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Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs about the “Last Days” have received almost no attention in mainstream media and as a campaign issue. Beyond a brief mention in a Saturday Night Live skit, Sarah Palin’s religion has been treated as off-limits.  Part of the problem is that most reporters don’t understand fundamentalist religious beliefs enough to ask good questions.  

As one who spent years in the Assemblies of God, I have been profoundly concerned by evidence of her religious beliefs, and how they affect every aspect of her life.  She believes clearly that she has been called by God to usher in the End Times.  Her statements about Russia, Israel, the Middle East, her lack of concern about global warming, her view of the world as divided into good and evil have been clear to anyone who recognizes how much they are shaped by her religion. 

All of this, and much more, are laid out in an outstanding article by Marlene Winell, Ph.D., Sarah Palin, Warrior Princess for God

The article begins:

Palin is on a mission from God and she’s fighting a spiritual war. While that may sound extreme, it is exactly the mindset she has. It fits the bible-believing fundamentalist/evangelical subculture she is part of and it fits her language and behavior. Most people who have not been a “born-again” true believer do not realize what all of this really means. But the idea of Palin serving in high office is alarming to many former believers. Having been there myself, including an upbringing in the Assemblies of God Church, I will try to connect the dots and explain why this is serious.
 
The problem is not Palin’s attitude on specific issues like same-sex marriage, abortion, censorship, war, or even global warming, serious as these are. Nor is it about peculiar beliefs on creation, dinosaurs, God’s intervention on a gas pipeline, or Jesus coming back.

The problem is her mindset as a whole and her identity within that. A fundamentalist or evangelical believes the Bible is the literal word of God. Everything else flows from that. True believers view the world differently. They live in a different reality-one that is dangerous to humankind and Planet Earth.  more

For a video about Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs, “Palin’s Apocalypse,” see the video in the article An Letter to Sarah Palin, self-annointed Chromefishtian Leader from a former member of her religious cult.  

As a former fundamentalist, I’d like to call you on what you are doing. The media has called you “opaque” about your religion, but some of us can connect the dots.

This is not about disrespecting your private beliefs. However, your religion matters to us because it matters to you. You have done and said things that indicate you are a born-again, literal Bible-believing, fundamentalist Christian. This is the most important thing about you and you have not been honest about it.

Most people who have never been entrenched in the subculture of fundamentalist Christianity may not understand what this really means, but I do. Like you, I was raised in the Assemblies of God and I was a zealous part of the Jesus Movement. Like you, my life was consumed with seeking God’s will for my life and awaiting the imminent return of Jesus. The Atheist’s Way: An Open Letter to Sarah Palin

Religious views matter because they are worldviews, which shape political decisions. Ever since Sarah Palin was plucked from national obscurity to be the Republican vice-presidential candidate, I have been amazed and disturbed that Sarah Palin’s religious views have been mostly ignored, and treated as a private matter. 

If anyone’s views in this presidential election are truly dangerous, it is the views of the hockey mom from Wasilla, who sees herself as God’s anointed, sent by God to hasten Armageddon. I’ll end with these words from Marlene Winell:

All of this certainty and fantasy in today’s complex world is dangerous indeed. We must not have a Vice-President suffering from such delusion – even if millions of others suffer the delusion with her. There was a time when all of humanity thought the world was flat. Today, the stakes for such massive error are much higher. A Bible-believing true believer is like a bird in a large cage of other birds, waiting for a day of release and in the meantime taking charge of the cage. But there is something very wrong about the picture. The ruling bird does not take the community or health inside the cage seriously.

So I have a message for you, Sarah, Warrior Princess for God, from all of us who know what you are up to. How dare you presume to take responsibility for our country and our planet when you, in your own mind, do not consider this home? I mean home for the long haul, not just until your rescue arrives from space. How dare you look forward to Christ’s return, leaving your public office empty like a scene from the movie, Left Behind? Sarah Palin, Warrior Princess for God

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

written by Kalinda \\ tags: apocalyptic, armageddon, Assemblies of God, end time, fundamentalism, latter days, religious world view, Sarah Palin

One of the fascinating elements of this political campaign is the juxtaposition between the present ”bible-believing Christian” Sarah Palin and the past “Pentecostal” Sarah Palin. 

It is clear that she was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate to appeal to Evangelical Christians.  She was promoted to the “conservative, Christian base” as one of them, without making clear her Pentecostal roots. 

John McCain has courted Evangelicals for much of his political campaign. Meanwhile, the Evangelicals have not quite trusted him to be one of their own. McCain made the ultimate effort to woo the Evangelical vote in his appearance at the Civil Forum at Saddleback Church.

After all of this effort to capture the Evangelical vote, it is rather astonishing that McCain did not choose an Evangelical to run as his vice-presidential nominee. Instead, he chose a woman deeply rooted in the Assemblies of God. John McCain Jilts The Evangelicals To Choose Sarah Palin From The Assemblies Of God.

Since then, her faith has been presented in vague terms. This strategy follows Sarah Palin’s own efforts to distance herself from being identified as “Pentecostal” in order to run for Governor of Alaska. 

While the McCain campaign has promoted Palin to religious conservatives as a woman of “strong faith,” they have gone to unusual lengths to avoid providing a picture of that faith. In fact, a Palin spokeswoman says the Alaska governor is “not a Pentecostal,” and points out that Palin was baptized as a child as a Roman Catholic, although there is no record that her family attended Catholic services before joining the Pentecostal church where she became saved at age 11. The candidate does not even claim the Evangelical label, instead using the code phrase “Bible-believing Christian” to describe herself. Palin’s official biography on the McCain campaign website makes no mention of her religious affiliation.  Does Sarah Palin Have a Pentecostal Problem?

Sarah Palin’s religious history includes a strong Pentecostal background and includes membership in an Assemblies of God church, which is a Pentecostal denomination.  Pentecostalism is consistent with much Evangelical theology at some points, and divergent at others. It is highly likely that many of the Evangelicals who were so enthused about her nomination would be a bit more skeptical if they understood how much her Pentecostal background is being deliberately obscured.  Whether fair or not, the label “Pentecostal” carries negative connotations within much of the Christian world. 

It is this Pentecostal association that most concerns and confuses the McCain campaign. As Minnery makes clear, millions of Evangelicals have accepted Palin because of her membership in a Bible church. But there is no denying that mainstream Evangelicals and Pentecostals, while political allies on many social issues, have historically had significant tensions over theological differences. The Evangelicals’ swoon for Palin might fade if it turns out that she continues to hold fast to Pentecostal practices and beliefs. Does Sarah Palin Have a Pentecostal Problem?

This article from Time Magazine, by Amy Sullivan, is the single best treatment I have seen on the topics of Sarah Palin’s religious background and Pentecostal beliefs and practices.  It is fair, and carefully and accurately outlines key elements of the history of Pentecostalism. Does Sarah Palin Have a Pentecostal Problem?

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

For a grown-up Christian approach to money, be sure to see Going Broke With Jesus. How Heroic Stories Intended To Liberate The Poor Become Biblical Urban Legends About The Evils Of Money.

written by Kalinda \\ tags: alaska, Amy Sullivan, Assemblies of God, Bible, bible-believing, christian, evangelical, John McCain, pentecostal, Sarah Palin

Today, at a John McCain rally, a pastor prayed a prayer.

Unhelpful for establishing the tone McCain sought in Davenport was the Rev. Arnold Conrad, past pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church. His prayer before McCain arrived at the convention center blocks from the Mississippi River appeared to dismiss faiths other than Christianity and cast the election as a referendum on God himself.

“I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god – whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah – that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons,” Conrad said.

“And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day,” he said.
McCain strikes back at Obama ally

Whatever the prayer was intended to proclaim about the candidates, this prayer speaks volumes about what the pastor thinks of God. Who knew that God’s reputation hangs on the outcome of the United States Presidential election?

As an indication of the quality of theological thinking behind this prayer, it is worthwhile to notice that the pastor identifies three “gods”—”Hindu,” “Buddha,” and “Allah.”  “Hindu” is not a god. It is an adjective describing the religion of Hinduism. Buddha is also not identified as a god within Buddhism, which is essentially a non-theistic philosophical and ethical system. The pastor did get it right with “Allah”—the God of Islam. However, adherents of both Christianity and Islam claim to be monotheists, recognizing only one God, who happens to be the same God.

As for the rest of the theology behind this prayer, it seems to be important for mere mortals to have a wee bit  more humility than this pastor demonstrates. The tone of the prayer seems more appropriate for two five-year-olds on a playground, threatening each other with childish statements: “My dad is bigger than your dad.”  “Oh yeah? Who says?”

Any “god” who needs to have a particular political candidate win an election to protect “his” reputation, is an imposter. The God proclaimed by Christian faith deserves better publicity than this.
    
Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

For a grown-up Christian approach to money, be sure to see Going Broke With Jesus. How Heroic Stories Intended To Liberate The Poor Become Biblical Urban Legends About The Evils Of Money.

written by Kalinda \\ tags: Allah, Buddha, God, Hindu, John McCain, political prayer, prayer, Rev Arnold Conrad, theology