A Heartbeat Away, or Why Palin's Churches Matter

"Muthee exclaimed, "We come against the spirit of witchcraft! We come against the python spirits!" Then, a local pastor took the mic from Muthee and added, "We stomp on the heads of the enemy!" - Journalist Max Blumenthal, describing Palin-anointer Thomas Muthee's appearance at the Wasilla Assembly of God, September 20, 2008

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Disturbing evidence pointing towards the likely nature of Sarah Palin's religious beliefs continues to emerge. Yesterday "scrubbed" footage, from a 2005 "anointing" of then-Alaska gubernatorial contender Sarah Palin, resurfaced on the website of the net-based alternative news service The Irregular Times. The footage showed Kenyan minister Thomas Muthee not only praying over and blessing Sarah Palin, to advance her bid for the Alaska governorship and protect Palin from a "spirit of witchcraft", but, prior to the blessing, Muthee gave a seven to eight minute speech in which he called on believing Christians to "infiltrate" a number of key areas of secular society including Banking and finance, schools and education, media, politics and government. [continue reading this story]

Sam Harris - an emergent, outspoken American atheist - has written a new Newsweek op-ed which shows what is to my mind very appropriate concern over Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy. But Harris also garbles Palin's likely religious beliefs, under the rubric that all religion is suspect. Precision, whether in surgery, politics or religion, matters. It is unlikely that Sarah Palin believes in the premillennial dispensationalist "Rapture" and, to move beyond the realm of wonkish religious terminology; "speaking in tongues" is not the proper issue of concern - it's just a form of religious expression, no more or less, and not a wise human behavior, if any could be, to mock.

Hundreds of millions worldwide think glossolalia is a valid form of religious expression and, more to the point, charismatic Christianity is not necessarily a stronghold of the political right. Indeed, currently a left-wing Pentecostal, non-violent movement of Brazilian peasants is challenging landlords and elite power structures, in Brazil, over farming rights.

Harris mentions "The Rapture" in his op-ed but also declares that Sarah Palin may believe in a conquering "end-time" Christian army of true-believers that will cleanse the earth of evil.
On that latter possibility Sam Harris is appropriately concerned.

Religious behaviors are in themselves mainly irrelevant. What we can observe in Sarah Palin's churches is a form of Christianity in which the experiential aspect of religious experience has been dramatically amplified but from which theological content has been largely drained away. "Jesus is perfect theology" declares Wasilla Assembly of God head pastor Ed Kalnins but "Jesus" in this case in an empty vessel. We're not studying the New Testament Book of Mark, declares Kalnins, nor are we studying the words of Moses. We are studying Jesus, declares Kalnins, but Jesus is not so much "studied" as felt, or intuited, and because what "Jesus" means is almost completely undefined such a Jesus can function as an empty vessel into which leaders of the Third Wave and the New Apostolic Reformation can pour their aggressive and intolerant political ideology. Parallels to the religious ideology held by The Family, as described by Rolling Stone and Harpers author Jeff Sharlet, in The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at The Heart of American Power are striking. When religion becomes mainly experiential, when theological content is stripped away, it can serve as a powerful and dangerous vehicle for political ideology.

So, religious behaviors, in the case of the Christianity of Sarah Palin's churches, matter insofar as they are yolked to religious doctrines that effect the temporal, earthly realm. Triumphal and exceptionalist religions teaching their believers to "infiltrate" and gain control of governmental, business, educational and media sectors are toxic to the pluralist ethic that has characterized America's over two-century long pioneering experiment with democracy.

That's why Sarah Palin's churches matter : not because people at Palin's churches speak in tongues or for any specific gestural or behavioral expression. These things are deeply felt and not properly mocked or stigmatized, Rather, Palin's churches matter because pastors in those churches espouse an aggressive form of Christian nationalism and also the doctrine that all forms of religious and philosophical beliefs other than their own are invalid and even under demonic influence.

Christians caught up in the Third Wave or New Apostolic Reformation tend to believe that all Christian sects and denominations are invalid and even under demonic influence because their theological substrate holds that when Adam and Eve sinned in The Garden, God withdrew his protective cover from the Earth and demons flooded in. Palin's churches are demon-haunted churches which tend to view the Catholic Church (especially) as well as all Protestant denominations as invalid and as manifestations of a "religious spirit" that's held to be demonic. Things devolve from there - the Third Wave stigmatizes much of Protestant and Catholic Christianity but it vilifies and literally demonizes Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and all non-Christian religions and belief systems as manifestations of "witchcraft", to be driven from the Earth by "spiritual warfare" and by a physical, end-time, purifying last-generation army.

What would it mean for America to have a vice president, let alone a president, who might feel (though she would of course deny it) that Catholics and most Christians, and all non-Christians, hold invalid religious or philosophical beliefs and are under demonic influence ?

Phrases Mr. Harris uses indicate to me that he might be reading the articles my research team has written. So, if that's indeed true I'd like to suggest the following to Sam Harris :

Precision matters - in politics, in surgery and in religion. My research team's efforts led to the 3:40 video, shown around the world, credited by the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and Newsweek with forcing John McCain to renounce the political endorsement of Texas megachurch evangelist John Hagee. That simple video three minute, forty second video was informed by years of research on Hagee and the Christian right. In other words, there is much to learn about contemporary religion, and politicized religion, of our age. And, religious traditions evolve and change, sometimes very rapidly. Understandings of American fundamentalism rooted in research done years or decades ago may no longer fit emerging traditions - many fundamentalist Christians are no longer waiting for the Rapture.

What does Sarah Palin believe ?

We'll never know for sure if she doesn't make a public declaration, and beliefs can change, of course, over time as well.

But Sarah Palin has spent roughly two and one half decades, most of her adult life so far, at the Wasilla Assembly of God. At twelve year's old, Palin - along with her entire family, was baptized at the church.

According to the Wasilla Assembly of God head pastor, Ed Kalnins, Palin maintains a "friendship" with the church including going to special church events.

One of those 'special' events might have been a May, 2005 anointing of Palin, shown in a video that was scrubbed from the Wasilla Assembly of God website and which has just resurfaced.

IN 2005, as she was starting her bid for the Alaska governor's seat, GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was "anointed" by three pastors, in a ceremony at the Wassila Assembly of God church in Wasilla, Alaska.

Two of the pastors who anointed Palin have stated that believing Christians, as they define those, can learn to raise from the dead. Those two pastors have also made statements indicating they believe that crime and social pathologies are caused when "demons" possess geographic areas and that "curses" can be transmitted from one human generation to the next.

[below: "May 2005 anointing of Sarah Palin, courtesy of The Irregular Times ]

I have no interest in disputing the validity of speaking in tongues, being "slain in the spirit", or miraculous healing. Many major religious have traditions that allow for such phenomena, real or not.

But in terms of dealing with the prospect that GOP Vice Presidential contender Sarah Palin might be a heartbeat away from the presidency of the most militarily powerful nation on Earth I'd suggest this approach : let's try to ascertain what her core beliefs might actually be.

Religious belief matters and is a valid subject for discussion - especially if a vice presidential candidate, who might be a heartbeat away from the US presidency, might believe that her sectarian form of religious belief is the only valid form of religious belief on earth.

Judging by statements made by the pastors who blessed and anointed Sarah Palin, as shown in a newly-surfaced May 2005 video taken at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, Sarah Palin may well believe that the majority of Christians on Earth, and all humans living with non-Christian religious and philosophical belief systems, hold beliefs that are not only invalid but also even demonically influenced.

For the last several weeks I have been working in a research team that has been mapping out the emerging Christian religious stream Sarah Palin falls in. It is not synonymous with Pentecostalism or the Assemblies of God. It is a new, highly experiential and extremely militant form of Christianity that, until now, has outstripped the best efforts of journalists and academics who might have classified it. You can read about the New Apostolic Reformation, and the third Wave, in the following series of Talk To Action articles:

Sarah Palin's Churches

Series of Documentary Videos and Supporting Articles

Sarah Palin's Churches and the Third Wave, Part One
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/0244/84583/

Sarah Palin's Churches and the Third Wave, Part Two
http//www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/5/03830/11602/

Sarah Palin's Demon Haunted Churches, Complete Edition With videos, documentation , and article
http//www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/8/114332/7479/

Palin's Churches and the Holy Laughter Anointing, Video, Documentation, and Article
http//www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/11/113733/968/

YouTube Censors Viral Video Documentary on Palin's Churches
http//www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/13/1538/09770/

Palin, Muthee, and the Witch- Journalists Miss the Major Story http//www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/20/171755/145/

The "Lions in the Pews"
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/24/82239/9750/"

Direct video links:

Sarah Palin's Churches and the Third Wave, also titled Palin's Demon Haunted Churches
http://www.vimeo.com/1679097?pg=embed&sec=1679097

Palin's Churches and the Holy Laughter Anointing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_CkZWTvKBc

Comments

[JohnnySouthside]

One glaring example of religion being used for evil exists in the bible already. What do you think life was like for the unfortunate Phoenicians ( the bible calls them the Canaanites)? If I am remembering correctly these are the people who invented the alphabet of their time, and were quite a seafaring, cosmopolitan group. A radicalized Hebrew tribe of humanity, with their claims of "Our God says this land is ours, he says it is alright for us to kill you for it!", destroyed another tribe of humanity. Killing because "God" said it is alright is not excusable. Preachers encouraging their assemblies to assist in bringing about their "rapture" should be arrested like any other terrorist on American soil.
Current scientific opinion has the world at an age of about 4.5 Billion years old, why do we struggle so mightily with a set of short stories put together less than 2,000 years ago?

[Philly Gadfly]

Harris has a point. Consider the words of Arthur Schopenhauer as he considers the effect of religious belief on mankind:

Still I take a higher standpoint, and keep
in view a more important object, the progress, namely, of the knowledge
of truth among mankind. And from this point of view, it is a terrible
thing that, wherever a man is born, certain propositions are inculcated
in him in earliest youth, and he is assured that he may never have any
doubts about them, under penalty of thereby forfeiting eternal
salvation; propositions, I mean, which affect the foundation of all our
other knowledge and accordingly determine for ever, and, if they are
false, distort for ever, the point of view from which our knowledge
starts; and as, further, the corollaries of these propositions touch the
entire system of our intellectual attainments at every point, the whole
of human knowledge is thoroughly adulterated by them.

[magen]

Reverend Wright was such a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge problem for a lot of people.

This isn't???????????

I thought America got past this 316 years ago in a place called Salem, Mass.

[condieshoes]

This woman, by virture of the "paradigm" that she views the world makes her unfit to be Vice President and President.

Her religion is a very important issue to the American People and their physical safety. Madness! Absolute madness.

There is a reason why they (Karl Rove and operatives) are keeping the press away from Palin and she is suspending the debate....­.and campaign..­.....slide this woman under the door and hope that McCain is not suffering from a stroke right now as we speak. This is terrible for the country, truly terrible AND FRIGHTENING.

[CaptainStormfield]

Well remember the immortal words of Frank Herbert in Dune
"When religion and politics ride the same cart... "

[Indie2008]

Apparently FOX news hasn't heard about this video, because it is their stated policy to be fair and balanced. They showed the Rev, Wright clip incessantly. I'm sure they would want to give this controversial pastor equal scrutiny. Should someone send them a copy?

[faithrochester]

While I have a respect for all religions which hold a "one God" viewpoint, I am suspect of any religion which scorns the belief of others. History is replite with religious bigots - the Salem witch hunts, the Inquisition, the Taliban, etc., etc...

AMERICA beware when you vote into office someone who is a member of a sect which "holds a patent on God" and professes that all other religions are false.....­.

We are indeed treading on dangerous ground here.

[sisyphusredux]

That's the very nature of religion, dear-the belief that your belief system holds all the answers, and everyone else is wrong.

Sort of like partisan politics, huh?

[SLThomas]

I agree that there are no religious tests for the Presidency of the US (and, by ricochet, the Vice-Presidency). However, when the mainstream media put exerpts of Rev. Wright's most vitriolic sermons on a loop ad nauseam last winter/spring then this video of that Kenyan witch-hunter laying hands on Sarah Palin and begging his God to propel her to the Governership of Alaska is relevant.


If S.Palin is elected VP, she'll be one heartbeat away from the WH. Considering John McCain's age and medical condition (he doesn't seem to be in the best of shape lately) she might very well be seated in the POTUS chair in 2011. So yes, if she litterally believes that there are danegrous witches in America and that they need to be driven out of their homes by fundie pastors and harassed by squads of dumb people "praying" in front of their houses demanding that they be stoned to death (that's what happened to the so-called witch driven from her home in Kyambu,Kenya in the late 80's thanks to that kooky pastor) this needs to be known. It just adds up another fact into her column of "not ready for VP".

So yeah, this needs to get around sp. if the GOP intends to use soundbites of Rev.Wright in upcoming ads, like I heard...An­d btw, like Olbermann said, Pastor Muthee makes Rev.Wright look like Fr. Flanagan !

[Camel54]

I just think it's funny. I don't think it should be an issue covered by the MSM because honestly what's the difference in praying to be protected from Satan as opposed to being protected from witchcraft? There is no difference and the flying spaghetti monster told me so.

However, this is freakin' hilarious for the rest of us. I would love to see this turned into an indirect talking point in which all surrogates subtly brought it up by adding to their arguments against deregulation or against Iraq war or whatever, "...or maybe it's witchcraft and we're not sufficiently protected.­" I'd laugh.

[darinallennewberry]

Civil disobedience, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Ghandi espoused? Fuhgeddabout it, fellas! Start the cement mixers, comrades. The nail that sticks up shall be hammered down, dear children. Teach these boys their place, and make an example of them.

In the name of Tolerance and 'getting along', let us not unfairly marginalize a point of view, or demonize a broad swathe of our citizens holding to belief in a Supreme Being, in the objective existence of Good and Evil, or who express themselves to such a God with glossolalia, who dare believe in the inerrancy of Holy Writ, who follow Jesus Christ's command to make disciples of all nations [tribes, ethnic groups, clans] and strive to bring about a better world order founded on true justice and mercy; by the way, they generally pay their taxes like you do, to support our country’s infrastructure and do vote their consciences. Don't you like democracy? Well, the door swings both ways. How many people emigrated to North Korea, Iran and [name your favorite despotic state] last year?

I welcome the vibrant, civil discussion that is to follow.

[darinallennewberry]

My recent comment that began with "civil disobedience, like Dr. Martin....­" was the end of a longer comment, all of which should have been read together, but a local logistical problem and the 250-word limit constrained me from immediately contiguously linking them, for fellow readers; out of context, this tongue-in-cheek approach I adopted with that paragraph, may have taken some readers aback. No offence intended. If somebody's humor and sarcasm sensors are off-line, get'em fixed. Lighten up! There's plenty to poke fun of in this world, including me. :-#

[Freesia2]

In this pentacostal faith, religion and politics are the same. To be a "Christian" is to take those beliefs straight into the market place, into the government, into social policy. Not as in influencing them, but literally dominating them.

Is that really any different than what the Taliban does? Substitute Jesus for Allah and you have the same mindset. It is why we have a separation of church and state. As we should and will continue to - unless we end up with President Palin. I guess then we'll know what it feels like to live in Afghanistan.

[darinallennewberry]

So Sarah Palin's receiving similar treatment to that which Barack Obama received this past Spring, over his long-time association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? No surprise, given the fishbowl that politicians, and would-be contenders everywhere, tend to live in, for better or worse.

Palin is entitled to her beliefs and her associations, as this is a free country where she is accorded rights to assemble, to express herself responsibly, to choose [or not choose] the faith expression of her choice. Some may hide behind ostensibly well-meaning intentions to 'out' prominent adherents to alleged religious fascism, "talibevan­gelicalism­" or whatever moniker of the month the demonizers choose to paint their enemies with. Mrs. Sarah Palin is, in my book, in very good company, and her belief system is more mainstream than many so-called cultural élites, media mavens and miscellaneous enemies of the Cross care to admit in mixed company.

A vast, left-wing conspiracy [I'm winking at Hillary now] that seeks to destabilize organized religion and alleged intolerant forms of personal expression in public places, such as the White House, where Sarah Palin could end up? C'mon, my fellow Americans [back-slapping John McCain now].
Let us engage in civil discourse, let us sup and break bread one with another and focus on real internal and external threats to our country and our freedoms.

This posting is one of two I wrote on this topic.

[xTHExNIGHTxOWLx]

Darinallennewberry,

Bishop Muthee is definitely not good company. Muthee's accusations against Mama Jane, a fortune teller in Kenya, nearly got her killed and resulted in her having to leave her home and her town... all for the "crime" of being a fortune teller in Muthee's spiritual warzone. This is all well documented.

How would you like it if someone were to do to you what Muthee did to Mama Jane? You wouldn't like it. No one would.

Our politicians should be standing against zealots like Bishop Muthee, not standing with him.

TNO

[darinallennewberry]

I do not condone vigilante justice against anybody. Are we to live by 'rex lex' or 'lex rex', by the rule of law or the law of the ruler? Democracy and republican forms of civil government insist that we appeal to Constitutional authority, and the U.S. Constitution is founded on noble, and, many will say, even divine precepts and concepts that are the bedrock of Western society, such as it is today.

We legislate morality by condemning shedding of human blood by murder, manslaughter, regardless of any moral imperative somebody may feel to vindicate the honor or loss of somebody else. We legislate morality by echoing Moses [Moshe], who brought down tablets from the mountain God met with him on, in the commandments, "thou shalt not steal...th­ou shalt not bear false witness."

Some states, counties and parishes may still have on their record books, "thou shalt not commit adultery." Good for them. Marriage is a foundational institution in any society, and people who weaken these laws or consider them irrelevant in a so-called post-modern or post-Christian era, do so, like cutting off their own noses to spite their faces.

Back to your response. We are not to be rabble-rousers, inciting violence and lawbreaking. Civil disobedience is one thing, but putting out a 'fatwa' [for Salman Rushdie or Mama Jane] or a 'religious hit' on somebody to allegedly result in making the earth a better place, is in a different category altogether!

[darinallennewberry]

[second part of my comment to xTHExNIGHTxOWLx]
People who get a lot of media exposure sometimes get drunk on the power it affords them, and start feeling as though they can live above the law, or at least flout tact and community standards of decency at will, calculating the risk:rewards ratio and analyzing the latest polls and gossip mills to see what will obtain the greatest rise out of people the fastest, and therefore rake in more advertising revenues, get more hits on their websites, and score more high-fives by their fellow scofflaws-at-arms.

'Just wars' may be just that, but aren't always just, regardless of who the aggressors and victims are; we cannot suspend basic rights of 'enemy combatants' and arbitrarily spirit them away to legal no-man's-land to be waterboarded and compelled to confess that Allah might be a humbug and that Mohammad might not be The Prophet. I, too, hung my head in shame as an American, after the goings-on at Abu Ghraib in Iraq were brought to light.

War is hell, as a certain U.S. military man said, and we need to consider how best to live at peace will all people, respecting their points of view and their right to co-exist on the planet, insofar as they're not proving themselves menaces to themselves and others.

[MajorKong]

It's one thing to have faith. It's quite another to believe that having faith makes your policies God's word writ large.

[Speechless123]

Hussah! Gov. Palin's religious affiliations have been handled by the MSM as taboo and off limits in the same way that McCain's age/health have been labeled off limits. In my mind, these are 2 of the most important issues that have gottent he least amount of coverage. I am not sure how you can take seriously a VP candidate who (and no offense to "true believers"):
1) Believes in the "End Times" in his or her lifetime
2) Believes that evolution is a theory that should be given as much credence as creationis­m/intellig­ent design in our education system
3) Has no problems believing in a "real life" witch hunter and accepting his blessing of to ward off evil and "fill her campaign coffers"
I don't know what else to say about that. It is astounding.
One other note... how in the world can we respect those in the media that actually give this woman a "fair shake" and have the audacity to put her on the level of Obama, McCain, and Biden. It is simply amazing to me.

[Freesia2]

It isn't fair that her religious beliefs and footage of her church are not being used. No in the interest of "getting even", but the fact is that people were influenced by the media's looping of Rev. Wright over and over and over. Some people walked away and made up their own mind, some didn't. And they are out there now thinking that Palin is a harmless hockey mom who goes to church a lot. They have a right to be informed as to what she involved in. They can make up their own minds, but they have a right to the information.

[pollygirl036]

I agree. Itis time that the media get a chance to question Palin the way that they did Obama about Rev. Wright. The problem is that Palin would have to actually talk and that is something that has proven to be landmine for their campaign.

They continue to cover her with photo only ops so that she does have to speak but appear friendly to the public. Please. Anybody with a brain is wondering why she is so slient when turmoil is all around her. Maybe the word is out that her ability to repeat questions back isn't getting the job done with the public who expects the vp to be vocal about what their ticket will do when they get in office. If we want to hear a question repeated and not answered we would put it on a digital recorder.

OBAMA/BIDEN '08

[Angelus2007]

We were all here talking about how the Rev. Wright thing was a non-issue, just because Obama's pastor says something doesn't mean Obama believes it. Why is this any different. I can answer this, because she is the opponent. I don't want to hear, they did it, why can't we. Then thats makes us no different than them. I like to believe that I hold everyone to the same standard, Obama, McCain, democrat or republican.

Ask yourself, if Obama suspended his campaign, would you be on here with 2000 posts saying he can't walk and chew gum at the same time? No, you would be standing saying he is doing the right thing (most of you, not all). I don't think McCain should've suspended his campaign, and I would hold Obama to the same standard. I didn't think Rev. Wright was an issue and I don't think this should be. We are treating this like we are sports fans. Yankee fans hated Roger Clemens when he was a Red Sox, he was scum, a bottom feeder, ect, when was a Yankee, he was the greatest pitcher in the world. That is fine in sports, but this is the future of our country and by deciding how we react based upon a (D) or (R) next to their name isn't helping.

[MajorKong]

"I don't want to hear, they did it, why can't we."

Too bad. The Republicans play for keeps. They're not going to start playing nice just because we do.

[cam]

Great post which raises a very valid point. Harris articulates the rational view of religion well, but there is a missing dimension to his analysis - one that might appeal to that vast body of people who are too committed to thier faith to question it's theology. Harris is not going to persuade comitted theists, but it would be a very good thing if those theists could be pursuaded to start learning more about themselves. Not the subjugate gratification of intensified group identity but the deep and ongoing growth of true self-awareness, which seems feasible within some religous frameworks.

[darinallennewberry]

Hi, Cam. "Know thyself" is a great place to start. Communication theory's four-quadrant Johari window is a good metaphor or paradigm to examine, as we reconcile what others know about us that we don't yet know about ourselves. Some things cannot be known in this life. “The secret things belong to the LORD our G-d, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Moshe/Moses [Deuteronomy 29:29]

Some aspects of our characters are only brought out, exposed, strengthened and proven through intense cross-examination, through stress testing, or temptations to quit or compromise our ethics. With this in mind, I remind my fellow readers of the valiant, wise words of a former U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt:

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." [from a speech he gave at the Hamilton Club, Chicago, Illinois (1899-04-10) [URL http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt]

Knowing what you are capable of, for both good and evil, and knowing when to hold'em and when to fold'em [Kenny Rogers said, in THE GAMBLER], is an important part of our individual journeys. "The unexamined life is not worth living," I think Socrates said.

"Nuff said.