More Questions for Governor Palin

So someone has posted a video clip of an October 2005 sermon in which a preacher at Wasilla Assembly of God, Rev. Thomas Muthee, expounds on the notion that God needs to "invade" various areas of society, including the spiritual, economic, political, media, education, and governmental sectors.  In the course of his sermon, Muthee references Sarah Palin's public service and her candidacy for higher office (Sarah Palin was elected to serve as governor of Alaska in November 2006).  Muthee then calls Palin to the front of the sanctuary and prays over and with her, along with others from the congregation.  Palin referenced this event in her now famous remarks at the Wasilla Assembly of God in early 2008.

The video clip has obviously been edited; the person who posted it seems to have taken a longer sermon and condensed it.  In other words, I want to note that some of the context is missing.  A transcript of at least a portion of the sermon is here.   I've listened to the clip and the transcript sounds accurate to the audio and video that is included in the clip.  (I've pasted in some portions of that transcript below the fold.)  Here are some of my initial thoughts based on the portion of the sermon that is posted and transcribed; I may need to revise and extend my remarks (so to speak) if the full version of the sermon surfaces or if it turns out that parts of the transcription are inaccurate.

As I've said before, I do not believe that it is fair to assume that any candidate agrees with all of the sermons they hear or all that their clergy say.  I also do not think it is useful, fitting, or right to gawk at or ridicule the prayers or other acts of worship that are offered in this context or any other.  It seems to me, however, that Palin's involvement in this sermon, the discussion of her governmental responsibilities and candidacy in it, and the sermon's discussion of other issues that intersect with governance make it a legitimate area for questioning.  Among other things, someone needs to ask Governor Palin:

* Do you believe, as Rev. Muthee seemed to suggest, that public schools are currently teaching children "how to worship Buddha [and] how to worship Mohammed," and that public school curricula teach "witchcraft and sorcery"?

* Do you agree with Rev. Muthee's suggestion that the Ten Commandments have been "kicked out"  of our public schools?  If so, what should judges and other governmental officials do about that?

* Do you agree with Rev. Muthee's sentiment that God needs to "tak[e] over our education system"?  If so, what do you mean by that?

I understand and accept the fact that Rev. Muthee does not speak for Governor Palin.  With respect to these and other subjects, however, Governor Palin needs to speak for herself.

Excerpt from the transcript of Rev. Muthee's sermon:

So we go to the third area, it’s in the area of politics. Tell your neighbor, “politics.” . . . . There are people who are wired to politics because God wants to take the political, you know, dimension of our societies. And those people should be prayed for. That’s why I was, you know, I was so glad to see Sarah here. We should pray for her, we should back her up. And, you know, come the day of voting, we should be there, not just praying, we should be there. And I’m saying this because that’s what I’m telling our church. I’m telling them that we need this in Parliament. In here is what you call Congressmen, you know, you know, the, the Governors, we need the bretheren right inside there. Is anybody hearing me?

You know, because who will change the laws of the lands? The problem is do we just pray, but we do nothing about it. If the believers had not done something in this country, your president would not be in office today. Yes or no? Am I right?

Number three, or number four, it’s the area of education. We need believers who are educationists. If we had them, today we would not be talking about the Ten Commandments being kicked out of the church, I mean out of our schools. They would still be there. One of the things that you, you know, I would love you to know, I’m a child of revival of the Seventies, and that revival swept through the schools. They are open to preaching, you know, open. Open. Wide open. You go to any school, there is what we call Christian Union. Christian Union is nothing more but a bunch of kids that are born again, spirit-filled, tongue-talking, devil-casting. Is anybody hearing me? All over the country! Is anybody hearing me?

We need God taking over our education system! Otherwise, we, if we have God in our schools, we will not have kids being taught, you know, how to worship Buddha, how to worship Mohammed, we will not have in the curriculum witchcraft and sorcery. Is anybody hearing me? . . . .

And the last area is in the area of government. Hello? We need believers there. We need men and women of integrity. You know, as the Secretaries of State. We need them right there. People that are born again, spirit filled, people who know God, and people who are serious with God.

So in a moment if you do not mind, I’ll ask, you know, even before I go to do this thing, you know, I’ll ask Sarah, would you mind to come please? Would you mind? Come, please. Let’s all stand up, and let’s hold hands all over this house. Come, Pastor, come.

[Sarah Palin comes to the stage in front of the congregation. Sarah Palin bows her head stretches her forearms forward and places the palms of her hands upward. Thomas Muthee lays hands on Sarah Palin’s head. Pastor Ed Kalnin and unidentifed man lay hands on Sarah Palin’s shoulders.]

Thank you, Jesus. Let’s all pray. Let’s pray for Sarah. Hallelujah! Come on, hold your hands up and raise them. Hold them and raise them up here! Come on, talk to God about this woman! Come on, talk to God about this woman we declare favor from today. We say favor, favor, favor! We say praise my God! We say grace to be rained upon her in the name of Jesus. My God, you make your judgement, you make room. You make ways in the desert, and I’m asking you today, we are asking you as the body of Christ in this valley, make a way for Sarah, even in the [inaudible]. Make her way my God. Bring finances her way, even in the campaign in the name of Jesus, and above all give her the personnel, give her men and women that will back her up in the name of Jesus. We want righteousness in this state. We want righteousness in this nation. Because you say [inaudible] in the name of Jesus. Our Father, use her to turn this nation the other way around. Use her to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers so that the curse that has been there long can be broken. In the name of Jesus. Father, we thank you today. We come in the hindrance of the enemy, standing in her way to there. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus! Every form of witchcraft, it will be rebuked in the name of Jesus. Father, make her way now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Comments

[Stephen Fox]

Good Stuff

Hoping you will explore the mind of Charles Pickering of Mississippi and the SBC Peace Committee; explore Palin with him in consultation with Charles Marsh.

[karenG]

I appreciate the effort you take to provide context and allow that further facts may lead to different opinions. That is rare.

In general, prayer should be encouraged and we are to pray for leaders and those in authority. That said, this prayer is probably not politically correct by USA standards. (I wonder what the Biblical pattern or example of prayer for government officials is. Just a thought).

As for Palin's actions, she consented to be prayed for. "...I’ll ask Sarah, would you mind to come please? Would you mind? Come, please." She did.

So to augment and balance your questions, some further fair questions are, for Obama: Has any church prayed over you for favor for your candidacy? How many? Did you consent or participate in the prayer? Do you agree with the expressions of the pray-er?

[Melissa Rogers]

karenG, your last paragraph raises an issue I spotted but did not discuss in my post: the fact that Rev. Muthee led a prayer during the service supporting Palin's candidacy. For a variety of reasons, I don't think this is a good practice, but I'm reluctant to make a fuss about such things (at least if it occurs in isolated cases).

Churches do a good thing when they pray for the members of the body, and I can understand when people get carried away into praying for the success of the candidacy of one of its members. Again, if I served as the minister of a church with a candidate, I would take great care to ensure that my prayers would only be for the church member (along with other church members), not for the success of the church member's candidacy. I also would instruct other staff members to do likewise.

But I understand when things go off the rails here and there, and I believe that kind of thing calls for construction correction rather than making a federal case about it. I'd use the same standard in other similar situations, including ones that involve Barack Obama.

Also, as noted above, I think we should never assume that a candidate agrees with what his or her pastor says or the things for which a church leader prays. For a variety of reasons, I also think we generally ought to be slow even to ask a candidate about the statements of a pastor or other church leader. Having said that, I do think there are some rare times when a pastor says things that raise legitimate questions about what the candidate believes -- something that could have a direct and crucial impact on public policy, for example, especially if the candidate has been unclear about the matter or has not spoken to it at all.

Moving to another case, I think there are some times when a candidate's involvement in church activities raise legitimate questions for the candidate. The example described in this post is one of those cases, I believe. What makes this example rather unusual is that it involves Sarah Palin's participation in a sermon that seems to advocate particular policies and connect them with her candidacy and governance. It seems to me that the combination of those things make it a legitimate source of inquiry for Governor Palin. I would say the same thing if Rev. Wright had preached a sermon about what government officials should do and then called Obama up for a blessing of his candidacy (and Obama participated). It raises questions that the candidate should answer.

As I say frequently, I am still sorting through all of these things. Thanks for helping me do that. And let me know if you have comments on these ideas.

[KarenG]

Thanks for your thoughtful response. I guess I still don't understand "Sarah Palin's participation in a sermon" other than attending it -- did she receive an advance copy or know what would be said? That seems crucial to your conclusion about what is legitimate area of inquiry for a candidate.

[KarenG]

Ome more thing. Thomas Muthee's church and pastorate is in Africa (Word of Faith). He guest-spoke at Wasilla Assembly of God, a church which Palin left 6 years ago. They were both guest participants at the service. So he is not and never was "Palin's pastor," as reported all over the progressive blogosphere.

Look at this straight on. A Christian submitted to be prayed over by an exuberant fellow Christian guest preacher from Africa. What is "grace" in that circumstance?

The widespread suspicion, guilt-by-association and condemnation ("She's a wacko") that has followed indicates a great deal of ignorance, prejudice and intolerance in our country.

[Melissa Rogers]

KarenG, I agree that some have treated this episode as just one more chance to jeer and gawk at an unfamiliar faith. That's a real shame. You are also right that people should describe the facts accurately -- Muthee was a guest pastor and Palin was a guest at the service, having left the church some time ago.

I'm not trying to suggest that Palin did anything wrong by coming to the front of the sanctuary for prayer when invited to do so. I am simply saying that her involvement in the service makes it legitimate to ask her about whether she agrees with Muthee's views on certain public policy matters. I do not assume that she agrees with Muthee's views on these matters. I'd just like her to share her views on these subjects, and I think this episode provides one legitimate basis for asking about those views. (Of course, it also would certainly be appropriate and helpful to ask about her views in this area (church-state relations) without referencing this event -- that may very well be the better way to do it, in fact.)

Governor Palin has seemed quite willing to share her views on topics like these when the campaign has made her available for questions. I hope they create more availabilities for reporters and others to ask her questions soon. And I hope that any questions that touch on her personal faith are framed in ways that do not paint her religion as strange or deserving of scorn.

[KarenG]

Since people want to ask Palin church-state relation questions, and Joe Biden has cited Catholic doctrine in support of tax policies, it will be interesting to see if this topic is wedged into the vice presidential debate.

[Melissa Rogers]

KarenG, I agree that it will be interesting to see if any the moderator of the VP debate asks any questions that touch on the VP candidates' personal religious beliefs and how those beliefs might shape their governance or on church-state issues more generally. And I agree that it would be fair game to ask Biden the question you raise.

[stephen fox]

Robert Parham does a great job inflecting the larger issue of Palin in his piece on Sam Harris, et. al today at ethicsdaily.com

[KarenG]

Here's Parham's reference to Palin:

"Real faith gets fouled by those who distort it and the distorters of faith become easy foils for the new atheists.***
The best recent example of this is Sam Harris' three-page attack on Sarah Palin in Newsweek. Her lack of gravitas, minimal educational credentials and unusual faith practices became a useful brush with which to belittle Christianity, as if she was the best representative of Christian faith."

Translation: she's an ignorant fundamentalist who brought it on herself. I object for lack of foundation. Where are the "unusual faith practices?" Did Palin befoul the faith? Isn't this again, just guilt by association, or projection, or prejudice?

Parham follows a vicious, cliched tirade against fundamentalists with a call to centrists to engage atheists -- "who are made in the image of God" -- with civility rather than demonizing them. What a glaring double standard.

There's a lot of suspicion and ugliness from the progressive/centrist Christian community toward Palin. (E.g. Anne LaMott's Slate column about God hating Palin). The larger issue of Palin may be, why?