The cat is out of the bag!  Of all the bad things the dirt diggers could have found out about Sarah Palin, they’ve found the worst!  Not that she once smoked marijuana!  Not that she was probably pregnant when she married!  Not that she has a tattoo on her ankle (of the Big Dipper).  No, the worst thing that they have found out is that she might really be a serious Christian! And a Pentecostal Christian, at that!

A recent Associated Press investigative report was headlined:   “Pentecostalism Obscured in Palin Biography.”  It further read:   “Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian. Yet John McCain’s running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christian tradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world.”  A CNN “expose” said that Palin wanted to hide her Pentecostal roots.

Again, CNN, just a few days ago, said that Palin was against embryonic stem cell research and wanted to censor books in the library.  It seemed they did not know if she was against all stem cell research or what books she wanted to censor and why.

Among the really “way out” things written about her is that she told the Anchorage Daily News two years ago that:

God made dinosaurs 4,000 years ago as ultimately flawed creatures, lizards of Satan really, so when they died and became petroleum products we, made in his perfect image, could use them in our pickup trucks, snow machines and fishing boats.

To their credit, CNN also presented the author of this lie who admitted he simply made it up. How sick is that?

Sarah Palin has been a member of the Assembly of God church in Wasilla and has worshipped at an Assembly of God church in Juneau.  The A of G is a Pentecostal denomination that believes in God the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, heaven, hell, good and evil, most of the Christian basics.  They teach that you have to turn away from sin and decide to follow Jesus – to be “born again.”

In addition, Pentecostals believe in a further infilling of the Holy Spirit such as the disciples in the upper room received on Pentecost (hence their name). At that time the weak, frightened Christians whose leader had been crucified received “power from on high” which made them bolder, braver, and more effective in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.  This infilling is called the “baptism in the Holy Spirit” and may be accompanied by various spiritual gifts (or charisms) as outlined in I Corinthians 12:8-11:

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

I expect that I shall write a future post about the baptism in the Holy Spirit but for the time being it is enough to say that there are various Pentecostal churches as well as many mainline denominations, including Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, and Catholics, that harbor large numbers of Pentecostals or Charismatics. For more information on Catholic charismatics see the Catholic Charismatic Center or the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Charismatic Renewal.
Republican spokeswoman Maria Comella says that Palin attends different churches and does not consider herself a Pentecostal. Her current church is Bible-believing and non-denominational. We do not know how important her Pentecostal background is to her spirituality. We do know she has been called a wacko fundamentalist who wants to teach creationism in schools, thinks that homosexuality can be treated, considers abortion wrong even for rape and incest, and is against gay marriage.

I look forward to the Sarah Palin/Joe Biden debate scheduled for October 2.  Is it not odd that what Palin believes about embryonic stem cell research,  homosexuality, marriage, and abortion are exactly what Joe Biden would believe if he actually were what he claims to be, a Catholic? Joe Biden recently said  “I assume she (Palin) thinks and agrees with the same [pro-life] policies that George Bush and John McCain think,” Biden added. “And that’s obviously a backward step for women.”

I think it is time for both the real Sarah Palin and the real Joe Biden to stand up!  Which candidate for vice-president not only talks the talk, but walks the walk?  Stay tuned on October 2.

After Senator McCain introduced Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as his choice for  vice-president on August 29,  Democrat culture critic Camille Paglia wrote: “That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”  Republicans agreed heartily.  They were energized, galvanized, electrified –  words failed them.  Across the nation they rose to give a standing O to Palin on screen.  No vice president has ever drawn the number of viewers as Sarah Palin.   As one commentator said: “McCain threw a Hail Mary pass and Sarah caught it in the end zone.”   Panic-stricken, the Democrats fear it may cost them the game.

We could have guessed the Democrats would have Palin’s little town of Wasilla overrun with reporters seeking to dig up anything that could possibly be used against her.   All this has happened, and worse.

No one stoops lower than the liberal political blog DailyKos.  On August 29, the same day Palin gave her first national speech, DailyKos proclaimed Palin to be a “complete cypher” and a stealth dominionist candidate.

Now, as a Catholic, I am not familiar with this dominionist terminology.   As best as I can determine, it’s not good to be called a dominionist because it means you are a Christian and you want to take over the world.

The same blogger on DailyKos writes further: “Unfortunately, if one digs just a bit deeper, Palin is found to have some very interesting–and very disturbing–connections…among them, being potentially the first Assemblies-linked VP candidate and having a number of links to dominionist groups targeting kids via “bait and switch” evangelism.”

Palin is a known member of Feminists for Life and he writes: “FFL  promotes ‘deceptive pregnancy counseling centers’ where the mom gets a hard-sell to keep the child or to check herself into a dominionist-run ‘halfway house for teenage moms’ where she will ultimately be forced to sign her kid over.”

Palin was also head of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes which he calls a “known front group of the coercive dominionist group Campus Crusade for Christ.”

He further writes that Palin has been approved by “Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, and a pack of the more extreme dominionist anti-abortion groups.”   She is also approved by dominionist groups Eagle Forum and Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship.

I have to say that with all those “accolades”, Sarah Palin seems to be my kind of woman!!  To my mind, her connections are A – O.K.

It is true that Christians want to win everybody to Jesus but as Jesus himself said, “My kingdom is not of this world.”  It is a spiritual kingdom and its only law is to love God and love one’s neighbor.  These are the kind of people who build hospitals and nursing homes, schools and colleges, food kitchens and shelters, and minister to the needy and downtrodden all over the world.  Check and see how many charities rated A and A+ are Christian.  They do not bomb innocent civilians simply to get rid of them or frighten others into submission.  Christians do not try to impose their will on others because they know it is not possible to force people to love.  They have to be wooed by truth, beauty, and goodness.

In both of her speeches to date Sarah Palin has said she wants to have a “servant’s heart.”   So much for dominion.

Videos on YouTube are multiplying like rabbits, most of which ridicule Palin, make her family seem like white trash, and call her religious affiliations scary.  For a good look at the authentic, unvarnished Sarah Palin in June, 2008 (before all the hoopla),  showing her connection to the Assembly of God, I recommend the video on the  September 2  Huffington Post.

Judge for yourself.   Is this lady a lying, sneaky, power-seeking politico?

They want to destroy a good woman.  I pray that she and her family will be strong enough to weather the storm.

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The last thing we need a literal heartbeat away from the Presidency is a ninja dominionist.   Blogger dogemperor on DailyKos.