Religious Wars?

I was interviewed on Spanish TV tonight and the wonderful thing is that I never left the comfort of my room. I just turned on my Skype, the station called and voila! The topic was a Tshirt that someone who calls himself Nobama is selling asking people to "pray for Obama" followed by the text Psalm 109:8 It seems like a supportive gesture but it is not. When one looks up the text it is a Psalm of lamentation where the writer complains about the king of those who have mistreated the people of Ancient Israel. The person prays that this king may die and his children also and that nothing be left of his name. Understandable feelings for those who have suffered the ignominious mistreatment of occupying soldiers:
Psalm 109:8-13

8: Let his years be few; let someone else take his position.
9: May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10: May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes.
11: May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned.
12: Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children.
13: May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation.

A similar feeling is in Psalm 137 which concludes with the curse disguised as a blessing: Babylon, Babylon, you who kills the prophets! Blessed be the ones who take your children and dash them against the rocks. Not very uplifting or edifying sentiments. Sheer frustration, pain and desire for revenge.

The interviewer wanted to know if I thought this was a death threat and I said no, it is a misuse of Scripture but it is not a direct threat. People may pray for a terrible fate for someone but we who follow Jesus know that God would not listen to such a terrible prayer. Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us hence Jesus' Papa, God, would understand but ignore prayers that express a desire to cause harm.

The interviewer then asked if in the middle of religious wars such prayers are not unwise. I replied that the prayers are unwise but that we are not in the middle of religious wars. We are involved in an illegal, immoral and unjust war motivated by desires to extend hegemony, control resources and humiliate people. It is the war machinery that wants us to believe that we are in a religious war and the excuse of 9/11 needs to be unmasked for what it is, an excuse.

The interviewer concluded with a promise to bring me back to explain more on what I mean by the statement that 9/11 is just and excuse. I hope he fulfills his promise to me and to his public.

Ignacio Castuera