Sarah Palin Being Researched

In a brief moment watching TV before heading out for volunteer work this evening, I heard an evangelist proclaim the United States as "a Christian nation." While the major religion in our country is Christian, by constitution our nation does not sponsor Christianity or any religion. I don't know the evangelist's motivation to promote an untruth. Speaking an untruth in the name of God is disquieting.

Then a news headline came out this evening: Sarah Palin, Governer of Alaska and the nominated vice presidential candidate for the Republican Party, had been taped giving a speech where she proclaimed that the war in Iraq as "a task that is from God." She also asked audience members to pray for a $30 billion gas pipeline across Alaska because it was "God's will."

It's disquieting to confuse religion with politics. One begins to suspect that those who are after the Moslem extremists are themselves Christian extremists. Perhaps we could buy out a poverty-stricken third-world nation, move all its residents to better economic spots, and let all the religious extremists of the world go to the nation to fight it out between themselves and let the rest of us get on with the issues of growing forward.

A report on NPR today revealed that Ms. Palin, along with Senator McCain, opposes earmarks in federal legislation. It was also reported that while mayor of a town of 9,700 people just a few years ago she secured approximately $20 million in earmarks for the town. So which is it, Ms. Palin?

President Bush learned early on to cool references to 'another Father' because it disturbed too many citizens. Ms. Palin has yet to learn the lesson. But that's not as important as the underlying system of belief that prompts such statements, and that system got us into an illegal imperial holy war. Should she become vice president we could probably expect more of the current administration, no matter how much they are saying that it won't happen. If you can rationalize political will as being God's will, I suppose you can rationalize anything.