Palin & Religion: What's Scary, What's Not

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 Palin's deep faith and Bible-focused church will be chewed over for evidence of her extremism. Conservatives, meanwhile, seize on the scrutiny -- including liberal overreactions -- as evidence that the left and the mainstream media are anti-Christian.

The Palin candidacy does pose real church-state questions, as well as many opportunities for hysterical overreaction. As a service to my panicky friends on the left and my Sarah-smitten friends on the right (who may not understand why she frightens some), here's a guide to what is and isn't scary, or at least questionable about Palin's mixing of faith and politics:

Scary - Palin told a group of young church leaders to pray for a gas pipeline because it was God's will. "God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gasline built. So pray for that." Saying a particular public policy is God's will is far over the line, considerably beyond anything that George W. Bush ever said. It means the advocate is impervious to argument, and critics are going against God's will.

Not Scary - Palin asked members of the church to pray "that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan." This has been cited on Huffington Post as proof that Palin justifies the war as being part of God's plan. I read it as meaning the opposite - that people should pray that the war IS part of God's plan. This is a totally appropriate desire for a Christian - and for a Christian politician. All Christian politicians should aspire to do God's will. Where it gets problematic is when they feel God is directing them to take particular steps or claim divine endorsement for their actions.

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.

Not Scary - "She asked [her pastor] for a biblical example of people who were great leaders and was the secret of their leadership." Since the Times put it in the second paragraph of their piece, they must have felt this was ominous. It's not. Using the Bible for ethical guidance or wisdom is a standard -- and I would argue noble -- use of faith.

Scary (Probably) - As governor, she signed a Christian Heritage Week. It didn't actually declare the U.S. to be an officially Christian nation but it plucked Founding Fathers quotes way out of context to misleadingly imply they were devout Christians. In many other cases, this same technique has been used to promote the argument that America was created to be a Christian nation, and separation of church and state is a myth. (Full text here)

Not Scary (Probably) - "The churches that Sarah has attended all believe in a literal translation of the Bible," says John Kinkaid, a friend. "Her principal ethical and moral beliefs stem from this." Very few Christian follow the literal meaning of the whole Bible. Conservative Bible-believing Christians tend to focus on the passages related to life and marriage; liberals tend to focus on those related to poverty. It's worth probing this more but it's not by itself either good or bad.

Maybe Scary, Maybe Not - "God has sent me, from underneath the umbrella of this church, throughout the state." It depends how literally she means this. It's one thing to think God has a plan for you, or that all people are part of God's plan; many people believe such things, including Barack Obama, whose campaign literature bore the headline "Called to Bring Change," and read, "We do what we do because God is with us."

But if she feels God has enjoined her to take specific steps - like attacking Obama or drilling for oil in Alaska - as opposed to guiding her in general public service, then many Americans will come to distrust her and feel she's inappropriately using faith as a political weapon. Of course, those who think God really IS guiding her policies and speeches, will just love her even more.

Comments

[LaFilleEnRose]

SCARY: What about that her "personal" beliefs about no abortion even in cases of incest and rape take on huge political issues when one discovers that her state has one of the highest incidents of rape/incest in country. Also note that while Mayor she approved charging victims of rape with cost of rape kits -- didn't want taxpapers to have to pay for that. Whoa!! When you consider she'd be a heartbeat away from the presidency and could appoint Supreme Court Justices. THIS IS THE SCARIEST THING I CAN THINK OF. No wonder she's so chummy w/McCain who is famous for his disgusting joke about rape -- a gorilla? rapes a woman and, well, it's too ugly to tell.

[Invox]

Her churches also believe in the "end times". This is probably the most worrisome issue I have with her faith. It's where her faith might influence foreign policy decisions and actions. If you've ever read "The Ezekiel Factor", you'll recognize some modern-day political situations, particularly with regard to Russia and Iran, that might lend themselves to the perception that the end is near. I'll stop my imagination right there. But I have to wonder. It sure would have been nice to know something about the person who is a heartbeat away from the presidency. McCain has been very unfair to the American people to expect them to trust and accept someone they don't know. I consider it very poor judgment and indicative of what his presidency could be like. I don't anticipate that his term would be very stable.

[Collielady]

As far as I'm concerned it (religious) jargon is all dangerous.

This woman is a radical extremist. The Obama camp should run ads about her, juxtaposing her comments with Middle Eastern women wearing burqas.

[mema01]

Didn't God say "beware of the zealots". She scares me.

[apduncan1]

And with no WMDs and no mushroom clouds what happened to false prophets being thrown from cliffs?

[freedog]

Can you please get this into the mainstream media. We have a whole stack of Rev. Wright tapes we'd like to air again.

[apduncan1]

And your point is?

[MajorKong]

I'm a little iffy about having end-times people near nuclear weapons.

[PumaAnn]

I presume the Democrats will continue to push this. I can't understand it, given O's struggle to get out from under his own church choices.

Today? That's the chatter from the Republicans on this.

Let's see. The public is suppose to buy his remarks on O'Reilly that he never knew Wright was this way?

And yet tar and feather Pal?

Now, come on. That's just not even remotely sensible.

[feo]

Essential problem among Fundies: You can't believe that God has a plan and believe in Free Will at the same time. If God has a plan (as they claim) then everything you see is part of that plan, like it or not, and that includes people of differing beliefs, people with a lack of beliefs, etc etc.

[squarebird]

Of course you can. Asimov's entire Robot series and Foundation series was based on this. Actually, the series Heroes is exactly about this. Watch that show (which happens to be extremely popular with my Christian Fundamentalist friends) and you will get some insight on their worldview. At least they are driven by wanting to do the right thing and struggling to look outside themselves to figure out what that right thing is. Though I am not a Christian fundamentalist, I enjoy hanging out with them like I would Hiro or Peter - they are also almost across-the-board very nice people.

[valleygent]

The woman is a radical christian fundamentalist hell bent on altering our constitution forever. I think that is scary enough. The vote in November is for either democracy or theocracy. Vote democracy, vote Obama/Biden.

[WmC]

In decision-makers, I find literalism, creationism and moral absolutism (in the way that Christianists use the phrase) scary. None of the three can be defended on a rational or logical basis. Anyone who tries to defend them is steeped in superstition. You get a superstitious decision maker, and who knows what can happen? You can find yourself involved in an unnecessary war, because the superstitious individual thought he received authorization from a "Higher Father."

[Morcat]

Christianists will tell you that they take all scripture literally, but when pressed, they have to admit that they pick and choose the passages to which they give credence. Their passages invariably turn out to be the ones that support bigotry, violence, selfishness and exclusion. I have yet to run across even one who takes literally Christ's admonition to give something to everyone who asks.

[Wickywoo]

All you have to do is look what her church preaches, and she has demonstrated time and again that she believes without question (and no religious person is allowed to question. The all powerful creator of the universe says it, questioning means you're going to hell).

They believe they need to conquer the world for Jesus and hurry up armageddon. They should be in prison or a mental hospital, not running for public office

[Nia1999]

What scares me is how Palin has gotten the media, Hillary supporter's, and women with low self-esteem with limited education (possibly victims of domestic abuse) under her spell. She has convinced them that she is the one. It's as if we're reliving the Rev. Jim Jones all over again. She become a cult and the American people will be forced to follow her demented idiology.

[Nia1999]

If Sarah Palin is such a Bible following Christian, how did she miss this?

Matthew 6.24

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one , and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

[DuPageDem]

Not scary? It's all scary. Anyone who claims their morality rests on ancient fairy tales is scary. How about morals based on common-sense humanity instead of myths? On decency and compassion, instead of retribution from a fictional character? If belief makes you a better person, great. But don't shove your metaphysics down the throat of our national governance, and expect everyone to swallow.

[TheBlackCat]

Well that's the difference betweeen being religious and being a fundamentalist. A religious person uses their religion to help guide THEM through life; through the bad times and the tough times and the times where you really need to make moral judgement. They think that it is only the followers who need to follow their religion's rules. For instance; Orthodox Jews. I live in an orthodox Jewish neighborhood. They are extremely devout to their faith, but recognize completely that it is THEIR faith and not mine. They don't judge their non Orthodox Jewish neighbors for not covering their heads or driving a car on the Sabbath. They don't try and make the public school in our neighborhood teach them stories from the Torrah alongside of science and history.

A fundamentalist is someone who thinks that EVERYONE has to follow the rules of THEIR faith, even if they are not even a member of their faith. Fundamentalist Muslims think everyone needs to abide by the rules of Islam; they don't think that only THEY can't draw a picture of Mohamed, they call a fatwa on ANYONE who breaks this rule. Fundamentalist Christians don't believe that just THEY shouldn't be gay, they think that NO ONE should be allowed to be gay.


Fundamentalists do not see their religion as a personal decision. It is a mandate all men must follow. Therefore fundamentalism is in and of itself dangerous.

[jhNY]

What I find scary about Palin is that she believes we are living in the Last Days, right before the rapture , when many surviving Americans, after some kind of God-spawned catastrophe, will be soon traveling up to God's special land, Alaska, seeking refuge before being lifited off to heaven. It's scary 'cause it's just so kooky.

Like I have always thought it was stupid to elect people to office who don't believe in the government or the possibility that government actions can produce good results-- conservative Republicans, I now protest the stupidity of choosing a leader with responsibility for the nation's future who believes any minute now the world is going to end so why bother-- evangelical millenialist Republicans.