Pastor asks followers to pray for his critics to die

Wiley S. Drake, a Buena Park pastor and a former national leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, called on his followers to pray for the deaths of two leaders of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The request was in response to the liberal group’s urging the IRS on Tuesday to investigate Drake’s church’s nonprofit status because Drake endorsed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president on church letterhead and during a church-affiliated Internet radio show.

Drake said Wednesday he was “simply doing what God told me to do” by targeting Americans United officials Joe Conn and Jeremy Leaming, whom he calls the “enemies of God.”

“God says to pray imprecatory prayer against people who attack God’s church,” he said. “The Bible says that if anybody attacks God’s people, David said this is what will happen to them. . . . Children will become orphans and wives will become widows.”

Imprecatory prayers are alternately defined as praying for someone’s misfortune, or an appeal to God for justice.

“Let his days be few; and let another take his office,” the prayer reads. “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”

Conn said he was “startled” at Drake’s reaction to the complaint against Drake’s First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park.

“We expected him to try to defend his actions,” Conn said.

“Instead he goes on spiritual blitzkrieg against us, praying for our destruction. He completely glossed over the fact that his actions are clearly a violation of federal tax law.”

Drake is a long-time Orange County evangelical preacher who frequently captures the spotlight.

In the 1990s, he protested “Gay Day” at Disneyland and a 2 Live Crew concert as obscene. He also fought Buena Park city officials who tried to stop him from sheltering homeless people on church grounds.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Religious Insanity, Wiley S. Drake Share, Blog About, Bookmark, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Religious Insanity, Wiley S. Drake Read Another Article Previous entry: Muslim juror accused of wearing MP3 player under her hijab escapes punishment Next entry: US Lutherans consider Israel boycott RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Religious Insanity Most Popular Today Polygamist Sect Leader Convicted of Sexual Assault Jury takes 14 minutes to convict self-proclaimed pot pastor Supreme Court upholds cult AUM Shinrikyo members’ death sentences Fort Hood shooting: imam says Nalid Malik Husan ‘didn’t seem like an extremist’ Prosecutor not malicious in Satanic sex abuse case, Canada’s Supreme Court says

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum: