion, a cult. Why do they resort to such primitive behavior, praying for rain to dampen (excuse the pun) Obama's speech. They call that "christian"? The ex-gay ministries too are cults out to scam the most vulnerable people who end up with nothing but hopelessness and despair like the pathetic morons who post anti-gay bile here by quoting scriptural fairy tales to justify their beliefs. Cultist beliefs are what they ALL have in common, same mantras, same boring drivel. Big yawn!
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 12:33 PM

Just for the record, satanism isnt Wicca (witchcraft); but you're right, this hateful use of "prayer" because they hate a politician and his supporters smacks of black magic. Since Pat Robertson thinks he can change the course of a hurricane with is bogus prayers, maybe he can drum up a storm for 'em.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 12:36 PM

Well, Yahweh WAS originally a storm god.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 12:53 PM

Hi anon - I'm not all that familiar with Wicca, but I know there's a difference between that, and Satanism.

Wasn't it rumoured years ago that Barbara Bush was into witchcraft? LOL
posted by S., at 8/12/2008 1:00 PM

Funny that they would ask for rain given that, if you believe the old testament, God said He would never use rain to punish man after the great flood.

As "Christians" you'd think these people would know this.

Not only small in spirit but apparently quite small in mind as well. Very sad.
posted by Unknown, at 8/12/2008 1:38 PM

I do wish(?) pray that is that conservative christians would start praying for God's will instead of their own.

This is shameful to read about what they are encouraging others to pray for - as if they know God doesn't want Obama in the WH. Well, I'm not so sure God wants McCain, Obama, or me in the WH.

Hmmm. As a conservative christian, I will be praying for God's will. I don't know what that will look like since God's ways are not my ways. (that comes from the bible in case any conservative christian is reading this and needs to be reminded that we are not God)
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 3:17 PM

God said he would never destroy again. Rain - still causes havoc for many people.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 4:15 PM

Gosh, you just can't make this stuff up. Just when you think they could not sink lower the prove you wrong.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 4:19 PM

Not to be snide, but why would you have to pray for God's will? I assume He/She is going to do His/Her will anyway.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 4:34 PM

I guess, I pray for me to accept God's will. Because you're doesn't He/She do it anyways. Good point.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 5:31 PM

Anon at 4:19 - what exactly are you referring to?
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 5:31 PM

But you'll also notice that in the Lord's prayer in the New Testament that Jesus shows us how to pray and he does mention God's will. Yet, agree it is more about us praying for His will to be prominent and not our will in our own lives.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 5:34 PM

The lords prayer also states:

lead us not into temptation

Why would the lord lead us into temptation?

just more biblical "clearity" I guess. god should proof read his words.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 6:22 PM

Haha. I never thought of that - but good point!! Again though - I think it has more to do with the effect on the pray - er person. The argument that God knows all before has long been an argument among biblcal scholars ...etc... And though we know God has plans for us - I think we are really praying that we are not ready for all things and that we ask that God will not allow us to go into dangerous places.

Not all people believe in the christian NT. And they shouldn't have to. But some people do -
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 7:24 PM

Prayer is more than communication. Prayer is the practice of the presence of God. It is the place where pride is abandoned, hope is lifted, and supplication is made. Prayer is the place of admitting our need, of adopting humility, and claiming dependence upon God. Prayer is the needful practice of the Christian. Prayer is the exercise of faith and hope. Prayer is the privilege of touching the heart of the Father through the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer changes the one praying because in prayer, you are in the presence of God as you lay before Him your complete self in confession and dependence. There is nothing to hide when in quiet supplication we are reaching into the deepest part of ourselves and admitting our needs and failures. In so doing, our hearts are quieted and pride is stripped and we enjoy the presence of God. James 4:8 says, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

I am reminded of another benefit of prayer: peace. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 4:6-7).

Sometimes prayer is not so easy. We ask, we seek, we wait, we hope, and we yearn to hear from God. Yet, many times, what we ask for does not come to pass and our prayers seem to be spoken into the void. But, that can be quite good. Have there ever been prayers that you are glad were not answered? Sometimes our short sightedness causes us to pray outside the will of God, and that is the problem.

When Jesus was praying in Luke 22:42, in the Garden of Gesthemene, He asked the Father, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done." Jesus did not want to go through the ordeal of the crucifixion and He asked the Father for a way out. His prayer was not answered the way Jesus requested. Nevertheless, He submitted His will to the will of the Father, and that is the key to prayer.

What would be a good prayer? Depending on the subject, it would be a request to the Lord to forgive, to heal, to reveal, to interceded, to help, etc. But, and this is important, we must realize that it is not our will that is to be done, but God's. We must primarily ask for God's will to be accomplished, not ours.

This means that we must enter prayer by faith and accept, in advance, that what we are requesting may not be answered the way we hope it will. We must look to God as the wise counselor, the all-knowing Lord who loves us deeply and who hears our prayers, but has a divine plan and purpose for His creation that God will carry out. Therefore, we must not only pray for others, for forgiveness, for healing, etc., we must also pray that we are moved into the will of God in every area of our lives so that our prayers might more accurately reflect the will of God.

Furthermore, we must ask the Lord to reveal to us anything that we are doing that prevents our prayers from being heard and prevents us from being in His will. We must seek forgiveness for our sins and conformity to God's purpose and plan. Then, our prayers will be more frequently answered.

Are your prayers answered? If not, perhaps you might want to evaluate whether or not you are in the will of God? Perhaps you might want to pray specifically to be in the will of God in your life, your desires, your location, your job, your service, etc. Ask God to speak to you and to guide you into His will.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 7:41 PM

Maybe there is hope for sanity and humility in the conservative christian church

The Video has been pulled because many memeber of the group complained.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/17166715/detail.html
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 11:07 PM

there is no evidence that prayer works. none. There have been studies to try and prove that it does. The best conducted studies showed that it was no better and ironicly in one case, worse the plecebo. sorry but god is not going to change the comos for your benifit.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/12/2008 11:39 PM

A study on whether prayer "works"? HMM...how did that study define "works"?
posted by Anonymous, at 8/13/2008 12:22 AM

Hmmm. I have seen other studies that show prayer does work. I guess it all depends on who you are asking.

Not everyone will believe in prayer. Many don't pray. Some call it meditation. Others call it thinking - but whatever - different folks call it different things and use prayer in different ways and desire different results.

If you don't believe - then what do you care if someone else prays for something you find foolish? NBD.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/13/2008 2:10 AM

There may be more science to the mind than one would think.

Have you ever tried cloudbusting a pufffy cloud with your mind? I've tried it, it works.

Here's a Google link, but you'll have to wade through that stuff :)
posted by Unknown, at 8/13/2008 6:33 AM

No, prayer is not meditation.

Meditation involves psychophysical exercises that calm your body and mind.

Prayer involves begging an imaginary sky daddy for shit you want, but are too lazy to work for.

FYI, the study mentioned was probably the one about long-distance prayer for hospital patients. Group 1 was not prayed for at all, and Group 2 was prayed for but not notified. They had the exact same healing results.

Group 3 was prayed for and notified and had worse results.

The popular theory is that after being told others were praying for them, Group 3 became scared because they thought "oh shit, people are praying for me, I must be really sick!" So it increased their stress.
posted by Anonymous, at 8/14/2008 2:12 AM

Interesting. Can you link to that study?
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