The title is sarcastic—-I trust that Rev. Larry Kroon of Wasilla Bible Church loves America, just as Rev. Wright does. Further, I’d prefer to keep religion out of political discourse. But considering all that was made out of one out-of-context statement by Wright that God would damn America for its injustices, it’s interesting to note that Larry Kroon, the pastor of the Palins’ home church, has made many of his own pronouncements about God damning America. (As best I can tell, Palin formerly attended the Wasilla Assembly of God (about which see this diary), but according to Time Magazine the Palins now attend the non-denominational Wasilla Bible Church.
A quick scan of Kroon’s sermons from 2007 and 2008 (audio also available at this site) reveals that divine judgment is a favorite topic of his. Some examples:
From "Living in Light of God’s Judgment," August 26, 2007:
At the same time, we’re also called to recognize that our God can, has, and will rain judgment on earth. And Sodom and Gomorrah is case in point. It’s almost like we’re given passage on the Titanic, free booking and we can enjoy everything. We can enjoy the shows, we can enjoy the feasts, we can enjoy the company, we can respect the crew and really appreciate how they run the ship. We can be in awe of how well the boat steers. We can be all excited about that boat Titanic, but we are the only ones on board who have been told it’s not going to make it. You don’t know when, but this boat is going to go down. And it’s gonna go down when everybody is sure it will sail forever.
From "Sin is Personal to God," July 20, 2008:
And if Zephaniah were here today he’d be saying, ‘Listen, He is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here—there’s none. It’s all.’
From "The Avenging Wrath of the Lord," June 22, 2008:
But the theme of Nahum, the one central idea that it’s trying to communicate, the one thing we need to grasp today—that our gracious, compassionate, merciful God is also an avenging God. In other words, He exacts justice. He will render retribution. And He does so with powerful emotion. He’s wrathful. New King James translates it He’s furious. In other words, He burns! There’s an intensity to Him. It’s not a detached issue with Him, the subject of justice being done.
...
There will not be one atrocity, there will be not one act of unjust violence, that God does not deal with. God will deal—whether it’s a huge nation like Assyria, a corrupt African nation, or a slipping-sliding country like the US of A—the Lord will leave no one unpunished.
I'll leave the theological critique to others, although Kroon's hot-headed God sounds an awful lot like John McCain, or like the Strict Father of George Lakoff's typology.
If Palin does stay on the ticket, these sermons may help to negate the Wright controversy as a possible talking point for the McCain campaign.