Let his days be few; and let another take his office.Is bigot Frank Schaeffer trying to stir up trouble by whipping up his ideological counterparts with a bit of irrational fear mongering?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/18/rachel-maddow-frank-schae_n_362415.html
In an appearance on the Rachel Maddow show the other day, Frank Schaeffer ranted about how a biblical phrase is actually a coded call to assassinate the US President. Interestingly enough, during his tirade, he never really addresses the actual quote in question (Psalm 109:8).
Instead he doles out a logical fallacy (Questionable Cause) to his unobservant fans, based on a different quote combined with a couple of falsely inferred references. His rant, being about a different quote altogether, is in reality a logical fallacy, which nullifies his arguments, and invalidates the position he tries to presents in his diatribe.
Mr. Schaeffer basically followed the lead of John Cook who asserted: "That leads fairly naturally into the Psalm 109:9, "May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." You know, in case you miss the point." HELLO - Missing the point is exactly what happened here. It's the magicians trick of misdirection. Now they begin to build a case based on 109:9, which is a different line with a different meaning. They never actually muse on the content of the actual quote in 109:8.
http://gawker.com/5407568/christian-conservatives-praying-for-god-to-kill-obama
"... who should be slaughtered, if not by God, then by just men."
Excuse me Frank, but where precisely does this "slaughtering by just men" come from other than your own mind? It's neither mentioned, nor inferred anywhere in Psalm 109. In fact, Psalm 109:6 calls for "an evil man" to oppose him; not a just man. I don't believe that there are any references whatsoever in any of the 150 Psalms to "just men slaughtering unjust rulers". You must have made that up. Why? (Straw Man Fallacy).
Perhaps he thinks that by using two or more logical fallacies the misdirection will be enhanced, and his audience will be even less likely to detect that there is no actual valid support available for the untenable position he has proposed.
"... there's a parallel here with Timothy McVeigh's t-shirt on the day of the Oklahoma City bombing."
Somehow he thinks the purported fashion statement of a terrorist bomber in 1995 Oklahoma is parallel to the use of the phrase "let his days be few; and let another take his office"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley,_Jr.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McVeigh
FYI: the actual quote (Psalm 109:8) at the centre of this concoted hubbub is:
"Let his days be few; and let another take his office."
In his TV appearance, Mr. Schaeffer attempted to give new meaning to that quote by attaching things to it. He deliberately attempted to re-spin it to be interpreted as a death threat to be carried out by some random, self-proclaimed just-man, gone rogue. Is he hoping to margalize Christians, and have all bible readers reclassified as unpatriotic, national security risks?
I guess that, since Frank is OK with appending items to the phrase and arguing against those appended things, it should be more than reasonable for me to just slightly adjust a bit of the phrasing of the words within the actual quote a little without appending things to it, in the hope that it's meaning may be clearer. How about:
"Let his days in office be few, and let another take his place."
Although I adjusted it to make my interpretation of it more apparent, thE phrase now rather accurately reflects the real current sentiments of a growing number, (now in the majority) of American citizens. Obama's approval rating has fallen off a cliff, and the majority of the American public oppose much of his administration's activities, and results. Many citizens are wanting Obama's days in office to be truncated, and that phrase simply says so. It's no different than wishing any other unpopoular boss would quit, or get fired, or for whatever reason, not show up at work anymore.
This is in no way a call for an assassination. Those politically aware and concerned enough to be desiring his days in office be few, realize that that would only make things worse. Just look at the pathetic line up of successors to his throne - there's not a single one with any honorable presidential attributes. Not one. Better the devil we know... (for now).
Here are a few samples from the tirade:
"... the situation that I find genuinely frightening right now is that you have a ramping up of Biblical language..."
http://www.binscorner.com/pages/d/death-threats-against-bush-at-protests-i.html
(note the "Smite Him" poster - 13th image from the top)
"... what it's coalescing into is branding Obama as Hitler."
http://vocalminority.typepad.com/blog/2009/08/stop-the-presses-ive-found-nancy-pelosis-swastika-pictures.html
http://themastersmob.com/2009/11/08/obamahitleroutrage-bushhitlercrickets/
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/08/08/nancys_nazi_shock_did_she_forget_the_bush_years_97812.html
"... this is trolling for assassins. This is serious business."
http://www.zombietime.com/hall_of_shame/
"If it turns out to be blood in the streets and death, so be it. It's not funny stuff anymore. They cannot be dismissed as just crazies on the fringe. It only takes one."
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/moveon-er-bites-off-protesters-finger-2
2 Samuel 16:9-11
Then Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.” But the king said, “What do you and I have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” David then said to Abishai and all his officials, “My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
Kill Him and Bomb His House*
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