Wiley Drake

Wiley S. Drake is a controversial California-based pastor and was mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate for the America's Independent Party ticket in 2008 before Brian Rohrbough received the nomination.

He first attracted attention in the 1990s for protesting Disneyland's first "Gay Day" and for protesting a 2 Live Crew concert as obscene. He also tangled with Buena Park, California city officials over sheltering the homeless on his church's property. Rev. Drake is also a radio announcer.

He was vice president of the national Southern Baptist Convention in 2006. In 2008 his bid for presidency of the SBC was unsuccessful; he won less than one percent of voting delegates.

Imprecatory prayer controversy

In early 2008, while he was the pastor for the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Reverend Drake was a vocal supporter of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign. He sent out a letter personally endorsing Huckabee. However, the letter was on church stationery; thus, to the Internal Revenue Service, Rev. Drake was endorsing a political candidate as a church leader and endangering his church's tax-exempt status.

Rev. Drake's violation of federal tax law was reported to the IRS by an advocacy group called Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), which had warned him for endorsing Dick Mountjoy for a U.S. Senate race with a Southern Baptist Convention letterhead. Rev. Drake asked his parishioners and others to pray for revenge using an imprecatory prayer for the punishment, shame, and even deaths of AU officials. He defended these actions by saying, "The prayer does call for serious, serious punishment on people. But I didn't call for that, God did," and, "The Bible says that if anybody attacks God’s people, David said this is what will happen to them…." Drake also did not fear IRS investigation, explaining, "They don’t scare me. I don’t give a rip about the IRS. I don’t believe in the separation of church and state and I believe the IRS should stay out of church business."

Prayer for rain controversy

In August 2008, the Focus on the Family religious group posted a video on its website in which Stuart Shepard, an official within the political arm of the group, asked viewers to pray for "abundant, torrential" rains "of biblical proportions" at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado during Barack Obama's acceptance speech for the Democratic presidential candidacy at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The group later pulled the video and Shepard apologized.

Rev. Drake, however, published a release online in which he expressed sadness that the video had been pulled, and invited his own followers to join him in praying to God to "bring on the rain" and also for repentance in America.

Political involvement

In 2008, former diplomat Alan Keyes, after mounting unsuccessful campaigns for the nominations of the Republican Party and Constitution Party, formed a new third party, called America's Independent Party. In July 2008, the party met in Sacramento, California and selected Rev. Drake as his vice presidential nominee. Drake was not in attendance. Subsequently on his radio program, he referred to the AIP as "we" and stressed that he would do everything he could to support the Keyes campaign.

However, in August 2008, the AIP held what was described as "its inaugural National Convention" in Fenton, Michigan. Keyes was again selected as their presidential candidate, but rather than Drake being selected as vice presidential candidate once again, the convention had reportedly intended to nominate American Right to Life president Brian Rohrbough of Colorado. Nevertheless, the delegates unanimously voted to table the nomination until a court decision which would decide whether Keyes could legitimately be the candidate of AIP's California affiliate. Later that month, a ruling was issued in the case and Keyes earned the California affiliate's spot on the ballot over Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin. Reportedly Rohrbough has been nominated for the vice presidency over Rev. Drake. The AIP ticket thus far is only on the ballot in California, Colorado, and Florida.

External links

* [http://www.wileydrakeinbuenapark.com/ Rev. Drake's internet radio program]