On the one hand, I suppose this isn’t different than a football team’s pre-game prayer for victory. Although I’ve always found that notion bizarre. I understand praying for the strength and courage to do your personal best, but praying for victory, for God to actively intervene and smite your opponent, reeks just a bit too much of the “my god is bigger than your god” position. Maybe that makes sense in a religious war scenario, but what does it mean when you and your opponent are both praying for victory to the same god? Are you hoping to be deemed God’s favorite?

Yet it seems in this vein that we find Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Counsel and their Adopt a Liberal program. The program encourages followers to pray for liberal leaders to become right minded. But “praying for someone” sounds like such a good thing. How could this be bad? Because what they are really asking, is for people pray against liberals. In essence, praying for God to come down on the side of conservative politics and smite their political opponents. This is textbook passive aggressiveness.

What borders on the comical, is that Liberty Counsel’s website promoting this religious movement contains bald-faced lies about some of the liberal prayer targets. Just to pick one example, John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is listed as:

“…suggesting compulsory sterilization and abortion as appropriate policies for population control. He is on record as calling for the national government dictating how large families can be. Dr. Holdren is a “one world order” proponent, stating that, “a comprehensive Planetary Regime could control the development, administration, conservation, and distribution of all natural resources.” In an article he co-authored, Holdren advocated sterilization through government-controlled tainting of the water supply.”

Meanwhile, Politifact.com rates these claims as, liar, liar, “Pants on Fire!” So is Liberty Counsel hoping that God is ignorant, that he advocates and favors dishonesty and slander, or that He has a Machiavellian side that’s willing to let violation of the 9th Commandment slide as long as the results are righteous?

And you wonder why more and more Americans are becoming disillusioned with religion.