Indeed I was one of the hundreds of thousands of people across the globe outraged and calling for an apology, and a boycott, of the Israeli newspaper, Ma'ariv, for printing the contents of the personal prayer to God by Democratic nominee Barack Obama, during his recent trip to the Western Wall. For those not familiar with the story, Obama wrote the following prayer to God and slid it into the holy wall in Israel:
"Lord - protect my family and me. Forgive my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will."
Because prayers are so sacred, Jews and Christians alike, from all corners of the world, called (what was reported to be the stolen and later printed copy of that prayer for all the world to read) a "sacrilegious", "dastardly", "abominable", "unprincipled", "heinously vile" breach between a man and his God.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, who supervises the Western Wall, joined the chorus by saying:
"This sacrilegious action deserves sharp condemnation and represents a desecration of the holy site. Notes which are placed in the Western Wall are between the person and his Maker; Heaven forbid that one should read them or use them in any way!"
Jewish lawyers jumped on the bandwagon–– having gone as far as to petition the attorney general to order a police investigation into the removal and subsequent publication of the personal note left in a crack by the junior Senator from Illinois. [www.haaretz.com]
Well, the facts of this cynical story... facts that are coming out in the international media... is that it was Senator Obama who provided copies of his personal prayer to God to the media for distribution.
"Ma'ariv [newspaper] issued a response Sunday, saying that 'Obama's note was published in Ma'ariv and other international publications following Obama's authorization to make the content of the note public. Obama submitted a copy of the note to media outlets when he left his hotel in Jerusalem. Moreover, since Obama is not Jewish, there is no violation of privacy as there would be for a Jewish person who places a note in the Western Wall.'"
Providing his personal prayer to the media??? Aside from the much drama, hullabaloo and commotion, both legally and in faith communities across the globe, this has caused... just why Obama would distribute, what should have been a sincere conversation to his maker, to the press? That is problematic in its own regard. But, in addition, why... why would he keep silent (allowing a media circus to ensue for all of these days), knowing that he was the one who authorized the pimping of his private prayer to God to the media for Judo-Christian- credibility-points... is troubling, to say the least.
I've eaten my 'crow'on the front end. Now, Senator Obama owes the Jewish holy men, Christians and people all over the world (who thought he had been wronged and came to his defense), the media... and his God, a sincere, contrite apology. If he doesn't, then every comment unknowingly directed at Ma'ariv news: "sacrilegious", "dastardly", "abominable", "unprincipled", "heinously vile" breach... should be directed to him until he does. Shame on him!
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3 comments:
Susan S:
As you, I was completely appalled by the publication of Candidate Obama's private prayer! I silently cursed the papparazzi (sp) because I believed that one of them had stolen it from the Wall. Was nothing sacred? Was their no privacy to be respected?
Now that the truth is coming out, as you report, I AM NOT SURPRISED! This is a man who will say or do anything to achieve political power. Your is a well written article
George H - Baltimore, MD
I am not a big christian but some things are not to be played with. Prayer is one. Thank you for your blog.
Sandy G - NY:
How can the Republicans object to Obama publishing his prayer after the lies and innuendos they have consistently leaked to the press about him? Thousands of politicians and others publish their prayers.
Lacking anything substantive to criticize about our next president, the GOP stoops lower and lower. No doubt the Republicans' allies in Israel created this entire eruption. If the prayer story came from a news release, why didn't the newpaper say so?
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