RWNJ Pastor: Dem Prayers For Scalise Are Fake Because Dems Are ‘Children Of Satan’ (TWEETS/AUDIO/VIDEO)

On Wednesday morning, the Democratic Congressional baseball team had just arrived at Galludet University in Washington to practice for the following night’s Congressional Baseball Game when word got out that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise had been shot at the Republican practice across the Potomac in Alexandria. The Democrats’ manager, Congressman Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, immediately stopped practice to share the news.


While the Dems sheltered in place on the advice of Capitol Police, Doyle suggested that they bow their heads in prayer. Ruben Kihuen, a freshman congressman from Nevada, tweeted a picture of that moment.

Other Democratic lawmakers quickly chimed in as news of the butchery spread.

But to hear black conservative pastor Jesse Lee Peterson talk, those prayers and condolences from Democrats weren’t real. Why? As far as Peterson was concerned, Democrats worship Satan.

Peterson went to air a little more than 24 hours after the shooting, and blasted the Republicans for going soft on the Democrats in the aftermath of the shooting. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.

At around the 5:45 mark, Peterson claimed the Republicans were being “weak” by not blaming the Democrats for the shooting. As far as he was concerned, the Democrats were to blame for Wednesday’s butchery because they were “constantly lying” about Trump.


He then scoffed at the Democrats offering prayers for Scalise’s recovery.

“All this phony stuff–this is not real. What are the Democrats praying for? The Democrats are not of God! All of a sudden when Scalise gets shot, when they hear about the shooting, all the children of Satan are gonna to come together and pray. Please! That’s not real!”

Thus started what has become a typical Peterson rant. He claimed that the Democrats weren’t really sincere about praying for Scalise because “the Democrats don’t love God” at all. On the contrary, “their father is Satan, and that’s the reality.” While Peterson believed the gunman is ultimately responsible, he claimed that such things as Kathy Griffin’s beheading stunt and the Trump-themed version of “Julius Caesar” in Central Park ultimately lead to such butchery.

Peterson harrumphed that the Democrats’ statements of condolences aren’t real because they only care about “wealth and power,” and nothing else. As evidence, he cited Democrats’ support for marriage equality and allowing transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity, as well as their opposition to Trump’s travel ban.

He sees this as yet more evidence that Democrats are really agents of the devil–and therefore, Republicans have no business joining them in prayer.

“Why would you want to pray with the children of Satan? They serve a different God than you. That’s reality.”

Sadly, this sort of talk has long been standard operating procedure for the religious right. For years, one of the main tools they use to wedge Christians away from the Democrats is to suggest that voting for a Democrat could jeopardize their salvation. Therefore, it’s not possible to be a Christian and a Democrat. Peterson, for instance, frequently calls Democrats “children of the lie.”

I actually saw this first-hand during my college days, when I got suckered into joining a borderline cultish hypercharismatic campus ministry during my freshman year. Among other things, I was told that Christians had no business being pro-choice, and was subtly warned that my salvation was at risk unless I junked anything that supposedly didn’t jibe with the Bible without even thinking about it. As late as two years ago, I had to cut ties with one of my closest friends after 15 years after she told me that I wasn’t on a proper walk with God because I was a liberal.

A significant segment of this country believes that the other side is in league with the devil, and therefore just sitting and talking with them is verboten. I actually had someone tell me this a few years ago, when she unfriended me on Facebook. Her exact words still stick in my mind today.

“”Agreeing to disagree’ is part of the problem….once you give the devil even that much, it’s all downhill from there.”

When you have so many people thinking that just talking with the other side gives the devil room to elbow his way in, is it any wonder that this country seems to be in a permanent state of gridlock? And is it any wonder that one of the few times that bipartisanship breaks out is during a tragedy like this?

Fortunately, the House and Senate Republicans didn’t listen to Peterson’s advice. Before Thursday night’s game, both teams gathered on the field to pray together. Watch here, via CNN.

Needless to say, Peterson was not happy. During the first hour of Friday’s show, he went on a tirade calling Republicans “weak” for going along with calls for unity in the face of this tragedy.


Here’s a news flash, Jesse Lee. Before we are Democrats and Republicans, we are Americans. Something is very wrong if coming together in the face of an attack on our democracy is a sign of weakness. And something is equally wrong if coming together supposedly gives the devil a window to come in.

(featured image courtesy Peterson’s Facebook)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.