The Sotomayor Hearings May Now Continue…

Last time I had heard of Rev. Rob Schenck, he was anointing the doorway President Obama would pass through on the way to his Inauguration.

With the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor scheduled to begin on July 13^th, Schenck is back.

He has decided to bless the door of Senate Hart Building Room 216, the probable location of the hearings.

Thankfully, he used oil blessed by a Catholic priest. Because we know if it had been any of that crazy “Lutheran oil” again, we’d all be screwed…?

Schenck is the President of Faith and Action in the Nation’s Capital. In a letter to his followers, he wrote this:

As I prayed, I touched the doors in three spots, making the sign of the cross. I prayed for God to superintend over the entire confirmation process and mark them with truth because Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and He prayed to His Father, saying, “Thy Word is Truth.” Of course, in the end, we always pray that God’s will be done.

Wow. That is some serious Action right there.

At some point, this just gets really creepy for me.

I’m not sure if it’s the notion that a stranger can just put oil on a Senate office door (is that even allowed?) or if it’s that Schenck puts a lot of weight on the fact that he touched the door a specific number of times in very specific places.

I also wonder why he must anoint the door in person, if he believes what he does. Are his prayers no good from a distance?

And does anyone else think he’s going to snap if they end up moving the location. Or is that ok because the deed has already been done? In which case, why was it so important in the first place…?

I’ll give him credit for one thing, though — this is the first conservative Christian group leader I’ve seen doing something (theoretically, but not really) good for her. He wasn’t calling her racist or unfit; he just wants the hearings to be “blessed” and “truthful,” whatever those things mean to him.

The guy still creeps me out, but I suppose his heart’s in the right place…?

(via Life Without Faith)

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kelemi

schism

If by “the right place” you mean crazy wackadoodle land, then yes. Yes, his heart is most certainly there.
mikespeir

Is he going to pay the cleaning bill if one of those expensive Italian suits rub against his oil?
anothermike

Bobby Henderson — are you out there? You must get to DC with some marinara sauce!
Dennis N

It really creeps me out that people can come in and place foreign substances around the room. What if instead of oil it was anthrax? This seems like a security issue to me.
Richard Wade

Of course, in the end, we always pray that God’s will be done.

Why? Does God’s will ever not get done? Does God ever goof? Maybe he goes on vacation to Disneyworld and some lackey he leaves in charge screws up?

“Uh, excuse me, God, uh, we know you’re in charge of everything from quarks to galaxies, but uh, we just hope that everything goes the way you want about this Sotomayor thing. It’s kinda important. We wouldn’t want to end up with somebody you don’t approve of, just by accident, so we’re sure you’ll be right on top of this. Don’t misunderstand, we’re just trying to be helpful, you know. Oh, and we greased up the door frames just the way you like.”

In respect for Judge Sotomayor’s strong Catholic background, I used oil specially formulated for this purpose.

Is this foreign or domestic oil? Don’t we have enough trouble without wasting oil? What kind of oil is this “special formula” anyway? Is it a petroleum product? Does it have additives that reduce wear and extend lifetime under high temperatures? Or is it whale oil? Castor oil? Linseed oil? Cottonseed oil? Cod liver oil? Olive oil? Oil of Olay? Snake oil? Corn oil? Peanut oil? Sunflower oil? Coconut oil? Palm oil? Poppy seed oil? Peppermint oil? Spearmint oil? Eucalyptus oil? Oil of roses? Oil of cloves? Oil of Turpentine? Citronella oil? Oil of sassafras? Oil of lavender? Oil of jasmine? Shale oil?

Well, whatever kind of oil or oils it is, I hope Schenck is greasing the right palms.
Spork

My hope is that the oil serves a dual purpose: a blessing from god and getting rid of that awful squeaking.
manyhats

Someone find a voodoo priest to sacrifice a chicken, or whatever they do, to sanctify the same room. See if he gets past security. What a crock of… Who decided to let him do this?
llewelly

The guy still creeps me out, but I suppose his heart’s in the right place…?

Too bad his brain is in his rectum.
Richard Wade

I have to say I feel a little sorry for him and a little affection for him. He’s kind of like a harmless village screwball, and I wonder if some of the Senators and Congressmen he’s befriended think of him that way, so they let him oil his way around the Capitol. He seems to be a very kindly person who wants his country to be good and successful. He had that same positive, hopeful attitude when “anointing” the door through which President Elect Obama was to pass on Inauguration Day.

He’s also really into magic. Very special oil with special qualities, cross marks on the door with special qualities that must be applied just so, words with special qualities that must be spoken just so. It’s all so magical, so caught up in the necessity of the ritual itself, as if just wanting and thinking those good, hopeful things is not sufficient without the magic oil, magic marks and magic words.

So while I think that on principle he and other shaman, witch doctors, soothsayers, oracles and prophets have no business being officially sanctioned or paid by the government to shake their rattles, murmur their spells, mix their potions and portend their visions, I suppose we should be glad that he just smears oil on doors instead of lamb’s blood.
PrimeNumbers

He should be locked up in the loony bin! Or at least stopped and arrested while the oil is tested for biological weapons, toxins or nerve gasses.
hoverFrog

During the plague years when black death was rampant in Europe the doors of plague victims were painted with a red cross, not to cure anyone but to warm others not to enter.

Is this oil thing like that? You see a greasy door and realise that it is an unsafe environment and so avoid it? It’s like a public service or something? Either that or literally hundreds of people are supporting his delusional behaviour and allowing him to make a right tit of himself. I find that to be quite cruel. It’s obvious that he needs help.
marfita

we know if it had been any of that crazy “Lutheran oil” again, we’d all be screwed
Bwah-hahahahahahahaaaaaa!
David D.G.

The guy still creeps me out, but I suppose his heart’s in the right place…?

Heart? Apparently.

Brain? Not so much.

~David D.G.
Alexis

Sounds like OCD to me. http://ffrf.org/fttoday/2003/april/index.php?ft=sapolsky
John Larberg

Man! To be a mystical shaman that places magical ointments on buildings for living! I might start a business that predicts eclipses and gets rid of them once they occur.
Kit Kittappa

Hindus in “modern” India, still smear their forehead and doors with cow-dung ashes (sympathising with Shiva who smeared himself with ashes from cremation grounds). Should’nt we allow a Hindu priest to smear the senate doors with cow-dung ashes?