WRITING notes to God is, of course, the adult equivalent of kids haranguing Santa for a Nintendo Wii – but if you’ve got your sights set on the White House, you have to go with the superstitious flow, and “do” God with a vengeance.
Which is precisely what Barack Obama did last week when he jammed a written prayer into a crack of the Western Wall, Judaism’s “holiest” site.
The note asked God to guide him and guard his family, an Israeli newspaper revealed last Friday.
Revealed? A personal note to the Almighty? What jolly bad form! No wonder an unholy row is developing over this terrible breach of etiquette, let alone privacy.
Barack Obama and the nicked note to God
According to Yahoo, the note, published in the Maariv daily, reads:
Lord — Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.
The paper’s decision to make the note public immediately drew fire. Shmuel Rabinovitz, the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall – known also as the Kotel – said that publishing the note intruded into Obama’s relationship with God.
He told Army Radio:
The notes placed between the stones of the Western Wall are between a person and his maker. It is forbidden to read them or make any use of them. The publication damages the Western Wall and damages the personal, deep part of every one of us that we keep to ourselves.
One of many bloggers who thought the note’s theft was despicable added:
This is, I think, the cult of celebrity at its ugliest. It would be akin to bugging a confessional to hear a Catholic candidate’s private conversation between his priest and the Lord. It assumes no boundaries, no privacy, regardless of the lack of relevance to the issues at hand. We’re not electing a Pope; we’re electing a President, and his private entreaties to God should remain private.
Shame on the man who stole this note, and the several others who stole the notes of others in their search for Obama’s. Shame on Maariv and the Times, and anyone else who published Obama’s prayer. Maybe all of them should be praying to get a life.
Many visitors to the 2,000-year-old Western Wall leave notes bearing requests and prayers. Obama did so during a pre-dawn visit there last Thursday, following a day spent meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
At the Western Wall, Obama was greeted by a crowd of curious onlookers and photographers. He donned a white skullcap, listened to a rabbi read a prayer, and inserted a folded white piece of paper between the stones.
According to the Jerusalem Post:
Thousands of notes and prayers are stuffed into the cracks of the wall. In recent years, The Western Wall Heritage Foundation, which operates the site, has opened a fax hot line and a website where people overseas can send their prayers and have them printed out and placed in the wall.
The wall is emptied of its notes several times a year. These are treated as a prayer book and buried, rather than burned.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
July 28th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
This guy’s maker needs a note instead of just reading his mind? This is grandstanding on the part of Obama, at best. At the worst, he might actually believe in this shit. I couldn’t expect anything less, though, of a potential leader of the United Theocracystates of America.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:45 am
Steve: Do you really think that, in this great theocracy, anyone who doesn’t profess a belief in SuperInvisibleFriend is going to become elected president?
July 29th, 2008 at 1:47 am
Steve… I’m thinking you’ve completely missed the point. This really has nothing to do with Obama’s faith or anything else… it has to do with privacy. Do you particularly want people reading YOUR letters, regardless of who they’re to? So what if you think the person Obama wrote do doesn’t exist - it’s still a pretty gross invasion of privacy.
In addition, stealing things from the Wall is more than a religious affront - it’s a cultural affront, too. It’s like someone going and offering to shake someone’s hand with your left hand in the Middle East, or pissing on Uluru in Australia. I mean, what the hell? Just because someone doesn’t see the world the same way you do does NOT give you liberty to treat them like shit, does it? Oh, and if you answer yes to that question, you fail, and win the Hypocrisy Award of the Year.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:29 am
Perhaps you just don’t like Obama, Steve? He is not my first choice, but he is currently the better choice in American politics. McCain has crawled so far up Bush’s butt since 2004, he’s useless. Actually , he’s useless on a lot of levels, it’s hard to believe this is the same guy who ran in 2000. It’s not only that he is old, he seems to have become stupid (5 references over 2 weeks to Czechoslovakia? Let’s talk about the Berlin wall next! Or maybe that bum Stalin, the Soviets, Mao…..) I am as hardcore an atheist as they come, I think his prayer to a non-existent god is silly, but it hurts no one. he has, at least not said “god told me to be president” (right after a long frat boy weekend of coke and Jack Daniels like SOME idiots) and if anything shows a sense of decency and well wishing for the future. Perhaps we have all become jaded since Daddy’s Supreme Court adjudicated a mental deficient to head the USA. Don’t let the unfortunate circumstance of the last 7+ years give you cause against legitimate concern by legitimate candidates. Sadly, he does need to cater to the non-critical thinking people who comprise far too much of the public.I am more annoyed that he truly NEEDS to do such things than that he HAS to do such things to placate the Neanderthals.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:52 am
I just looked back at the comment I made in response to Steve. For what it may be worth, I had 2 martinis and a couple of beers. I just had another martini and wish to add that religion has no place in politics. EXCEPT that we who live in America need to deal with it. SHOULD WE HAVE TO? NO! DO WE HAVE TO? YES. It sucks, but we who are capable of critical thought are still in the minority. It will be a long time (unfortunately) before the majority wises up. I’d like to say THEY are STUPID but frankly, that is self defeating.
But it doesn’t change the fact- THEY ARE STUPID!
Have a nice day, It’s the only chance you will get.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:05 am
I’m not going to take a hard core Atheistic stance on this. A person’s beliefs and practices are his alone, I would want my beliefs privacy to be respected as I try to respect others’. Sniping at a person for his belief puts Atheists at the same level of the Religious Right or any other fundie group. It is appalling that this note was stolen and published, this being a question of privacy not belief. I look at this with a jaundiced eye only due to the fact that Obama is a politician running for office.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Oh, you’re witty throwing in a word inferring that our nation is a bunch of bible-thumpers, impersonating someone with something intelligent to add.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:49 am
You need to learn the difference between a theocracy and a constitutional republic. America is not a theocracy because we are not forced to practice a certain religion at fucking gunpoint. Note that almost every religion in the world is practiced in America. If this were a theocracy, everybody practicing those religions would be dead or in prison.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Magister Mundi: I’m thinking it is you who has missed the point on this one. A front running candidate for the Presidency of the US has given up the right to his privacy and he knows it. I wouldn’t go pulling notes from the wall, and invasion of privacy isn’t right, but it’s going to happen to those in his position. It was a note meant to be read by people, and Obama knew that as well. I commented as I did only because this note passer seeks to occupy a position of enormous importance. It was a calculated move. Thinking poorly of someone who doesn’t share my world view is, to me, acceptable. Treating them like shit is not, as you rightly point out.
Dan A: No, an atheist cannot be elected to this office in the US. Our intelligence doesn’t need to be insulted, though, by publicly depositing notes to God in the wall, does it?
Sean: I do know the difference. It was just a play on words to express my frustration over the state of public leadership. The rest of your comment is quite correct.
Hammer: Fuck you. How’s that for wit? Intelligent too.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Just so you know… This wall is not 2000 years old, but rather at least 2500 years old…
I know you guys are all from a Christian “Background” (and I use this term loosely)… But Jerusalem existed long before the supposed birth of jesus
One thing I have always been wondering:
Jews (including some relatives of mine) have been stuffing pieces of paper into this wall for generations… where do they all go?
Perhaps it is just a superstition encouraged by the authorities as the crumbled paper actually supports those giant bricks?
July 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Ron, thanks for pointing that out. As for what happens to all those prayer notes, the last line of the post points out:
“The wall is emptied of its notes several times a year. These are treated as a prayer book and buried, rather than burned.”
August 1st, 2008 at 12:20 am
Steve,
Shut the fuck up. The world is beautiful because we are allowed to our own opinion…yours still make you an asshole. Paris Hilton knows shes in the spotlight, but if she went to a wall that was sacred, spiritually and culturally, and placed a note in it, it SHOULD NEVER BE TOUCHED. shame on you for giving whoever stole, STOLE, Obamas note validation. Hey, your on the message bored spotlight now….whats your IPC code and email addresses…i mean, your in the eye of the public board…how can you NOT expect those to get stolen? Right?
P.s. Two groups who I’ve found among all theists that are most pushy, arrogant and know-it-all…Christians and Atheists. Personal experience, not broadly generalizing, mind you.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:19 am
Someone once said, “I disagree with what you said, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Contrary to Bush’s desires and wishes, we still have the right to disagree with the christians (small c on purpose). When will they be willing to grant us that right?
As for what Obama put into the note, that was his business whether he meant it or was simply being diplomatic.
August 1st, 2008 at 3:51 am
why are you showing this to us
August 1st, 2008 at 5:39 am
I too am an atheist, but what does my ‘religion’, political preference, skin color, gender, sexual preference, etc, have to do with this at all? The man made a private ‘deposit’ in a place that traditionally accepts private ‘deposits’ and disposes of them in a manner ideal to it’s users. As far as I am concerned, this is no less than a breech of personal privacy and vandalism. No other factors should be involved.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:35 pm
It was a private message to a mythological being. The privacy of that message should have been respected. It’s not like he stole a cracker, lol.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Here is the background of the quote SmokeyDemon mentioned:
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
* Though these words are regularly attributed to Voltaire, they were first used by Evelyn Beatrice Hall, writing under the pseudonym of Stephen G Tallentyre in The Friends of Voltaire (1906), as a summation of Voltaire’s beliefs on freedom of thought and expression.
* Another possible source for the quote was proposed by Norbert Guterman, editor of “A Book of French Quotations,” who noted a letter to M. le Riche (February 6, 1770) in which Voltaire is quoted as saying: “Monsieur l’abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write” (”Monsieur l’abbé, je déteste ce que vous écrivez, mais je donnerai ma vie pour que vous puissiez continuer à écrire”). This remark, however, does not appear in the letter.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Oh, my source was: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire
August 1st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Racism raises up it’s ugly head everywhere it seems.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:25 pm
When I left a note at the wall a decade ago, I was approached by several hucksters wanting money. Very low class. All over the Old City. I’m not surprised that someone took the note. Folks around there have probably been doing this to tourists for many centuries.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
As an Atheist, I still find this despicable. His privacy should be respected, and while I don’t agree with his beliefs, they should be respected so far as they don’t encroach upon anyone else’s. Writing a note to his god and putting it in a wall harms no one, and as such should be respected as something he takes comfort in or, given a more cynical view, decides to use as a display of faith to his constituents. Either way, his treatment in these circumstances is dreadful.
The fact that he either believes this or is forced to do so for votes isn’t really relevant here. We all know how the politics in the USA work, and we know the statistics on the sickening majority of Americans who claim they wouldn’t vote for an Atheist. I have no idea what Obama’s internal beliefs truly are, and never will. But on the outside he has no choice but to play the political game if he wishes to reach the White House, and I can’t dock him for this any more than I dock ANY politician for it. Any honest politician has a very short career path ahead of them in this system.
And yes, despite my low opinion of him, I’d be just as outraged if this were done to McCain. Everyone deserves some level of basic human respect.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Yet again religion is accorded special treatment, even by self-proclaimed atheists.
By banging on about privacy everyone is missing the point. Writing private stuff on a piece of paper and sticking it into a crack in a wall in the middle of a public place is a really brainless thing to do. But because it was a “prayer” (i.e. a begging letter to an invisible, ineffable deity) it is somehow sacrosanct. Why is this? If I wrote a love poem to my wife and left it hanging out of a wall I could hardly bitch if it got into the public domain. If I complained about my privacy then people would quite rightly tell me to quit whining. Non volenti fit injuria and all that.
Here’s a life tip: if you don’t want your teenage angst poor me letters to be read then don’t jam them into a crevice in a wall in the middle of a city. Tuck them behind the fridge - god can read them from anywhere, he’s got eyes on omnipotent stalks that guy.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Actually, I think it’s kind of private. I mean, isn’t it along the same lines as monuments? It’s common manners to not mess with those types of things to not offend others. What ever happened to a separation of church and state? Surely if there was a better division of the two, this would not have happened.
August 9th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Metal guy,
When you say christians and athiests tend to be the most pushy, arrogant… I have to say on the part of Athiests, it’s hard not to get frustrated when it seems you’re surrounded by delusional maniacs who talk to god, or sane people who humor them and respect their mental illness. So you’re right, we can come across as arrogant at times, but sometimes we just feel like we’re surrounded by lunatics.