BUENA PARK, Calif. (RNS) — Pastor Wiley Drake, the Southern Baptist minister who has publicly prayed for the death of President Obama, has changed his mind — but only because he wants to see the president live long enough to face a trial for treason.
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“I am calling for all of God’s people and prayer warriors to cease the imprecatory prayer, and pray for Mr. Obama’s PROTECTION until he can be properly tried for treason,” Drake said in a statement he released Nov. 19.
The pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., said he was convinced he should withdraw his prayers for Obama’s death after getting advice from Pastor James David Manning of Harlem, N.Y., who also questions the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency.
“Dr. James David Manning appealed to me that we do not want to have him dead,” Drake said in an interview Nov. 24. “We want him alive so we can prosecute him and then give him the death penalty.”
On Oct. 29, U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of Santa Ana, Calif., dismissed a lawsuit filed by Drake and others claiming the president had not demonstrated he is a “natural born citizen” despite the fact Obama has a Hawaii birth certificate. Drake’s attorney has appealed the case to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Drake, a former second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, was on the 2008 California ballot as the vice presidential running mate of American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes.