It was going to be bad, I mean that was an absolute given. Even the choice of the “pastor” to give the prayer caused considerable controversy before the heretic/ass kisser even said a word. The reason for the controversy and the inevitable result was rooted in Trump’s choice to give the opening prayer, pastor Robert Jeffress, head of the First Baptist Dallas mega-church.
Jefress has been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, to put it with extreme understatement. He has already said that Trump had the “courage that no other U.S. president has had to move the embassy from Tel Aviv.” Trouble was brewing right there, because is doesn’t take “courage” to make the decision, it takes nothing more than not giving the slightest shit that the decision will rightly offend many of the residents of Jerusalem, 750,00 Palestinians, who have every bit as strong a claim to the city as the Jewish people. Already, as of this writing, Israeli forces have killed 52 Palestinian protestors, today, with thousands injured. “Protests,” even violent ones, are expected, not because these are Muslims, but because that is what happens in asymmetric warfare, where one side has all the real military equipment, and the other side has nothing but violent protest to be heard.
That is/was the tragic, now to the embarrassment, that surely egged on the protestors. I do not have the transcript yet, the prayer was said not even an hour ago. Suffice it to say that a significant portion, I would say up to even half the prayer, consisted of thanking God for President Trump. How does one take up half a prayer thanking God for President Trump, a prayer that was a minimum of five minutes long? One has to thank God for all the blessings Trump brings to bear by being president. Just off the top of my head, he mentioned the courage, the righteousness, the favor God bestowed upon the United States by giving the country Donald Trump as president, the many blessings Trump has brought as president to the United States and the world because he is so all-around great, God’s choice.
Jesus Christ, (Ironically, someone largely forgotten in a hell of a lot of stuff Trump and his followers espouse.), this speech went out to the whole world!
What the hell was the purpose of having a prayer in the first place? Officially, and legally, the United States as a nation has no “religion.” Officially, this decision involved simply a choice as to where to locate a fking embassy. Do we have opening prayers when we decide to vaporize treaties with Iran? No. So why do we have an opening prayer when we move an embassy?
Second, apparently this pastor fails to understand that Christianity (and I use this word in the loosest of terms, given this man’s views) is one of the three Abrahamis religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) and thus, technically, when he references the God he is thanking, this is the same “God” to which Muslim’s pray. In other words, in a move calculated to do nothing but offend Muslims, the “pastor” was sure to include a big old “fk you” to Muslims, given that God chose the one man willing to offend their entire faith – their God.
Giving new meaning to “Holy” shit.
And last, regarding the pastor, just shut-up. Please. Thanking God for your country’s leader is something done at the barrel of a gun in third world nations controlled by ruthless dictators, or due to six-hundred years of tradition (“God Save the Queen”) is not the same thing. I will get you guys the transcript and add it when someone overcomes the nausea and prints it somewhere. I don’t have it right now.
I don’t need it. Picture in your mind the most ass-kissing, needless, “prayer” ever said, fully understand the prayer was said before God and the entire friggin’ world, and then simply imagine it somehow being infinitely worse than you imagined. You’ll be close, and still come up short.
Good heavens, my god, I suspect He’s rather embarrassed right about now, and not a little bit pissed. Oh, and that’s not good. Because the “shared” God of the Abrahamic religions is the Old Testament one, the one with a bit of a temper, the one that extracts the biggest price for offenses in His name. And since this prayer was said on behalf of the United States, many of us could face some serious wrath.
*Addendum: Even Mitt Romney knew disaster was coming, before he heard the prayer. He tweeted:
Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell, he’s said the same about Islam. Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.”
Close, Mitt. NO ONE should be saying an opening prayer at this event.
Alright, so it only seemed like half of the 4:30 prayer, more like 1:20 seconds, but it is so absolutely cringe-worthy (and it follows just as awful praise of Netanyahu who has plenty of his own trouble/scandal at home) that I simply lay it here, like a gym-sock hanging on a shower rod.
The “president” stuff starts at about 2:40
