Sarah Palin and the Christian Right

By Dark Politricks

Sarah Palin, the poster girl of the GOP Christian right, is planning on standing for the Republican nomination for president in 2012. She is a wolf hunting, young earth creationist who believes we are living in the end times as detailed in the bible. In a recent interview on ABC news she said the following:

“I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.”

Sarah Palin obviously has strong Christian beliefs and therefore she appeals to the American public where 92% believe in God. However is a belief in an unprovable and non-falsifiable theory really the sort of attribute that the holder of high state office should require? It may seem odd to some but in America it seems that belief in the bible and the Christian God is a mandatory requirement for becoming president.

The Christian right in America seems to be growing and every presidential election they have a preferred candidate standing for “Christian family values” that they put their backing behind. Luckily their last candidate Mick Huckabee didn’t get the GOP nomination last time as he actually believes that America should become a Christian Theocracy on the same lines as Iran which is an Islamic theocracy. As a Christian Reconstructionist he believes that the US Constitution should be amended to reflect the will of God.

“[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards [so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family],” Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Even the winner of the last election Barack Obama is an open Christian (or secret Muslim if you believe some on the right) and he has professed openly his belief in the word of God. Lets not forget that he took over from George Bush who was also an evangelical Christian and who was not shy in letting his belief in God affect his decision making process.

George Bush Jnr had his faith based initiatives which allowed organizations to compete for more government contracts and grants without a strict separation between their religious activities and social service programs. He also used his presidential veto to prevent federal funding for embryonic stem cell research which set back Scientific advances on some serious illnesses a lot of years.

In fact Christianity is such a serious business and major factor in many Americans decision making processes that I cannot imagine an atheist being allowed to become president. In fact I am pretty sure any potential nominee who openly declared their atheism would be chased out of town with a big crowd of rock throwing creationists following them.

Why is a belief in Christianity a bad thing? Well its not as long as its a personal belief that doesn’t affect anyone else however if you are a president of a powerful country like the USA and you believe that we are living in the end times and that the battle of Armageddon is near then its a potential issue for everyone in the world.

Sarah Palin obviously believes that the state of Israel is a sign that God has allowed the chosen people to return home which means the end is near. Like a lot of evangelical Christians with similar beliefs she probably also believes that the Jews will be converted to Christianity, the Anti-Christ will rule the world and that the Rapture will ensure she suddenly floats off into the sky to join Jesus who is also about to make another appearance on the world scene.

Now if you believe in such things is it unreasonable to suggest that if you see signs that these events are occurring that it’s going to affect your decision making and foreign policy decisions? Belief in the end times is the reason so many evangelical Christians support the state of Israel and have little time for the plight of Palestinians. If you believe that you’re about to float off into heaven to join the kingdom of heaven then would you do what you could to hasten this event, maybe even create your own Armageddon through a self fulfilling prophecy?

What’s the difference between hastening the return of Jesus by allowing or enabling terrible acts in the Middle East to occur because you believe its God’s will and an Islamic suicide bomber who believes they are killing a bus load of Israelis because they are infidels and you are pleasing Allah? Or is there any difference between belief in the Rapture and belief that dying as a Martyr ensures that you have the pleasure of 72 virgins in heaven?

I would say there is little difference as both involve faith in the occurrence of an event that has no evidence in the physical world. If you believe in such things and let them affect your decision making and you are also in a position of power then that worries me a great deal. I do not want some Christian zealot pushing the big red button because they believe it’s going to cause the return of Jesus. You may think is far fetched but is it really? Do we really know what’s going on in these peoples heads?

The following video is taken from MSBNC and looks at Sarah Palin’s Christian fundamentalist beliefs.

Please take some time to answer the following poll. What qualities do you believe the president of the most powerful country in the world must have to be able to hold office.

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