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Does America really need a religious extremist a heartbeat away from the Oval Office? If your answer is Yes, then vote for Sarah Palin.
Since Palin's pick by John McCain as Republican vice-presidential running mate, video has surfaced of a speech given by Palin in June at her hometown church, Wasilla Assembly of God. The video, first reported by the HuffingtonPost, is from an address by Palin to the graduating class of commission students at the Wasilla church. Describing her family, Palin tells students about her oldest son, 19-year-old Track, set to be deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army. Then, she urges students to pray "that our leaders... are sending [soldiers] out on a task that is from God." Palin added, "That's what we have to make sure that we are praying for: that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan" (see also Washington Post, UPI).
In the same speech, Palin also referred to God's role in her work as governor, telling the congregation that construction of a 1700-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Alberta, Canada, is also part of God's plan: "I can do my part in working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, about a $30 billion project that's going to create a lot of jobs for Alaska. … [but] I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that...." Palin said, "...I can do my job there in developing our natural resources, in doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded. But really that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's hearts aren't right with God."A review of sermons by Ed Kalnins, senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999, offers a deeper and yet more disturbing glimpse into Palin's longtime spiritual home. In his sermons, Pastor Kalnins has preached that critics of President Bush will be condemned to hell and questioned whether people who voted for John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted into heaven. During the 2004 election season, he said of Kerry to his congregation: "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry." Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time." In 2005, Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government's handling of Hurricane Katrina. "I hate criticisms towards the President," Kalnins said, "because it's like criticisms towards the pastor -- it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you." Kalnins has also preached that the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq are part of a "world war" over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives; and telling his flock that Jesus himself operated in a "war mode."
What you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode." Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war.
As for Sarah Palin, Kalnins has asserted that his former congregant's election as governor was the result of a "prophetic call" by another Wasilla pastor who prayed for her victory. "[He made] a prophetic declaration and then unfolds the kingdom of God, you know." Kalnins also preaches repeatedly about the "end times" or "last days," declaring at his appearance with Palin in June: "I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them."
Palin's own history with Wasilla Assembly of God is a long one: She was baptized there at the age of 12 and attended the church for most of her adult life. When Palin was inaugurated as governor, the founding pastor of the church delivered the invocation. In 2002, Palin switched her membership to a nondenominational church, but she continues to worship at a related Assembly of God church in Juneau. Meanwhile, according to a statement from Pastor Kalnins' office, Palin "has maintained a friendship with Wasilla Assembly of God and has attended various conferences and special meetings here."
I wonder if our mass media will subject Pastor Kalnins and Wasilla Assembly of God to the same scrutiny they have lavished on Reverend Jeremiah Wright at Barack Obama's old church.
Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com
