Focus on the Family: Pray for Rain During Obama's DNC Acceptance Speech

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mykevermin

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[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztO8wZz029Y[/media]

Focus on the Family Action pulled a video from its Web site Monday that asked people to pray for "rain of biblical proportions" during Barack Obama's Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field in Denver to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

The video disappeared from You Tube also, but is now back on the site. View it here.

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.

"Pray for Rain" was posted July 30 and blazed its way through the Internet, scoring 20,000 page views, Shepard said.

It was one of Shepard's weekly video commentaries that appear on www.citizenlink.org, Focus Action's Web site. The general timbre of Shepard's videos is tongue-in-cheek as he examines political issues from the conservative Christian viewpoint of Focus Action.

Most of "Pray for Rain," which lasted less than three minutes, showed a lighthearted Shepard at Invesco Field asking viewers to pray for "torrential" rain during Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention.

"I'm talking ‘umbrella-ain't-going-to-help-you rain,'" he said on the video.

The video's point, Shepard said, is that in his view Obama has not clearly stated his stances on abortion and gay marriage, important themes within the Christian right.

"I'm still pro life, and I'm still in favor of marriage as being between one man and one woman," Shepard said in the video. "And I would like the next president who will select justices for the next Supreme Court to agree."

As for his praying for a deluge: "It's called hyperbole," Shepard said Monday. "It is meant to be humorous."

Minnery said the video was taken down because several Focus members complained that prayer shouldn't be used to bring harm on someone else.

"We are not about confusing people about prayer," Minnery said.

When the video disappeared from the Focus Action site, it also became unavailable through YouTube and many sites that linked to it. But you can watch clips of it courtesy of KOAA.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/focus_39213___article.html/video_action.html
 
Much ado about nothing. He was clearly trying to be funny, and taking down the video was a mistake. Made it go from an eye rolling to a news headline.
 
and he'll say "See I told you God was on the our side. Why don't you meet me in the bathroom and I can tell you more"
 
[quote name='usickenme']First of all, Here in colorado, it has been a news headline for a few days.

http://www.9news.com/news/elections/dnc/article.aspx?storyid=97203&catid=348

He was initially quoted as saying he was “half-joking”. So what, exactly the other half?[/QUOTE]

I know. I heard about it a few days ago as well, but thought nothing of it. I really don't see the story here. Even if he was being serious. He's just trying to say he doesn't like Democratic positions in a creative way.

What I find most interesting is the people that seem to think it is a story or even might find offense in it, are generally the people that don't believe in God or prayer to begin with, so it's a conundrum. What he's doing isn't any worse than the people that will be outside the Republican convention holding signs calling them murderers.

Edit: Is this the same focus on the family associated with that Dr. Dobson that gives little blurbs on the radio randomly inbetween talk shows? Just curious, because I've never heard him talk about religion.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']I know. I heard about it a few days ago as well, but thought nothing of it. I really don't see the story here. Even if he was being serious. He's just trying to say he doesn't like Democratic positions in a creative way.

What I find most interesting is the people that seem to think it is a story or even might find offense in it, are generally the people that don't believe in God or prayer to begin with, so it's a conundrum. What he's doing isn't any worse than the people that will be outside the Republican convention holding signs calling them murderers.

Edit: Is this the same focus on the family associated with that Dr. Dobson that gives little blurbs on the radio randomly inbetween talk shows? Just curious, because I've never heard him talk about religion.[/QUOTE]

You've never heard Dobson talk about religion? Woah. I'm interested to hear what those radio snippets sound like.

But riddle me this, thrust: if it's funny, then these folks are taking the piss of themselves, and having a laugh at the idea of prayer actually working. Which tends to go against their prayer-solves-everything sensibilities. Let's say, instead, that they are dead serious; they're running on an antiquated, simple-minded and imbecilic "I'm against abortion and gay marriage, so I'm against anyone who isn't against those things!" mentality. Which they did in 2004, 2000, 1996, and you can go on and on. FotF is the cornerstone of the "let's get our constituents to hate other people so much that we motivate them to vote!" vote. The foundation of lunatic christianity (not all christianity, but lunatic christianity.

But since they're Republican, white, and Christian, and not, say, Muslim, this feigned "I was just kidding!" excuse (which I last used in maybe third grade) is passable (and worse yet, believable???) to you? For shame.
 
Religious Hypocrisy is always a good story (See Ted Haggart)

myke- those snippets are the "how to raise a solid family" variety and don't really touch on religion. They focus more on "it's okay to beat your kids and put your wife in her place".
 
I wish the guy had stuck to his guns.

Then our side could pull out the Wiccans - you know they have close ties with the rain god (although they're the type that's not likely to profane their religion with petty politics - rule of three and all that)

Mainstream Christians may be good at getting the vote out, but their magic sucks.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']You've never heard Dobson talk about religion? Woah. I'm interested to hear what those radio snippets sound like.

But riddle me this, thrust: if it's funny, then these folks are taking the piss of themselves, and having a laugh at the idea of prayer actually working. Which tends to go against their prayer-solves-everything sensibilities. Let's say, instead, that they are dead serious; they're running on an antiquated, simple-minded and imbecilic "I'm against abortion and gay marriage, so I'm against anyone who isn't against those things!" mentality. Which they did in 2004, 2000, 1996, and you can go on and on. FotF is the cornerstone of the "let's get our constituents to hate other people so much that we motivate them to vote!" vote. The foundation of lunatic christianity (not all christianity, but lunatic christianity.

But since they're Republican, white, and Christian, and not, say, Muslim, this feigned "I was just kidding!" excuse (which I last used in maybe third grade) is passable (and worse yet, believable???) to you? For shame.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure what your getting at.

When I watched that video, I see a guy that's just having fun talking about praying for rain (one of the oldest and most common things to pray for, which makes it ironic) at a certain place and certain time. He's pontificating about whether it's "bad" to pray for it at THAT certain place and time.

He doesn't even ask others to do it. He doesn't even come close. It's definitely NOT straight faced, but it's not total slapstick comedy either. It's just silly and dumb.

If he had got on the screen and straight faced said "Everyone, I am asking you to please pray for rain on these devil worshiping dogs and their convention. Please. We need your prayers"... I'd see a story.

This would be a whole different ballgame if he had said he'd pray for something harmful. But rain harms nobody. It's just all pretty silly. I don't get why "your side" would find it upsetting, offensive, or even eyebrow raising in the least.

And further, if a Muslim talked about praying for rain on someone or some thing, I'd think it was as un newsworthy as this. That analogy also assumes I despise Muslims as much as you do white christian republicans.

This is a classic case of looking REALLY REALLY REALLY hard at the people you despise and grasping for a story.
 
No, it's a story.

Perhaps all those nuts who advocate killing doctors who to abortions should simply have a pleasant looking guy "joke" about it. I guess a little humor makes everything alright. But maybe, just maybe we can see past the fun loving jokester and see that he call for rain is not only hugely hypocritical but also reveals how much he despises Obama and the Dems. It's like when Limbaugh is caught being a knucklehead and always resorts to "hey I'm just an entertainer"

I can't recall myke every praying for rain on any FotF function?

(by the way before you get your little fingers all warmed up. I am not equating rain with killing doctors. I am simply pointing out the fact that humor isn't a catch all excuse like you make it out to be and there is a huge amount of hypocrisy in both cases-one more severe. A basic rule of prayer is to never pray for someone else's ill. Shepard should know this)
 
I did pray for Pat Robertson's diamond mines to be empty, but clearly that one didn't work out too well.

Here's what I think of prayer: fool me once, shame on you...
 
[quote name='usickenme']No, it's a story.

Perhaps all those nuts who advocate killing doctors who to abortions should simply have a pleasant looking guy "joke" about it. I guess a little humor makes everything alright. But maybe, just maybe we can see past the fun loving jokester and see that he call for rain is not only hugely hypocritical but also reveals how much he despises Obama and the Dems. It's like when Limbaugh is caught being a knucklehead and always resorts to "hey I'm just an entertainer"

I can't recall myke every praying for rain on any FotF function?

(by the way before you get your little fingers all warmed up. I am not equating rain with killing doctors. I am simply pointing out the fact that humor isn't a catch all excuse like you make it out to be and there is a huge amount of hypocrisy in both cases-one more severe. A basic rule of prayer is to never pray for someone else's ill. Shepard should know this)[/QUOTE]

Again, it's stupid. It IS hypocritical. The guy is a moron. Clearly. Whether he is joking or not, it's stupid. It's not dangerous, it's not offensive, it's not funny, it's just stupid. And I wager they pulled the video because it was embarrassing, not because people complained or got offended.
 
Well, to be fair, New Orleans is a far way from Minneapolis.

Before I dare admit you're right, are you now beginning to understand that the "humor/satire" claims are incorrect and sort of lazy post hoc attempts to avoid criticism for having such a shitty thought?

(In both cases)

Michael Moore should shut the fuck up. The Republicans are going to do themselves in this next week, so shut up and let nature take its course.
 
Hehe. Well to be fair, I can admit Michael Moore was kidding, and probably regrets making that joke.

But, I too will laugh if their convention is ruined by weather.
 
What is it about this hurricane that looks so bad? Perhaps because the damn thing is pointing at me.

Moore and Dobson deserve each other.
 
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