Some years ago, Melissa Fay Greene wrote a book about the rural South entitled Praying for Sheetrock. If Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, ever published an autobiography, she might consider calling it Praying for Pipeline.
It appears that God has a keen interest in the building of a multi-billion dollar natural gas pipeline in the forty-ninth state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built," the Alaska governor said. "So pray for that."
In fairness, however, God may have other things on his mind. According to Palin, the United States invasion of Iraq is "a task that is from God."
No politician could have a better advocate for his or her
policies than the Almighty. And ritual invocations of God have become a staple
of political rhetoric, even beyond the vacuous - and obligatory, it seems -
"God bless America" at the conclusion of nearly every speech. John F. Kennedy,
for instance, famously remarked in his inaugural address that "here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
I wonder, though,
if Palin's expressed sentiments take religious-political rhetoric to a new
level of specificity. Enlisting God as co-sponsor of a natural gas pipeline is
audacious, to be sure, for who dares trifle with the Almighty in opposing the
plan?
As a person of
faith, I resent the attribution of particular policies to God, especially ones
of such a questionable nature. Does Palin really think that God has an
unambiguous position on pipelines? What about the environmental effects of such
a project, the impact on the created order? (This is a woman who approves the
shooting of bears and wolves from airplanes, so we can probably assume that
environmental concerns are not at the top of her agenda.)
And the war in
Iraq? "A task that is from God," she says. Has Palin, who claims to be a
Christian, ever juxtaposed the invasion of Iraq with just-war criteria that
have been part of the fabric of Christian thought for centuries? Is it a
defensive war? Is there a reasonable chance of success? Is the deployment of
military force the last resort? Is the amount of force proportional to the
provocation? Have provisions been made, as much as possible, to shield
civilians from collateral damage?
No one has yet
convinced me that the invasion of Iraq meets any of these criteria.
And yet Palin's credentials as a Christian and as an evangelical go unchallenged. Perhaps her connections are better than mine, for she seems to know precisely what God is thinking on issues like war and pipelines.
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So, if I believe that is God's will that all oil companies go broke and the CEOs end up in prison for extortion and crimes against humanity, I'm praying to a different God than Sarah Palin?
When I pray that the war in Iraq be stilled and the president be charged with war crimes it is not going to be heard by God because Sarah Palin has decided that God wants us to kill Islamic?
When Jesus told us to help the needy, didn't he mean all of us to help or did He exclude the Alaska from helping the women in need.
I will still pray for peace, prosperity and the well being for all Americans. I will still pray that world hunger be ended by turning of the fallow fields in America, that the planet be saved by reduction of fossil fuel consumption and that we return to restoring faith and love for each other.
While I will not vote for a "Hawk", I can still pray for them and hope that they can return to the Gospel of the Sermon on the Mount.
This post represents more of the same that we're getting from the left and their "Amen chorus" in the media: grasping at straws in trying to bring this woman down.
What's wrong with a Governor beseeching the Almighty on behalf of the welfare of her people and on behalf of the young men and women sent into war?
Praying for a gas pipeline may seem pedestrian to you, but getting that pipeline obviously meant jobs for these people and energy for the rest of the country. That may not mean much to a Barnard College professor from New York City, like the good Reverend Randall Balmer, but it does to the people affected by high energy prices and without a job.
America needs to bannish god.
Watching the video of Palin's address at her former church, I did not hear her declaring that it was God's will that a pipeline be built. I heard her asking that, in the gathering of people and interests to decide on what to do about a pipeline, that God's will be clearly revealed and done. What, may I ask, is wrong with that? What is wrong with asking for God's guidance and direction? I think the primary problem that many have with her request is that, deep down, they do not feel that God's will can really be known. And for those who say "God has more important things to worry about", I am utterly ashamed of you. Do you not pray over decisions about your family or your business dealings merely because they aren't international crises? "Well, son, God doesn't really care whether you go into missions. He's got bigger problems." That is folly.
I am very sorry for this man, Balmer, who needs God desperately. God is not just part of a social gathering. Those who really follow Him allow Him to change their hearts.
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