I heard from my friend at Christians for Biblical Equality, and it appears that Dontbia Nass, my anonymous patriarchal, anti-feminist critic, has taken me up on my offer for a free, one-year membership to this Evangelical Feminist ministry. I thank him, and I hope he reaps a harvest of sound Bible teaching and application. Glory to God!
Find out more about the Spirit’s work through CBE at cbeinternational.org
This is what I just posted on Moscow’s community email discussion forum, Vision 2020, regarding the post before this one on Sarah Palin:
“Visionaires,
Last week, after Sarah Palin resigned the governorship of Alaska, I referred you all, or the three or four of you who might be interested, to my blog post about her resignation and her husband Todd’s involvement in the Alaska secessionist movement. In it, I made much about her having confused “succeed” and “secede” in an email exchange leaked to the media.
Gary was one of the three or four mentioned above and called me out on the “succeed/secede” thing, challenging me, as he should, to produce attribution. I have spent much of the last four days trying to find the link; I saw the exchange and didn’t bother attributing my report of it, saving it, or linking readers to it. Now I can’t find it, although I believe the link below represents the series of emails in which I said she confused the two. But it doesn’t matter if I can’t back up what I said.
So — I was wrong. My memory of having read an email exchange isn’t something any of you ever ought to accept as verified truth, and I should have known better and should’ve done better. I was absolutely wrong to point out a mistake on Palin’s part without verifying my source and attributing what I said to that source, and I apologize. Attribution is something vital to the print journalist’s role in uncovering and reporting the truth, and in this I have not lived up to that standard. Further, Christians consider it sin to malign someone unfairly, and, more importantly, I didn’t live up to that standard, either.
I’m concerned about Palin’s denial of secessionist intent on the part of the AIP, and here’s the link that shows the exchange between her and McCain campaign chief Steve Schmidt:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#31716580
If anyone can verify the “secede/succeed” point, I’d like to have the link. But my apology still stands . . . “
OK. Back to Prevailing Winds . . .
That said, and before I go back to remove the comments about secede/succeed, let me explain briefly why I don’t apologize for criticizing Sarah Palin.
Palin, who I have defended from vicious comments about her parenting in light of her daughter’s pregnancy, and who may be the coolest chick in the room and the most wonderful friend a gal could have, has nonetheless, by her political activities after being picked in August for the GOP national ticket, offered for examination those activities, opinions, involvements, and career, as well as those of her husband. She must, then, be judged on those things, not by the depth of her religious devotion, her pleasing personality, or her single-issue passion — on any single issue. The totality of her brief public career is up for discussion and review, and that review has indicated to me that she is nowhere near ready to be Vice President, President, or, frankly, a lot more than the mayor of Wasilla. I think she lacks the intellectual firepower, ethical fibre, political experience, personal experience, mature worldview, and Christian temperament to assume the national stage, and I grieve that her Christian witness is going to be ravaged should she try for a run against Obama in 2012.
(Just like my Christian witness is tarnished by what I’ve apologized for above).
She’s not ready, doesn’t seem to be capable of being ready, and doesn’t much care. Neither do her supporters. I would remind them that “sassy” might make for a fun friend, the ability to “work a room” might energize the base, but it isn’t enough for political office or national statesmanship. Those who love Sarah Palin and those who love the Lord should pray with fervor that she realizes it.
Sarah Palin, quite possibly the dumbest person ever to be elected to a governorship, even if she is a Christian, announced today that she’ll step down so that she can devote herself to effecting change (and affecting issues) from the “outside.”
This is on the heels of an unflattering Vanity Fair article and the leaking of emails in which she lies about husband Todd’s involvement in an Alaska secessionist movement — a group that wants Alaska to declare itself NOT part of the United States, the United States that Palin presumably wants to preside over by laying the groundwork for a 2012 challenge to Barack Obama. It’s more than a little scary, although perhaps not upsetting to my secessionist neo-Confederate readers, that her husband is one of those who calls for the State of Alaska — the one governed by his wife — to forsake its allegiance to the United States. It’s astonishing, and astonishingly bad, that she lies about it, suggesting that her First Dude simply checked the “Independent” party box on his registration without knowing about the AIP. His seven-year involvement with a group whose charter dedicates itself to secessionism is fact. Her denial is a lie.
Todd Palin’s fascination with secessionism is disturbing. Sarah Palin’s meteoric rise to fame is disturbing. She’s a dim bulb who’s simply more attractive and more colorful, sartorially and rhetorically, than other ignorant politicos. But the fact that right-wing Christian America has embraced her as an icon, a bridge over troubled liberal waters and a lighthouse that lures The People to the GOP’s rocky, polluted shores, is far more disturbing. Faith in Christ as Savior doesn’t cause stupidity, and it shouldn’t excuse it, either. Verbal confetti — colorful, light and carried off by the wind — indicating faith in Christ as Savior ought never to result in a free pass when entering the world of politics. Such public faith holds the believer to a higher standard of truth, intellect, and reason. We don’t excuse bad judgment, incompetence, willful ignorance and dishonesty because they’re “in the fold.” On the contrary, that’s why I expose it.
That Sarah Palin is mentioned today as anything other than an embarassing, sorry blip on the conservative’s historical radar is evidence of a Church drowning for lack of discernment, flaying frantically about for any means of rescue — as long as it has a fish symbol slapped on it.
Lord, have mercy.
Well, my laptop just gave up the ghost and we’re going to be in Western Washington for about a week, so it seems a good idea to take a break from posting, although I’ll continue monitoring comments from mother’s house (so watch your language!). Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!
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