Sarah Palin and Christian Zionism: Is She or Isn't She?

Interesting new twist on Sarah Palin's fundamentalist church background.

From: www.christianzionism.org

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Sarah Palin and Christian Zionism: Is She or Isn't She?

One month before the presidential election, Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, has re-inserted the subject of Barak Obama's former membership in Jeremiah Wright's church into an already heated campaign. And this despite her running mate's disavowal of this tactic soon after Obama left the church. Many see this as an act of desperation in a campaign that has lost its bearings. Whatever the case what it does is lay open the need to offer a similar kind of critical scrutiny to Sarah Palin's radical church background.

Bruce Wilson, writing in the Huffington Post, suggests that Palin's church affiliation could be and should be an issue in this election, as the particular form of Pentecostalism practiced in the church which played the greatest role in shaping her spiritual life, the Wasilla Assembly of God, represents a radical form of fundamentalist Pentecostalism, so radical that it was repudiated by other Pentecostal churches back in the late '40s:

. . . the excesses of this movement were declared a heresy in 1949 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and again condemned through Resolution 16 in 2000. The beliefs and manifestations of the movement include the use of 'strategic level spiritual warfare' to expel territorial demons from American and world cities. Worship includes excessive charismatic manifestations such as hundreds of people falling, 'slain in the spirit,' and congregations laughing, jerking, and shrieking uncontrollably.

For our purposes the more important issue has to do with the fact that this church, as well as the church in which Palin currently worships, is steeped in the kind of dispensationalist theology that undergirds the more extreme forms of ideological Christian Zionism. Key to this theology is a belief in the divine origin of the Israeli state, and the imperative for Christians to offer it unconditional support.

One would assume from this that Sarah Palin is a card carrying member of the Christian Zionist movement. But just as it is valid to question the assumption that Barak Obama absorbed the more radical elements of his pastor's black liberation theology during his time as a member of his congregation, so it is valid to question how much governor Palin absorbed the ideology of her church with regard to its dispensationalist perspective on Israel/Palestine.

There is no doubt that she is a strong supporter of the Israeli state. There is no doubt that this support is grounded in her Christian beliefs. But all that I have read and observed about her suggests that she is less ideologically-driven than politically-driven, defined primarily, as the New York Time's, Frank Rich, put it in a recent op-ed piece, by a "hubristic self-confidence and hyper-ambition."

This explains what is otherwise inexplicable - the quickness with which she affirmed a two state solution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine during the Vice Presidential debate, which an ideologically-driven Christian Zionist would never do. It is borne out, as well, by the fact that she has shown little inclination to wave the Israeli flag in her political career. Yes, she does have an Israeli flag in her office. But so do a lot of other Republican and Democratic politicians, Christian Zionist or not.

What Sarah Palin is mostly about is Sarah Palin. Pure naked ambition. Getting to the top no matter what it takes to get there. Given the fact that pride is one of the seven deadly sins, this is hardly a commendation. But it does throw into question claims that some are making that she and Hagee are in the same Christian Zionist camp.

Of course, we don't know who the real Sarah Palin is. She could be a raving Christian Zionist eager to light the Armaggeddon fuse. We don't know because at this point all we have is the Sarah Palin the Republican party wishes her to be, a persona crafted by her neo-con handlers for the sole purpose of winning an election. But all indications going back to her ascendency up the ladder of Alaskan politics, say that political ambition rather than Christian theology, is the greatest determinant of her positions. Whatever it takes to advance her political career is the real measure of her faith. That's not a reason to vote for her. But it is reason to hold off on attributing radical beliefs to her that may not define who she is at all.

Countdown: Is it a Ploy??

More Days till the Palin-Biden Debate



I'm not usually given to paranoia, but the thought just struck me that Palin's apparently empty-headed cluelessness in recent public appearances could be a ploy. The previous post seems to suggest this. Her nom de plume, Baracudda, also hints as such. This is a capable, savvy politician who has clawed her way to the top of Alaska politics. Can she be so clueless as to not understand how idiotic she appeared in the Couric interviews? Perhaps. But not likely.

Here's what might be the case. From the outset the RNC has been claiming victim status for Palin. The establishment press is out to get her. She is being vilified by rabid liberals.

When she came across as wooden and defensive in the Gibson interview (he of the establishment press) her Rovian handlers realized that this was their trump card. Let her come across as vapid and out of touch with international affairs in the Couric interview, which is McCain's strong suit anyway. Let the press continue their assault. Then at the debate, when expectations are lowered to a Loch Ness level have the assertive, self confident Sarah Palin we met at the Republican National Convention, suitably prepped , re-assert herself. Have her go on the offensive against Obama's liberalism with a self confident (yet charming) bluster. Prod Biden into blowing his top. Put on her best "I'm a pit bull hockey mom maverick who feels the pain of middle America" act and watch the disaffected independent voters line up behind her.

It would be a brilliant tactical move as in one fell swoop she would: A) confirm the essential meanness of the hated liberal press B) gain the sympathies of the swelling numbers of Americans who are angry and fed up with politics as usual. "Here's someone we can relate to," they will say. "She hates the establishment press and politicians just as much as we do. Let's get em back by putting this woman in office!"

And the ghost of Karl Rove will continue to haunt us.

It's just a thought. . . . An awful thought.

Countdown: She's Really a Good Girl

More days till the Palin-Biden Debate



Palin's Parents Say She's a Good Girl!

Here's a surprise: Sarah Palin's parents think she's a swell gal and they don't like the media questioning that.

That's what they told CBS news yesterday. And CBS news thought that was actually news-worthy. But isn't that what parents are supposed to say? Wouldn't Biden's mom say the same thing about the dirt the Republicans have been digging up about him, or Obama's parents, if they were still alive, about him? And would CBS news have a special report on that, as well?

Here's what Palin's parents need to understand. When a person runs for the second highest office in the land they open themselves up to an intense scrutiny that is sometimes fair, sometimes not. Too much is at stake for a candidate simply to be allowed to let their parents or their bowling buddies tell us who they are. We need to hear from everyone who knows them and examine everything they have ever done. And because this is politics and not the PTA there will be many who will be out to discredit this candidate because the party whose candidate they oppose will be doing the exact same thing to their candidate.

Information that reporters have dug up on their daughter suggest, in fact, that this is how Sarah Palin has gotten to where she is today - by dissing anyone who gets in her way. She, in other words, is just as good at digging in the dirt as anyone else. While I would rather see no one engage in this kind of politics, its much harder to feel sympathy for someone who does it themselves.

But here's what Palin's parents really need to understand. What the press is doing for the most part is helping us understand whether or not their daughter is qualified for the second most important political position in the most powerful country in the world. This has nothing to do with how nice she is. This has to do with her qualifications for national office. We are willing to believe that she is a good mother and a hard worker. We understand that she is extremely talented and a natural leader. All of these things that her parents wish us to understand about her, we do understand. What we don't understand is why Senator McCain thought she was qualifed for this position.

In the few times she's been allowed to respond to questions with her own thoughts she has evidenced a pitiable lack of knowledge about the very things a vice president needs to know. I don't care how quick a read she is, there is simply no way that she can get up to speed within two or three months. This is not an SAT exam. This is holding responsibility for the administration of the world's most powerful country. No major corporation would even begin to consider someone with insufficient experience or knowledge to be a vice president in their company. Why should we consider putting in office someone with as thin a resume as their daughter?

Mr. and Mrs. Palin: we think you have a fine daughter. She is charming and charismatic and has gone far with grit and determination. She is a gifted leader on the local and state level. She has a wonderful family; a model for working mothers everywhere. But she is not qualified to be vice president of the United States. That more than anything else is what the investigative reporting you are so critical of has determined. She is not suitable for this position. I hope you understand that this is not personal. It's the truth.

The Debate is over, so Now Let's Hear from Biden and . . . . .

OK, the debate's over and the choice is clear. And it's not the Palin-McCain ticket.

When the debate finished I started flipping through the channels to see what the pundits had to say. Turned to NBC (which is what I have on right now -- wondering if the Republican respondee was watching the same debate I was) and heard this:



"When we come back we will have Democratic Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, give his response to the debate. And . . . . .. . . . (are you expecting the same thing I am? ) from the Republican side . . . . . . . . former New York mayor, Rudolph Giulliani."


What? No Sarah Palin? Why no Sarah Palin? Has she gone back to Alaska? Taking care of her family? Out on a hot date with her hubby?

What's becoming clear is that Sarah Palin is an embarrassment to the Republicans. Like that crazy uncle our folks try their best to shield us from at family reunions, the Republicans are keeping Sarah's public meetings to a bare minimum. After last week's astonishingly bad interview with Katie Curic, they are especially desperate to make sure she doesn't embarrass them again.

How she'll do at the debate on Thursday night is anyone's guess. Or maybe she'll find some reason not to be there. Something like having to rush back to Alaska to sort out an economic mess. Oh, no, that was Senator McCain's ploy, wasn't it? It almost worked for him. Maybe they'll try it again . . .

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: I JUST HEARD THAT THE NETWORKS ASKED PALIN TO SPEAK. SHE DECLINED. I'LL LET YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT MEANS . . . BUT, HEY, WAS I RIGHT OR WHAT?

Palinisms: Another from the Couric Interview

Here's one I missed first time around.

This woman is a veritable treasure chest of the kind of incomprehensibility we thought only George Bush could pull off.

Read it and weep or laugh. Both responses are appropriate.

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Palin Trying to Explain Obama's Surge in the Polls: (I dare you to try and figure out exactly what she's saying without having your brain explode)

From the CBS News Katie Couric Interview:

I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?

Sarah Palin: The Great White Hope

One of the most powerful productions of the late '60s was a play written by Howard Sackler (later made into a film) which fictionalized the drama surrounding the first black heavy weight boxing champion, Jack Johnson. At the heart of the drama was the inability of many in America to accept the prospect of a black champion, either in boxing or any other field.

We like to believe that we've moved beyond this. And in many ways we have. But scratch the surface of what remains a thin veneer of racial civility and this darker side of the American psyche is ready to re assert itself.

Sarah Palin's appearance at the Republican National Convention was a stunning moment in American political history for any number of different reasons. Most stunning to me was the reaction of the predominantly white middle to upper middle class convention crowd. You would have thought that they were Catholics greeting the pope or Dead Heads surging the stage at a Grateful Dead concert. And this for a woman who very few in that crowd knew anything about other than that she was a working mother from a small town whose values harked back to the era when white privilege was the predominant paradigm. The surface had been scratched; the veneer peeled away.

This hasn't been explored much in the national press. For good reason. It would be hard to substantiate given the reluctance of many white Americans to acknowledge racial prejudice.What makes this even more difficult to pin down is the fact that what is on display here is not the same kind of blatant racism that Jack Johnson encountered. Rather it has more to do with the threat that diversity poses to many white Americans, blue collar for the most part, but not exclusively so.

Much is made of Sarah Palin's small town values and "aw shucks" demeanor. What isn't said is how that contrasts with the savvy cosmopolitanism and multi-culturalism represented in the biography of Barak Obama. He is the face of the new America where race and ethnicity matter, but not as the great barriers they once were. In a growing number of social circles, in fact, diversity is celebrated.

Obama's popularity among younger university- educated voters underscores the contrast. To them he represents not just the future, but their own reality in a way that the 72 year old McCain (who keeps bringing up that war that this generation is sick and tired of hearing about), and lily white Sarah Palin (have you ever seen any people of color in any of her photos?) cannot.

Sarah Palin and, in different ways, John McCain, are the great white hopes. The question that needs to be asked is whether this represents America's best hope. Given our growing diversity and need to engage a global economy, I think not.

Trooper Gate: the Plot Thickens

Here's a contrast worth noting. First is an excerpt from a piece from Reuters News Service announcing the (surprise, surprise) attempt on the part of Republicans to stop the "trooper gate" investigation of Sarah Palin . Immediately following is an excerpt from a piece written by an Alaskan politician ruminating on how the insertion of national politics into the investigation (by the Republicans) introduced a brand of politics Alaskans are unused to.

Make note of the fact that up to this point Palin has only known Alaskan politics.

First the piece from Reuters:

Alaska Republicans sue to stop Palin trooper probe

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Five Republican state legislators filed a lawsuit in Alaska state court on Tuesday seeking to block Democrats from investigating whether vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in firing a state trooper feuding with her family. (full story)

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Karl Rove Comes to Alaska

Now an excerpt the piece from the Alaskan politician named Les Gara (from Mudflats), filed under the headline: "Karl Rove Comes to Alaska" last week (before the Republicans invented their fiction about Democratic control of the process):

To get their way, and prevent sworn testimony from leaking out on what I suspect was probably a minor breach by Governor Palin, McCain’s operatives have come to Alaska to add invective in a state where people generally get along. They’ve chosen to vilify: 1) one of the state’s most respected public officials, Senator Hollis French; 2) the state’s most respected law enforcement official, Walt Monegan; and 3) a highly respected former DA and Victims Rights advocate a legislative committee voted 12 - 0 to hire to conduct the investigation, Steve Branchflower.

It’s the ghost of Karl Rove. Say something untrue enough times - like that Al Qaida is training with Saddam

Hussein’s help - and people will believe it. Not this time. I’m not sure if I mentioned a few important facts.

Did I mention that no one ever attacked the Troopergate investigation by Alaska’s Legislature - started long before Governor Palin was placed on McCain’s ticket - until August 29? That was the day Governor Palin joined the McCain bid for the White House.

Did I mention that before the McCain camp got involved, the Governor stated

of the Legislative investigation: “That being the route they choose, so be it. I’m happy to comply, to cooperate.” (KTUU.com, July 24, 2008). She repeatedly stated she’d comply, and that it was the right thing to do.

Did I mention the personal attacks against our local public officials only started after Sen. McCain sent his flacks up to our small state on August 29? They came with a mission to make America believe a Republican-initiated investigation, started with a unanimous committee vote of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats, was a “partisan” plot. That’s only a tough sell if people know the facts.

Did I mention they now claim the Legislature cannot legally proceed with an investigation into government misconduct (I thought Republicans didn’t like attorneys who made frivolous arguments), and that they are threatening to to go to court to stop it? The Governor’s attorneys started writing those letters on - you guessed it - August 29. Before then they agreed the investigation was proper.

Oh, and what about this. Last week the McCain camp put our Governor in a bizarre position. They told her to file an ethics complaint against herself! Yup, again after her VP nomination. Too weird? What’s behind this move? You guessed it. Lawyers. (FULL STORY)

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And now, as Paul Harvey says, here's the rest of the story. (the latest from AKMuckraker at Mudflats):

Blizzard Warning. Palin Halts Traffic.

16 09 2008

STORM WARNING! The legal paperwork blizzard has arrived. Today we are expecting accumulations of 10-12″ of legal stall tactics, creating hazardous conditions for those trying to navigate through the Palin scandal we have come to know as “Troopergate”. So, before proceeding, make sure you’ve got your studded tires on, and a good shovel. Ready?

Today, five Republican lawmakers filed a lawsuit against not only Democratic Sen. Hollis French, who is overseeing the investigation; not only Juneau Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, who heads the Legislative Council, and not only independent investigator Steve Branchflower, but the bipartisan Legislative Council itself. The suit seeks to delay the infamous ethics investigation until after the election on November 4, or to remove French and Elton.

FULL STORY HERE

The Sarah Palin Show: Palin Agrees with Obama - on abortion - well, sort of

I wasn't sure I had heard it correctly, but when I went back to check the transcript, there it was; Governor Sarah Palin suggesting a way forward on the divisive issue of abortion. And the way she said it sounded, at first blush, like an Obama quote.

I have to admit that on the issue of abortion I'm more on board with Governor Palin than Senator Obama. But I've appreciated Obama's attempts to try and find a way out of the polarizing impasse.

It appears as if Palin was trying to do the same in the response she gave to Gibson's queries about the issue in the interview broadcast as a blurb on tonight's ABC news cast. Probing the accusation that she takes a hard core approach to abortion, what Gibson got instead was a white flag. Yes, she was playing politics. But it beats her pit-bull attacks at the convention. In this case I choose to be optimistic.

Note (with astonishment) how close the two sides are:

Palin: (from abc.com) What I want to do (is to) be able to reach out and work with those who are on the other side of this issue, because I know that we can all agree on the need for and the desire for fewer abortions in America . . .



Obama: (at the Saddleback forum.) What I can do is say there are ways that we can work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies so that we actually are reducing the sense that women are seeking out abortions . . .

"I think the better answer -- and this was reflected in the Democratic platform -- is to figure out, how do we make sure the young mothers, or women who have a pregnancy that's unexpected or difficult, have the kind of support they need to make a whole range of choices, including adoption and keeping the child."

Jesus Was a Community Organizer

Thanks to  my new favorite up north Alaskan blog, Mudflats, for this brilliant idea for a T-shirt and/or bumper sticker inspired by the governor's withering attack on Senator Obama for using his education to empower the poor rather than doing something really useful like becoming a sports announcer.  

Jesus was a Community Organizer

 Pontias Pilate was a Governor.