Local Church Sign Compares Obama to 'King Jesus'

A sign outside a local church comparing the power of President Obama to "King Jesus" has shocked some residents of a small upstate New York town, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports.

The Gardiner Reformed Church in Gardiner, N.Y., erected a portable sign Saturday outside the church that read: "President Obama or King Jesus Sunday 10:30 a.m." -- which was meant to be the topic of Sunday's sermon.

Local resident Bobbie Jo Gladitsch told the newspaper that she and her mother were "unnerved" by the sign, saying, "It's like he wants us to choose between the president and Jesus — which one should you believe in?"

"Nobody should have to choose between either," Gladitsch said. "I like both."

But the Rev. Gary Sissel, pastor of the church, told the newspaper that he did not intend to offend parishioners. The sign, he said, was meant only to compare the power of the president to the "humble" power of Jesus Christ.

"It's just a comparison of the use of power," Sissel told the newspaper. "It was just using it as a symbol of power because as president of the United States he is the most powerful person in the world ... And here is the king of the universe and he's riding in on a humble donkey."

Click for more on this story from the Poughkeepsie Journal