Sarah Palin won't specify what she believes in exactly- and normally, I would have absolutely no problem with that. I mean, I'm definitely all for the seperation of church and state. However, when you say that you are guided by your faith, and your faith specifically tells you to "achieve worldly power, especially political control" so that you can "drive out the demons", then we have a bit of a problem.
I'll clarify this a bit. The church in which Sarah Palin was raised, Wasilla Assembly of God, follows a particularly aggressive form of Pentacostalism that advocates "spiritual warfare". So-called spiritual warriors believe that individuals and even entire geographic areas can be effectively possessed by demons, and that they must "battle" them using prayer and evangelism. I would add a quote by the church, however according to the New York Times, its pastors have been told by the McCain campaign "not to speak to the media".
Now, you can't just attack a religion just because they are aggressive evangelists. However, spiritual warfare goes past evangelism, and towards a sort of faith-based megalomania. According to Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action, a Web site that tracks religious groups, “One of the imperatives of the movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control. Then you can more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is to purify the earth.”
To be fair, Palin left the Wasilla Assembly of God six years ago, though she has not joined another church since, and continues to associate with its pastor. More important though is that she is said to, as Governor, have appointed Patrick Donelson, a pastor who helped found a spiritual warfare ministry, to the only seat reserved for members of the clergy on the state’s Suicide Prevention Council.
Mary Glazier, who helped bring together the prayer warrior networks in Alaska, told a prayer conference in June that Palin “became a part of our prayer group out in Wasilla” when she was 24, and that “God began to speak” to her about entering politics.
According to Palin herself, she "can feel...the strength that is provided by our prayer warriors across this nation". Be careful, fellow progressives. Sarah's spiritual army might smite us- watch out for lightning.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
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3 comments:
I am so tired of militant fundamentalists like Palin. I don't care whether it's Christianity, Islam, or some other religion.
Well hopefully you have changed some of your views now that we clearly have a Socialist in office that is trying all the same economic fixes that have failed time and again in multiple countries. If not you will one day when you grow up and have to live in the real world, pay your own way and that includes the tax burden you are inheriting from the Obama administration. I was going to comment on specifics but so many of your views are narrow and show a true lack of understanding or insight. Just one quick example, compare Obama's religious background to Palin's and see which really makes you more uncomfortable. Above all please be honest with yourself and don't just blow it off as an Obama hater. I will admit I am that but I am also not a Republican and thought McCain would have been a disasterous president too.
Dear Steve,
I have changed some of my views, honestly, although most likely not in the way that you're preferring. Obama, it turns out, has been far less liberal in office as he was on the campaign trail- and, considering that while on the campaign trail he was still too centrist for my taste. I most definitely disagree in your calling him a socialist- as an economic socialist myself, I can say that Obama is unfortunately no socialist.
I agree with you, however, in saying that Obama has been going about the economy the wrong way, although I can assume that my preferred solution would be radically different than yours. In my opinion, the way to go about fixing the economy is not to give more money to the corporations who got us in this mess in the first place, but instead to enact legislation to regulate said companies in order to prevent corporate greed from getting us into this fiscal mess again. And as for taxes, while as you rightly point out I am young and do not yet pay taxes, I would be willing to pay my share to support the well-being of socciety. When I grow up, however, I plan on moving to the Netherlands- where my "Tax burden" will not be paying off the war debts of the Bush administration.
As for Obama's religious background, Obama was a member of the United Church of Christ. That is a liberal Christian church that supports a non-literalist version of the Bible, equal rights, and social justice. And while I don't agree with the rhetoric expressed by Reverend Wright, I am still more comfortable with his views than the views of the WAoG, but I understand where you are coming from on this.
Lastly, don't worry- I don't think you're just an "Obama hater". If you'd have read some of my far earlier posts, you would know that I am far from a blind follower of our President. I consider him far too centrist for my taste (call me a radical if you wish, but it's what I believe), but that's irrelevant. The point is, I don't consider Obama some sort of infallible God, and I find those who do honestly rather pathetic- however, I do consider him the lesser of two evils, and compared to Palin, Bush, Limbaugh, and co. he's a welcome alternative.
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