Facebook Page 'Prays' for Obama's Death?

April 23, 2010— -- For some, it's just a Facebook page intended to get some laughs. But, for others, it's a website so offensive, they think Facebook should take it down.

A page created by an anonymous user reads, "DEAR LORD, THIS YEAR YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTOR, PATRICK SWAYZIE. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE ACTRESS, FARAH FAWCETT. YOU TOOK MY FAVORITE SINGER, MICHAEL JACKSON. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, MY FAVORITE PRESIDENT IS BARACK OBAMA. AMEN."

As of Thursday evening, more than 950,000 Facebook users indicated that they "liked" the page and a steady stream of comments on the page's wall showed a relatively active membership.

But in response to the Facebook page apparently "praying" for the president's death, users launched at least three other Facebook page's denouncing the "prayer" site and lobbying for its removal.

More than 28,000 people have joined a Facebook group called "Petition to remove facebook group praying for President Obama's death," that not only asks supporters to join the group but report the "prayer" site as abusive.

"Stop Promoting HATE! (In response to the death prayer of the President)" has attracted more than 1,000 supporters and "5 MILLION AGAINST THE FRIVOLOUS OBAMA DEATH PAGE" has more than 900 supporters.

Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement that though the anti-Obama page "may be considered distasteful and objectionable to some," it doesn't violate Facebook's policies.

"We're sensitive to content that includes pornography, bullying, hate speech, and actionable threats of violence and we react quickly to remove content that violates our policies when it is reported to us," he said. "Facebook is highly self-regulating and leverages its more than 400 million users to keep an eye out for offensive content. We encourage users to report such content and we have a large team of professional reviewers who evaluate these reports and take action per our policies."

In September 2009, Facebook removed a poll asking if Obama should be killed after the Secret Service received a tip and contacted the company.

Other pages similar to this "prayer" page targeting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have not been removed.