Sarah Palin, Pentecostal Beliefs, the Press and the American Voter

Does it really matter that Sarah Palin is pentecostal or once was pentecostal in her religious beliefs? Does her religion really matter? Taking into consideration the problems Senator Obama had with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Senator John McCain had with Rev. John Hagee, it would seem to make a difference to some voters. Consider that both candidates have denounced and distanced themselves from both pastors. And there is also the consideration of the vile internet e-mail and conservative talk show accusations and insinuations that Senator Barack Obama is actually a Muslim, a tactic meant to detract and derogate Obama in the eyes of the American (predominantly Christian) voting public.

It is safe to say that religion matters to the average American voter.

Since John McCain's staff did such a poor job of vetting Sarah Palin (that is an argument that even Republicans cannot refute), quite a lot of Sarah Palin's past and present circumstances are making it to light as headlines. As CNN contributor David Gergen stated the day Senator John McCain nominated Palin, regardless of McCain's vetting process, the press would now have its turn to vet the governor of Alaska. And they certainly have had their turn, producing bits and pieces of Palin's past that contradict the image the GOP is attempting to desperately keep intact. In fact, at present the press' intense scrutiny has had a negative backlash -- but not on Governor Sarah Palin.

No, Sarah Palin's poll numbers are pretty strong. People believe she is being treated overly harsh by the media.

It seems that if she survives the press during the campaign, she should have no problem as vice president.

Governor Sarah Palin's Press Vetting

To recap, Governor Palin has been has been hit with stories of inexperience, of book banning, of a bridge to nowhere she supported (but says she did not), of leaving her home town millions of dollars in debt (after being mayor for four years), of hiring a lobbyist to procure earmarks (which she says she's against), of charging the state of Alaska per day for just sitting at home (an almost $17,000 of per diem, according to the Washington Post), of alleged abuses of power (Troopergate, firing the Wasilla librarian and chief of police), of her stances on abortion, abstinence, and drilling in the protected Arctic wilderness (ANWR).

All of those stories are truly legitimate.

Then there are the personal stories. Charges of affairs and accusations of a book banning list. The former is simply alleged, the latter an e-mail myth (although she did propose to have books censored as mayor of Wasilla, no list was ever proffered). Her 17-year-old unwed daughter's pregnancy led the news for a couple days. A legitimate story, but one that garnered far more attention than it deserved. The blogs ran a lot longer and harder with that story than did the established press.

The Religious Views Of The Candidates Are Questioned

And now, along with the per diem story, the press are treading on more personal territory -- that of Governor Palin's religion.

It is true that Senator Barack Obama was grilled for weeks (months by Fox News' obsessive Sean Hannity) by the press for his associations with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. It is also true that Senator John McCain was rebuked by the press for a couple days over the rantings of Rev. John Hagee (and the fact that Senator McCain had accepted his endorsement).

Senator Joe Biden is Catholic, which, except for a scandal or few, is considered mainstream.

But Governor Palin's church of choice, the church that she grew up in, is now under the microscope of press and public scrutiny. And as deeply personal as an individual's faith may be, the public's interest in the belief system of a person that they are going to trust to perhaps one day run the entire nation is a legitimate concern. Why? Because a person's belief system drives their convictions, sets their principles, defines the parameters of their worldview and their ethics. This is why there was such a hue and cry over Senator Obama's affiliation with the incendiary Jeremiah Wright. It is why there was an outcry, albeit a much lesser affair than Obama's, against Senator McCain's acceptance of the endorsement of the radical fundamentalist views of John Hagee.

And since Sarah Palin grew up in a fringe Christian denomination, one not known well by the average American, the press and the public have now become interested in the beliefs that might influence her decisions as vice president and (perhaps) president. It is a subject that must be treated with respect, because it is personal. It is also a subject that must be broached, because it is of national importance.

What Kind Of Religion Is Pentecostal?

Growing out of the Christian Holiness Movement in the late 1800s in America, Pentecostals believe that god is still evident in lives of those who believe in him. They believe that it is possible to have a personal relationship with god, that they can speak to god (speaking in tongues -- although some believe there must be an interpreter present for this to occur), prophesy and foretell of future events, and divine or faith healing (including the "laying on of hands"). Many Pentecostals believe that humanity is now in the "end times" or very close. The "end times" is a period of time that transpire just before the Second Coming of Christ in Christian mythology, a time that is highlighted by massive economic and political upheaval, death, and destruction. Sometimes called Pentecostal Holiness and derogatorily referred to as "Holy Rollers," pentecostal believers view the bible as the literal word of god and that the Book of Revelation, the prophetic book in the bible that includes the last battle at Megiddo (Armageddon), is actually occurring today.

There are millions of pentecostal denominations and believers throughout the world. Sarah Palin says she is one no longer, but from her teen years until 2002 she attended the Wasilla Assembly of God. She now attends the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church. Church members at the Wasilla Assembly of God says that she still attends sermons and special events there.

So Why Is Palin's Pentecostal Beliefs In The News?

Like the commencement ceremony she spoke before in June, the video of which could be found on the Wasilla Assembly of God's website -- until they took down the website. (You can still find the video on YouTube.) In it, Governor Palin makes remarks about her son, Track, being deployed to Iraq. She also says that the war in Iraq was "a task that is from God."

But that was a speech in June. Just three weeks ago, on August 17, Palin attended a speech at her new church where the guest speaker was David Brickner, the founder of Jews for Jesus. Brickner's controversial group believe that Jews have to be converted to Christianity for their souls to be saved. He told the congregants on August 17 that terrorist attacks on Israel were part of god's judgment against Jews for not embracing Christian views.

Spokespeople for the McCain campaign were quick to announce that Brickner's views do not reflect the views of Governor Palin.

But what if Governor Palin's beliefs are basically pentecostal in nature? Darrell Bock, a New Testament scholar at Dallas Theological Seminary, told Barbara Bradley Hagerty of NPR that some hold their convictions because they are doing the will of god. " What faith does in this case is fuel a sense of mission and direction. It can also produce a little bit of element of certainty about that direction."

What if that direction is the facilitation of the Second Coming of Christ? As vice president and potential president should Senator McCain die (or Palin win a follow-up election in 2012), Governor Palin would indeed have some influence over foreign policy decisions that could propel or exacerbate conditions toward an Armageddon-like war or confrontation.

An unlikely scenario, but it is one that brings home the importance of knowing the personal beliefs of those we place in the most powerful positions on the planet. And is she so far removed from her Assembly of God days that she no longer believes one of the central tenets of the religion that molded her outlook for two decades?

It was not too long ago that Senator Obama was being raked over the coals by the media for attending a church that seemed a bit radical. Senator Obama can surely be sympathetic of the scrutiny Governor Palin's pentecostal beliefs have generated. Rushing to judgment of Governor Palin about her religious convictions does her a disservice, but not learning as much as we can about the core beliefs that influence how she will govern would be dereliction on the part of the press and of the voting public.