Palin's Religion: What's Scary, What's Not?
Sunday September 7, 2008
Those on the left, or merely those who aren't evangelical Christians, are struggling to make sense of the religious life of Sarah Palin. To many, she seems a frightening harbinger of a fundamentalist takeover. Saturday's New York Times piece about...
Filed Under: palin's religion, sarah palin
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Not scarey, just nuts. Oh well, if she gets to be VP there are going to some very happy comics. Four years of continuous material is nothing to cry over.
Believing in the Lord is a blessed country. look at every piece of money you hold in your hand it says as a reminder IN GOD WE TRUST. Also in the pledge of aliegence it states ONE NATION UNDER GOD od has blessed this nation not man
Just to correct Joe, yes, IN GOD WE TRUST
Just a small correction to what you said. The IN GOD WE TRUST, I'm not sure when that was added to our currency, but the ONE NATION UNDER GOD in our oath...well...the UNDER GOD part was tagged on later. Originally it was just ONE NATION. Your argument is an old argument that is used by many who don't bother in checking there facts before they open their mouth to justify their own views.
If you want a war, you start the war, you are responsible for the war, you see it through to its conclusion and you reap what you sow. You don't step away from it in the middle, praying it wasn't your responsibility in the first place. And now you pray that it was God's plan, that just by accident you are the effect of God's plan, and not the effect of your own free choices?
You don't escape responsibility when the grapes are sour. You don't escape by praying and you don't escape by hiding your head in the sand.
Foolish!
The New York Times didn't even scratch the surface.
Scary: Joel's Army
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/0244/84583
Note that she was a member of this church until 2002, which says to me that she found it politically expedient to appear to dissociate herself from it. But, even if her beliefs changed somehow, it is deeply disturbing that she stayed with this church for decades.
For me, the scary thing is the superficiality of those who use Palin-speak. Is that normal in AOG/Pentecostal circles?
A common sense but still Christian viewpoint (mine, of course) wants to know -
How do we know "God has a plan for us"? It is as if there is a Script that we meant to be following, word for word.
If there is such a plan, how can we know what it is? Is there a role for study, discernment, or (gasp!) expertise?
If we know what it is, and yet we are imperfectly following it (as sinners), how significant are our shortcomings?
And so on. It is so easy to assume that whatever we want to do, arising from our life history and culture, is God's plan. The Bible says what we want it to say. This whole line of questioning seems unproductive.
The problem with Palin and ilk (including G W Bush and John McCain?) is that there is no appetite for introspection - how we know what we "know". Whether our snap opinion on something might just be wrong.
When you ask yourself whether Sarah Palin's beliefs are scary or not scary, I think it's helpful to look at our Constitution, which calls for a clear separation of Church and State.
Why? Because our Founding Fathers were the grandchildren of Englishmen who had suffered through a hundred years of bloody civil war between two religious factions. Some years, people were burned at the stake for being Catholic; some years, they were burned for being Protestant, all depending on which belief group was wearing the crown.
Our ancestors were personally acquainted with the evil that arises when the power of government is united to the certainty of religion. We can see it, too, if we look at any modern country -- think Iran, Irak -- where extremist religious leaders also control the government.
I am a deeply devout Christian. I am also a fierce defender of our Constitution. I fervently believe that every American leader should pray daily -- hourly, probably -- for Divine guidance in all decision-making. I fervently REJECT the idea that our political leaders use religion as a justification for political decisions. History has taught us where that path leads.
I will not vote for this Republican ticket.
FYI without comment (make your own): "In God We Trust" was not added to our currency until the early 1900's. 'Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1956. A motion to hire a chaplain for daily opening prayers for the constitutional convention was voted down. The Treaty of Tripoli in 1796 explicitly states that this country was not founded as a Christian nation. And lastly, a quote from John Adams' 1787 writing Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America----"it will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the influence of Heaven, more than those at work upon ships or houses, or laboring in merchandise or agriculture; it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses".
Steven, I do not see this as a "scary": "Scary - She suggested that her work as governor would be hampered "if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God." This means that those who aren't Bible-believing Christians hinder the work of the state, harming their fellow citizens and the public interest."
I am not sure you have assigned the right meaning to her statements.
For those who do believe the Bible is inspired of God (and that is a descriptive term of the nature of Scripture that includes a wide swath of the Christian faith) one could easily see that she has possibly taken some of the many verses in Psalms, Proverbs, and Romans that speak of government and leadership and the blessings of God upon a people who do right. Justice issues are huge in Scripture. These include care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the alien (terms used in Scripture). These issues also include integrity in all of our relationships. What's wrong with that?
But you know, I think the media is blowing this waaaayyy out of proportion. I think Sarah Palin and her family are sincere Christians, not theologians. I believe she wants to please God and serve the people who have elected her and those who may elect the McCain-Palin ticket. I think it is that simple.
Point blank - I don't want Sarah Palin and her deranged views anywhere within a heartbeat of the Presidency or a hand's breadth from the nuclear codes.
Our constitution calls for a clear seperation of church and state? Just where does one find that in the constitution? Which article? Which amendment? Please cite your source. The first amendment prohibits congress from establishing a religion, but this idea that the belief of seperation of church and state is written in the constituion is false.
Now, do we have a tradition of seperation of church and state in the USA? Yes, but to say it is written in the constitution is erroneous.
P.S. It was written in the constituion of the USSR.
Dale C,
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison both believed that the first amendment MEANT a separation of church and state. Jefferson's Danbury letter was the most famous example but by no means the only one. Madison made the point, using just as stark language, even more often. In Madison's view, this went well beyond simply banning the establishment of an official religion. he believed that even well-meaning government to help religion would actually hurt. Therefore, he belived that the establishment clause did require a separation of church and state, at least at the national level.
Now, Jefferson and Madison were not the only ones who mattered. Others interpreted it differently, which is why we've been fighting over it for a few hundred years. But it certainly wasnt a cocnept invented by 20th century courts. (For more on this, read my book, Founding Faith)
This is pure and total manipulation, plain and simple. That video of her in the church is scary, to say the least.
A leader needs to realize that his or her faith cannot be used to say that the Iraq war is a "task that is from God". It is wrong and deeply immoral to do so. In fact, it is downright scary to say the least.
Why did John McCain choose her as his running mate when there were so many much better choices? Was he aware of her use of religious manipulation of the people of alaska by her asking them to pray for a pipeline?
I am a practicing christian, and I do believe that there needs to be a separation of church and state. Not that the elected officials can't be religious, but you should not be allowed to use religion to tell people to unite behind something you are trying to do in office. What was McCain thinking?
Look, this whole issue is getting blown out of proportion. You folks need to see the video of her speaking, and quit believing everything you are reading. The speech in question was a speech given inJune 2008 to a ministry graduation. Her words are being taken completely out of context by the media. Nothing she said or did in that speech even comes close to sounding "Fanatical" or "Radical", unless praying for people and seeking prayer for events to ask for God's guidance in them is "radical".
While this church is anti-jew, anti catholic it still cracks me up how anyone buys into the fairy tales brought to us by religion. If this woman was religous she certainly didn't show it by mocking another humans volunteer work (wasn't Jesus a volunteer).
Wars are fought over religion and as soon as we get over these God fairy tales we might become a civilized world; until then keep using religion to fuel hate because that is why man invented it....
ME- Palin's Religion - What's Scary, What's Not
American can go a few ways;
1. When the first religious people came here for "religious freedom" it was from their original home.
Yet, they constantly killed each other and banished each other when different sects and denominations fought over which belief system was the "right one"....example; killing Mormons and Quakers for not being Puritans.
When the "Founding Father's came here, some 200-300 years later, they were motivated by their home and the they saw happening already in America....the fighting between people of different belief systems.
Seeing that this would not lead to a successful society, and also by watching the Native American Indian population, they learned how large groups, and small, could "get-a-long".
First and foremost, no one should tell someone else how to, when to or who to pray to or believe in and no one should be forced to believe in anything, even nothing, if they so desire.
We can continue this path, however far America has fallen or been swayed, the point is still important; the country as a whole, cannot pick one religion to be the official religion of the country, and no religions shall force themselves onto others.
Or
2. We can look at the disaster of countries that believe religion should be the "law of the land: Take a look at the Middle East.
If you want to reply by stating that a Christian country wouldn't look like that, I beg to differ, read history.
Even some of our Founding Fathers knew that Christianity and other religions could be used in abusive ways;
"Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites." ~ Thomas Jefferson
"The United States of America should have a foundation free from the influence of clergy." ~ George Washington
"The number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church and the State." ~ James Madison
"The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion". ~ Thomas Paine
BOOKS
Robert Blair Kaiser, A Church in Search of Itself: Benedict XVI and the Battle for the Future who covered Vatican II for Time, has written extensively on reform in the Church. With Rob Miller, he is a co-founder of TakeBackOurChurch.org See his new book, 'A Church in Search of Itself: Benedict XVI and the Battle for the Future' (Knopf, March 15, 2006)
'The Godless Constitution ~ A Moral Defense of the Secular State'
Authors; Isaac Kramnick (teaches and writes about political thought at Cornell University) and R. Laurence Moore (a professor of history at Cornell University.)
Best First Amendment books ~ Compiled by First Amendment Center staff
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about.aspx?item=best_1a_books
I have compiled a helpful list of organizations that help keep religious fundamentalist from having enough power in our politics that allow them to tell us how to live our lives.
This is not an anti-religious list.
Here are just a few points about some of the organizations:
AU.org – The executive director of Americans United is an attorney and ordained minister.
FCNL.org - Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends - Quakers
FFRF.org - Co-president is a former minister and evangelist.
And
InterfaithAlliance.org is made up of many faiths; the president is a Baptist Pastor.
This is not a list of organizations limited to any on political party:
MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org – The founder and president is a long-time Republican, with a long family history of Military Service.
This is not a list of organizations limited by education, association or anti-science and anti-research:
SecularHumanism.org: The president and founder is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, chairman of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the Council for Secular Humanism, and Prometheus Books, and editor-in-chief of Free Inquiry Magazine. He is also founder and chairman of the Center for Inquiry, Transnational. He is a former Co-President of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). BA, New York University; MA and PhD, Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Humanist Laureate and President of the International Academy of Humanism.
Secular.org - The director is a lawyer, an educator, and a former Nevada State Senator, another holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and another is graduated from Harvard Law School and worked as a securities lawyer at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and for the Investment Company Institute.
This is not a list of organizations limited to any on political party or “social” movement with a “hidden agenda” to take over the world:
AmericanHumanist.org - Actively educates the public about Humanism, brings Humanists together for mutual support and action, defends the civil liberties and constitutional freedoms of Humanists-indeed of all peoples-and leads both local and national Humanist organizations toward progressive societal change.
The characteristic that binds these organizations is that they believe in the Separation of Church and State and equal rights for all people, which I believe can be summed up as “Secular Humanism”.
All “descriptions” and information about these organizations, are taken from said websites
Alphabetically listed:
American Humanist Association - www.AmericanHumanist.org (*)
Americans United for Separation of Church and State - www.AU.org
Council for Secular Humanism - www.SecularHumanism.org
Freedom From Religion Foundation - www.FFRF.org (*)
Friends Committee on National Legislation - www.FCNL.org
Interfaith Alliance - www.InterfaithAlliance.org
Military Religious Freedom Foundation - www.MilitaryReligiousFreedom.org
Secular Coalition of America - www.Secular.org
(*) Member Organizations of Secular Coalition of America:
American Ethical Union - http://www.aeu.org/
Atheist Alliance International - http://atheistalliance.org/
Institute for Humanist Studies - http://humaniststudies.org/
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers - http://www.maaf.info/
Secular Student Alliance - http://secularstudents.org/
Secular Web / Internet Infidels - http://infidels.org/
Society for Humanistic Judaism - http://www.shj.org/
Hope this information is helpful.
Corey Mondello
Boston, Massachusette
www.CoreyMondello.com
9-9-08
What concerns me is not so much what she has said, but what her associations have been. I am referring to her membership and attendance at Wasilla Bible Church, where they invited the executive director of Jews for Jesus to speak. This was not way back in the day before she got into politics. This was about three weeks ago. The church leader praised the executive director of Jews for Jesus for his work in proselytizing Jews. In fact, J4J goes out of its way to prey on weak-minded, unaffiliated and uneducated Jews, most of whom have been disaffected by family discord and/or low self-esteem, and teaches them that the religion of their fathers is false, and that if they want to be part of a family, they should join Jesus.
I'm also not so terribly concerned by the comments made by this person at the church, which make the entire problem in the Middle East, particularly terrorism in Israel, the fault of the Jews for not accepting Jesus (http://tinyurl.com/jerusalemsermon) - which the McCain/Palin campaign has already addressed, stating that she does not agree with those views.
Some have suggested that this speech is in the same league as the Jeremiah Wright controversy. She cannot be held accountable for the sermon given by someone in her church. When taken that light it sounds like the Wright controversy is even worse than this.
The difference is that Wright was demagoguing. This speech - and the fact that the speaker was invited and praised by the leader of Sarah Palin's church as a hero - is a much bigger deal than what it appears on paper to be. It demonstrates a fundamental belief that she - and the leadership and membership of her church and many others like it clearly holds. That anyone who is not a Christian will go to Hell, and that the Jews in particular will suffer in this world as well for their betrayal.
Hi Steve, a few points you missed that certainly land in the SCARY category:
1. Attempting to get a librarian fired when she refused to ban books during her stint as mayor of Wasilla. The spin on it is that she (Palin) was merely asking a rhetorical question doesn't make sense. You don't try to FIRE someone for rhetorical questions.
2. Her proposal to teach creationism or ID in science class. OK in Church and home, not ok in public schools funded by taxpayer dollars.
3. anti-abortion even in the case of rape and incest. Extreme, to say the least. No one likes abortion, but even a lot of pro-life Americans would like to keep it legal. Palin presumes to make the choice for everyone else.
4. The conservative mantra is often "personal responsibility", which I fully agree with. But when you use the power of the State to impose censorship on books that don't align to your POV, you're asking the government to take responsibility out of your hands.
Regarding the scary thingies:
"Scary #1" - It's not unusual for Christians to make petitions in prayers--like praying for a job if you're unemployed, or that you will do well in a challenging situation, etc. As governor, in the context of a worship service, what's scary about her praying for something she felt would help the people she was elected to serve?
"Scary #2" - She didn't say her work as governor would be hampered "if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God." She said: "Really, all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God" -which is akin to praying "most importantly, let our hearts be right with God." Hardly scary in the context of an unscripted worship service prayer.
If we start trying to pick apart every candidate's or elected official's approach to religious worship, everyone loses. Goodness, people, get a life!
Last year, Newsweek magazine had an article praising Governor Palin's "pragmatic, postpartisan approach to solving problems, a style that works especially well with the large numbers of independent voters." You can read it at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/42534/
Ok I do not agree with some of the things she is saying or has done but extra scarry things brought up are inaccurate.
As far as teaching creation in schools she only wants it to be brought up as another theory along side of the current "theories" being taught in school. I agree that details need to be taught at home on creation, however the schools need to stop teaching evolution and the big band and fact when they are still theories. If you are going to teach one you should at least inform them of the other theories out there.
Palin stance is not off from most Christians that I know Catholic and other wise. It is not an extremist point of view at all. I have had to move a lot for my husband's job and because of this attended several churches. At least 90% of the people and leaders in these churches agree with Palin when it comes to abortion. All life is a blessing and was created by God. No innocent human should be killed, adoption is always a very loving thing if you can not care for your child. I am just a non-denominational Christian and most of my Christian friends would love to see abortion made illegal.
Steve,
Is it true that the week before she was offered the VP position, the speaker at Palin's church stated that the continued attacks by the Palestinians and some terrorists to Israel is simply God's judgment? That the Israelites have been punished by God because of their refusal to turn their evil ways and accept Jesus as their Savior? Is it true that Palin was attending that service? Is it true also that this is what Palin's Church maintains, that the Jewish people will continue to be punished by terrorists attacks and other calamities by their refusal to accept Jesus as their Mesiah?
Thank you.
Angel
I fall into the finding her "scary". She is so conservative she almost squeaks. Do we need her in the White House as 2nd banana? IMO, no. There is a place for all that calling on God, but out of church or a religious gathering, the god part needs to be left out of public, non-religious arenas.
[i]As far as teaching creation in schools she only wants it to be brought up as another theory along side of the current "theories" being taught in school. I agree that details need to be taught at home on creation, however the schools need to stop teaching evolution and the big band and fact when they are still theories. If you are going to teach one you should at least inform them of the other theories out there. [/i]
Apryl, a scientic theory is different then the way we usually use the word in everyday life.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory#Science
ID or Creationism is not science, it is a religious theory. And I'm always surprised that people can't see evolution or the big bang as a possible way that God created us and the universe. I watch the science shows and I am always amazed at the sheer magnitude of God's creation and how everything works so well. Let there be light...and there was a big bang. Why not? I don't understand why people seem to feel the need to diminish the hugeness of our creation. Honestly, it baffles me.
There is much discussion these days about parenting/family values related to Sarah Palin as the VP candidate. No one is looking at this story from the view of what it is like to be the child of people who are in the public eye and the damage that can be done. I believe that it is possible to be a good mother/father/parent and have a career, but I had parents who were public figures and being their "child" was traumatic. Both of my parents were addicted to their audiences and attention. I grew up being told by my parents and their audience how fortunate I was to have such wonderful important parents. For them, family was always second because God had called them to their work. People knew me through them. Even though I have a successful career (Obama's tax plan would affect us but I can live with that) , a good marriage and a great son, I have struggled with chronic depression/feeling of worthlessness (for about 30 yrs.) related to the emotional neglect of growing up in a fishbowl. Too often people in public service become addicted to the good they are doing for motherhood, apple pie, God and country, when in reality it is really a twisted narcissism that drives them which often harm those who they claim they are serving and those closest to them. I am dismayed that the evangelical leadership/ community is so taken with Sarah Palin and her lies and manipulation of the truth to secure power. If a man had her lack of credentials, he never would have been chosen for the VP spot. I do not get how people can justify supporting her manipulative behavior because they "like" her and because she supports "family values". She is not courageous or likeable in the least. She will not talk to the press or ever get beyond her script. Christians are to be bold with Truth. She is not an example of family values and her inistence that she is following God's will is scary. "Following God's will" is too often a justification for narcissistic behavior.
Pagansister,
so basically you are restricting both religious liberty and freedom of speech.
There is no such "no-religious area" where mentioning God (or gods) is forbidden.
Marty,
"When you ask yourself whether Sarah Palin's beliefs are scary or not scary, I think it's helpful to look at our Constitution, which calls for a clear separation of Church and State."
Well, in fact they they did not do exactly that (and why does this phrase always need an epithet like "clear" or "strict", how about "devout"). They proscribed making one religion the established state religion and they proscribed interfering with the free exercise of religion.
"I fervently REJECT the idea that our political leaders use religion as a justification for political decisions."
And you are just violating that second part in the name of some dreamed up secularism. Political leaders might have any justification or motivation for their decisions (they should of course be honest, hence I didn't say "use"). Any kind of! Of course, they might look ridiculous in some cases but that is their right. It is your right not to elect them based on some of their views or decisions. It is your right not to re-elect them. It is not your right to control their views and speech.
"History has taught us where that path leads."
Indeed!
I will not vote for this Republican ticket.
Palin is a dnagerous woman who has no place in a leadership role within the US....help us all if she becomes president...
speaking in tonuges during a state of the union....its God's will to de-gayanize people and if thta dosen't work, maybe a special island for them? Banned books...etc. Do we really need more of this fundmentalist rhetoric....?
To say that any scientific theory is "just a theory" is pretty misleading. It's not like theories 'graduate' into something else, like when a bill becomes a law in Congress. Really good theories remain theories, no matter how much evidence supports them. That's just how the term 'theory' is used in science.
But it's probably not terribly misleading to say that Big Bang cosmology is "just a theory". After all, even though it is the leading theory of the origin of the universe, it is still a matter of some scientific controversy among the experts.
To say that evolution is "just a theory", however, that's what's completely insane. There is zero scientific controversy over the key tenets of evolutionary biology. The only controversy that exists is religious and political.
I love this list, it does a very good job separating the sorts of things one would expect from a leader who happens to be Christian from the actions of a Christian using a leadership position to further an agenda.
I find the "umbrella" speech especially disturbing, and it really bothers me to see it dismissed as "meaningless" pandering.
I would second the book-banning complaint. Given that Palin's supporters are pushing her as a "Constitutionalist," I find that especially disturbing.
Nice list Steve - I enjoyed reading it.
've turned off my TV, the visual hypocrisy of the leaders whose failed "intelligence" and rank "arrogance{" brought about 9/11/2001 then compounded it with more than another 4000 lives in the morass of Iraq, all to control the price of oil is too nauseating to bear.
When I was young, I lived in the Pacific Northwest and listened to stories of the Yukon survivors. The "Gold" they sought then was as evanescent and valuable as the "Black Gold" that today's senescents babble about. You know who I'm talking about: Dive-Bomber John McCain, Phil Gramm, and Joe Lieberman. And the rape of the beautiful countryside is an obscenity beyond words.
We 've added a new dimension to early onset of senile dementia. SraH Palin-- Deep in my Heart I know the blood of Jesus will cleanse my soul after I shoot Bambi with my AK-47 from my National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk!)
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who lobby for black gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The New York Times has seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night in the glow of Lake Como
They nominated Sarah McGreed.
(With all credit to Robert W Service"
-------------------------------------------------
The prafane, racist, sexist, and simply obnoxious growlings of a lipstick smeared pit bull require commentary.
So Sambo beat the b----h!”
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.
“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.
Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska."
see: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080905183548AAccUTA”
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sarah Palin's Soul Mate Dive-Bomber John is a perfect match for Bmbi-Bombing. John McCain's treachery is well documented, in 32 Tapes Dive Bomber John repeatedly repented for his aerial attacks on Vietnamese civilians. Instead of a Court Martial for Treason: John Sydney McCain's Treason was forgiven by his father. a Navy Admirals. His current lies about "always putting his country first" are an insult to all of us who've served honorably, and never betrayed our country. No, I'm not Jesus, and I have no plans to forgive, let alone accept the national leadership of a self-professed traitor
A day ago our Country was off to the dogs, now it's the pig wearing lipstick.. Where's old Walt Kelly when we really need him, truly: We have met the enemy and He is US.
Dovidle
This should be easy to review and generate comments. There's one easy word to describe your assessment. I won't generate any further suspense: It is Inane!
Anyone who isn't absolutely certain that any person who wrongfully believes that the US is a "Christian Nation" has
1) failed to read the First Amendment,
2) Is a hopeless Bigot, possibly a Klansman
3) illiterate,
4) or some combination of the all the above.
I've worn the uniform and been ready , repeatedly to die for the First Amendment, never in spite of it!
I could recommend Rachel Maddow as a journalistic role model for guidance. She is intelligent, and avoids journalistic inanity,\.
Oops I forgot Rachel's not Christian. I've heard she's a 23rd- generation descendent of Chaim Saloman who fed George Washington and our troops @ Valley Forge. Without Chaim Saloman, Mr Waldman, you might sill be an Puritan wearing their silly garb; or, more likely as Tom Paine said in "Common Sense" the descendent of dubious Hessian ancestry.
"Conservatives, meanwhile, will seize on the scrutiny -- including liberal overreactions -- as evidence that the left and the mainstream media are anti-Christian."
The 'left' isn't anti-Christian...it is ANTI-CHRISTIANIST.
ANTI-CHRISTIAN DOMINIONIST....those people who've decided that Fascism is finally coming wrapped in a flag and carrying a bible.
Can't be 'slightly pregnant' on this one.
Now, if TRUE Christians would stand up and confront these CHRISTIANISTS, they would prove their true faith.
What's scary is this article.
What's not scary is this comment: Jesus never started a religion and Palin's religion is fictional also. God sent Jesus to give us a lifestyle to conform to. God sent Palin and the rest of us to get that message not start a bunch more with articles and comments.
Steven, that was about as middle-of-the-road as a writer can get. I'm not saying that you're unbiased. I'm saying that you have nothing to say.
Why don't you probe into whether Sar.ah Pal.in is a Christian who believes in predestination or free will? Now, that would be a story. And, it may answer many of your "(Probably)" statements.
Cheese.
And i thought the commentors on YouTube were semi-literate and/or irrational.
is that saraha palin in swim suit ? if not why is it there?........
As a mother, a Christian, a family practice doctor, and an independent, I can say that I would never vote for a ticket with Palin on it. In the primaries, I initially said that the one Republican I could vote for would be McCain, and I supported him for president in 2000. However he is not the McCain he was then and he has changed his position on almost everything that set him apart from the rest of the Republican party and revealed that he will change his views on any issue if that will get him elected. McCain lost the 2000 primaries to Bush because he cried out against the agents of intolerance on the right and left extremes. Now, he has bowed before them, and his pick of Palin for VP shows just how far he is willing to stoop before the radical right-wing 'religion-crats'. Palin is one of the agents of intolerance that McCain said in 2000 that we shouldn't pander to. Now he knows he needs to get the "base" excited - the same "base" that got Bush elected 2 times (well - once really...).
While I would never personally have an abortion no matter the circumstances, anyone that thinks that women have no right to an abortion even in the case of rape or incest is a horrible person without empathy or charity.
Anyone that thinks that my child should be taught creation in school and believes in a less than 7000 year old world doesn't understand the Bible let alone the Constitution or its founders at all and has no place leading the country. Separation of church and state is important and our schools need to teach our children science not religion - that is my job to teach my children as I see fit and not the governments. I believe God is a scientist as an all-powerful all-knowing being and created the world using the laws of science, not just finger-snapping. Science and religion are just 2 different ways to explore the same quest we have for truth. But this is my view, and it shouldn't be taught in schools because that is my faith and that is what I will teach my children at home and church where it should be taught and not in school where science should be taught. If we start teaching Creationism in school, which Christian belief do we teach - mine, or Palin's, or whatever the teacher happens to believe? Do we teach about other religious beliefs as well or do we discriminate and only teach Christian's faith? Part of faith is that it is a belief in things which are hoped for, but not seen. What is not seen, cannot be proven empirically, has no place in our schools. It is only welcome in the home and church as personal faith. Politically, it only has place in dictatorships and theocracies, like most of the Middle East. Palin's view on teaching creationism in school is no different than Muslim's efforts to restrict freedom of thought in their counties. Palin is as much an agent of intolerance and a radical right religion crusader as is Iran's President. If she is elected with McCain, the world will view us as a country as supporting these views that there is no separation of church and state. The only difference between Ahmadinejad and Palin is that one happens to believe in Allah and the other in Christ - but politically they are willing to use their beliefs to destroy their country's freedoms to conform with their faith. We need a leader that has faith, but understands that in order for them to have the free exercise of it, they must grant that to everyone else and not infringe on their rights by preaching in public schools to our children.
As a Christian, as a mother, I appeal to all other Christian mothers out there: understand your religion a little better. Understand that your freedom of religion is dependent on your willingness to let others have their freedom as well, and the minute you start down the path to eroding the separation of church and state, you start down the path that will destroy that freedom eventually for yourself and your family. Be women of faith, but also be women who understand you can only be women of faith because of the freedom we have in this country to not have government teaching our children someone else's religious beliefs in our public schools.
Please, please don't vote for McCain and Palin.
Not to bright Steve. Predestination and plan are the same thing. One is just a metaphor for the other. Now only three things are possible. One is that God plans all events that come to pass and they actually do come to pass. Another is that He Plans all events and they do not come to pass and He is impotent or very stupid. The third is that He has no plan and has no idea of what He is doing. I'll stick with He predestinates all things that come to pass and let the chips fall where they may.
To suggest that WAR could possibly be part of God's plan or to "hope" that is is, is insane.
i appreciated but i am looking for more info from u because i have to research for u and ur partner for school.
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