God-o-Meter asserted last week that McCain veep pick Sarah Palin is Catholic. It seems that Palin was baptized a Catholic after birth but was baptized into the Assemblies of God as a teenager and that she now attends an Assemblies of God church in the capital and a non-denominational church at home.
According to the AP:
Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, said Palin attends different churches and does not consider herself Pentecostal.
The National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen points out that says that Palin’s post-denominational Christianity is right at home in the current American religious landscape:
Palin appears to be part of that rapidly expanding galaxy of “post-denominational” Christianity, where elements of Evangelical and Pentecostal styles of faith and worship fuse into a myriad of unique local combinations, and where old denominational loyalties are essentially dead.
Though post-denominationalists are, by definition, difficult to catalog and index, they’re unquestionably numerous. A 2007 survey conducted by LifeWay found that fully one-third of American Protestants were contemplating attending a different church in the future, and of that group, only one in four said it would be important that their future church belong to the same denomination as the one they currently attend.
God-o-Meter expects that Palin’s post-denominational Christianity will benefit her beyond its resonance with post-denominational voters.
By declining to be pigeonholed into a specific Christian tradition, Palin will be able to transcend the evangelical/Pentecostal box that being a Christian Right darling would seem to put her in. That means she can rely on an evangelical/Pentecostal lexicon that her background has equipped her with to connect with those voters without being overly identifed with that tradition by others, like other values candidates–think Mike Huckabee, Gary Bauer, Pat Robertson–were.
She can play both sides, targeting less religious independents and the GOP’s Christian Right base voters. The last candidate who was able to straddle both worlds was elected to two terms in the White House: George W. Bush.
Recall that Bush never called himself an evangelical or born again Christian. That would made him vulnerable to pigeonholing, scaring off independents. So he used an evangelical lexicon to reach all the voters who would recognize it without alienating others. The GOP desperately wants to distance itself from Bush. But his political tactics, which worked so well, might linger for a while.
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posted September 2, 2008 at 12:51 am
You can’t be serious! The thought of a Vice President speaking in foreign languages that are not even human is not a good thing.
posted September 2, 2008 at 9:25 am
Does God-o-Meter who posted such nonsense profess themselves Christian? You are right, Palin can PLAY with the Republican Party, BUT Democrat women will not Vote for her, We don’t need another George Bush in the White-House! What kind of woman is she? A special needs child needs a Mother’s Care more then the Nation needs her for Vice President!
posted September 2, 2008 at 12:36 pm
I believe you are mistaken. George Bush did say he was born again before he was elected during the primary. He just didn’t run on the absurd lingo that Jimmy Carter did, being all words and no works. Bush was more works than words…a real plus.
posted September 2, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Knowledge,
Bush talked like a born again, including about how faith and a conversation with Billy Graham helped him give up alchohol, but did he ever identify himself as a born again or evangelical?
If you’ve seen proof that he has, please send it God-o-Meter’s way!
posted September 2, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Knowledge, please tell me you’re kidding or just being sarcastic.
Jimmy Carter was probably our most Christian president. He and his wife have spent their lives living the words they spoke. He has been a national figure with Habitat for Humanity (I think he might have founded it, but could be wrong). He helps fight corruption assisting with democratic elections worldwide.
George Bush has yet to show us what he will do after January 2009. I hope he will learn to use his money and influence for good using President Carter as an example.
posted September 6, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Jimmy Carter is a disgrace to cristianity and USA
posted September 8, 2008 at 9:05 pm
trip08 please learn to spell and punctuate before making any more comments about someone of Jimmy Carters stature and works in life. The man talks the talk and walks the walk.
posted July 4, 2011 at 1:40 am
Sorry, Ms. Gardner, but Jimmy Carter wrote a book giving ample room to universalist ideas. He said that Manachem Begin and Anwar Sadat would not go to hell even though both of them rejected Christ. His descent into humanistic ideas have proven where his heart now is.
While Bush 43 did talk about that walk with Billy Graham, his attitude on Islam clearly puts him at odds with Jesus as the only way as well as history.
So many candidates try to have it both ways. Obama had an evangliecal consultant and he kept saying he was a Christian, despite clear evidence in “THE FAIUTH OF BARACK OBAMA” by Stephen Mansfield that he definitely is not a beliver which has been amply backed up by his decisions. We must not be fooled again – those in Christ take CLEAR and UNEQUIVOCAL stands. Otherwise. we can put no stock in it at all.