This morning when I woke up, my wife told me of something she read, something our esteemed President Barack Obama said Thursday about the tragic Charleston, South Carolina, shooting. This is the quote to which she referred me, from CNBC.com: “At some point we, as a country will have to reckon that this type of violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency.” Are you kidding me? I’ve heard Mr. Obama say some pretty ridiculous and outlandish things in his six years of office and beyond, but this one really takes the proverbial cake. This type of violence does not happen in other advanced countries? So, Mr. Obama, what actually qualifies as an advanced country? Certainly France isn’t an advanced country. Parlez vous Charlie Hebdo, Monsieur Obama? Certainly Iran isn’t an advanced country. In addition to the ongoing glut of domestic violence in that country, especially against women, Iran, which is on the verge of obtaining nuclear weapons, is loaded with terrorist organizations from Hezbollah to Hamas to Al-Qaeda. What about the Sunnis and the Shi’ites? Certainly there’s no violence there. Do you conveniently forget what you said in May, that Iran is a “state sponsor of terrorism?” Of course you did. Certainly Iraq isn’t an advanced country. Remember ISIS? Enough said. Certainly Egypt isn’t an advanced country. Coptic Christians are continually being killed and churches being burned. And certainly Israel is not an advanced civilized country. What about the four Jewish rabbis, including three Americans, and an Israeli police officer who were brutally slaughtered by a pair of Palestinian terrorists with guns, axes and meat cleavers in a Jerusalem synagogue. That’s only the tip of the iceberg on what goes on in Israel. Do I really need to continue? I thought last year’s statement Obama made to a group of young people at the White House was the most ridiculous thing he’s ever said. He said in June 2014, and I quote, “the world is less violent than it has ever been.” Really? In what world are you living, Fantasyland? By no means am I downplaying what happened in Charleston on Thursday. It grieves my spirit because human life was wasted by a young man that apparently has little or no knowledge of his Savior, Jesus Christ. This appears to be a young man that is so full of hate that he thought it was justified to kill innocent people. It’s heartbreaking, especially for the families of those Godly people who were killed at Emmanuel AME Church. It’s absolutely senseless. But, it’s the sign of the times. II Timothy 3:1-5 (MEV) says, “Know this: In the last days perilous times will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, slanderers, unrestrained, fierce, despisers of those who are good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Turn away from such people.” People are running away from their God en masse. And why? To satisfy their own blood lusts and desires. It’s scary. But, violence like this happens every day. Go the streets of Detroit, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles — it’s everywhere. That doesn’t make the Charleston shooting any less painful for any child of God, especially when it happens in a church. My question is: How long are people going to continue to “worship” President Barack Obama, who continues to make completely outlandish statements such as he did Thursday? Many, including some I know, think this man can do or say nothing wrong. I’m simply floored at the prospect. Be reconciled to the fact that the man is not God. I beg you to search your hearts. Shawn A. Akers is the online managing editor at Charisma Media. He is a published poet and published a story about Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR Chicken Soup For the Soul. You can read his blog here.
