Is anyone else weirded out by this article about Sarah Palin's religious beliefs?
In the New York Times today there was an article about it -
"YouTube Videos Draw Attention to Palin’s Faith"
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: October 24, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Among the revelations in the piece about this branch of the Pentecostal church, or the "Charismatic" church (a church that adopts Pentecostal practices but is not part of a Pentecostal denomination ) is that they "believe that the Holy Spirit can touch believers directly through spiritual 'gifts' like speaking in tongues, divine healings, casting out demons and the ability to prophesize."
This is in keeping with the regular Pentecostal church, but in the article it also states, worryingly, that "the goal of the spiritual warfare movement is to create a theocracy. Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action, a Web site that tracks religious groups, said: 'One of the imperatives of the movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control. Then you can more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is to purify the earth.'"
Followers call themselves "spiritual warriors" and in speaking to James Dobson in an interview this week, Ms. Palin stated "I can feel the power of prayer and the strength that is provided by our prayer warriors across this nation."
The article talks about the Kenyan preacher, featured in the YouTube video, who blessed Palin in prayer at her church and who's claim to fame was driving out a witch out of a village in his home country which resulted in "a drop in crime, alcoholism and traffic accidents".
Ms. Palin called the prayer by this African preacher "awesome" and "very, very powerful." As described by other Pentecostals, "Spiritual warfare makes a religion of identifying demons by names and ZIP codes." Also, the article states, "The movement’s fixation on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians."
They're not alone - I'm troubled by this also. The talk of creating a theocracy scares me, and the fact that Palin seems to believe God gave her the victory in the Gubernatorial race in Alaska seems to fit in with these views. The article also says that Palin, as Governor, "appointed Patrick Donelson, a pastor and fishing guide who helped found a spiritual warfare ministry, to the only seat reserved for members of the clergy on the state’s Suicide Prevention Council."
Worldly power, political control, theocracy .... anyone hearing alarm bells?