"God, I pray for President Obama..."

"'What is Something I Would Never Hear a Fellow Christian Utter in His/Her Prayer Closet' for 500, Alex."

I think that would be my response if I ever heard anyone in the Pentecostal movement say this. It's like a monkey driving a car; not something you see every day.

I watched an interview on The Daily Show on the devil box last night. The one being interviewed? Barack Obama.

Though I stand the risk of making many people angry and causing their heads to explode, I'm venturing out to say that I was impressed. He let America know that the aforementioned "hope and change" wasn't something that was going to happen overnight. It was going to take time and the cooperation of America.

Right now, there are probably fellow brethren of the faith that are travailing because the words escaping my lips and making their way to the screen will doom me to an eternity with Beelzebub.

Know how to bring the absolute devil out of almost any God-fearing Christian?

Bring up politics.

Say the name Barack Obama or make a passing reference to the Democratic Party and you just might see a normally kind-hearted person turn into a grotesque, vile monster. The things I have heard from some of these people have made me cringe. Hate speech is an understatement.

It's funny. If I were to post a hateful diatribe on Facebook or Twitter against a spiritual authority, the amount of trouble I would get in could not be described in enough words. Yet, strangely, putting something absolutely wretched and nearly inhumane about the Commander-in-Chief is hailed as patriotic.

The rebuttal, of course, is usually, "Well, they talk bad about us, but we can't talk bad about them?"

Forget turning the other cheek. We don't do that anymore. It's overrated.

I might have missed the memo, but when did God become a Republican? When did that solitary political party become the official party for all Christians, namely Pentecostals? If so, do I have a say in this at all?

Apparently not. Because not being Republican or conservative makes you a flaming liberal. Which apparently is the only way to go?

Could they have ever considered that I've never really left their side, but in honor for the man who eventually won the final election, chose to show him the respect that is due?

My opinions haven't changed. I still voice them upon being asked about them. But when we are asked to respect our leaders, I choose to assume that the leader of our country is included. Because, whether we like it or not, what he says goes.

News flash: being in disagreement with the values of the President is not a license to call him whatever comes to your mind (most of it being regurgitation from conservative talk shows). The phrase "You can't be a Christian and vote for Obama" is one of the most ignorant things I have heard in a while. Comparing him to a terrorist with a homonymous (if that's not a word, I just made it one) name and praying that he gets kicked out of office or even assassinated is not the attitude a professed Christian should possess.

What happened to praying for our leaders? Let's think hypothetically: what if the reason for our country's condition is due to the fact that instead of using our words to bring blessings on Obama, we are choosing to slander and curse him with them? Shouldn't we be backing our leaders instead of stabbing them with our venomous rants?

More importantly, how can we teach the younger generation to respect our leaders if we can’t even respect some of our own?

If I’m wrong, feel free to tell me where I can go. But I don’t think I am. Maybe we need to stop and think.

We believe in the power of prayer. Is it quite possible that we can actually puh-puh-puh….puh-prray for the President? Maybe instead of hurling ethnic slurs and slamming his character (which he has more of than some people I know [Yes. That just happened.]), we could ask that God provide him with discernment and wisdom to make pending important decisions?*

Anyhoo, that is all. I will return to my liberal, postmodern hole until something else enters my mind.

*If you’re a firm believer that God cannot speak to or use secular leaders, look at Cyrus the Great, King of Persia (Isaiah 45:1-3). To continue the overuse of a popular phrase: just sayin’.