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WaPo Religion Blogger Attacks Sarah Palin's Religion
Newsbusters ^ | September 11, 2008 | P.J. Gladnick

Posted on 09/11/2008 9:25:46 AM PDT by buzzyboop

A Washington Post "On Faith" religion blogger, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, is so affected by PDS (Palin Derangement Syndrome) that she has launched a hate-filled screed against Palin's religion. This might seem an uncharacteristic thing for an ordained minister to do but not when you find out a bit more about Our Miss Brooks. Her bio on the Washington Post site describes Thistlethwaite's area of expertise as "contextual theologies of liberation." Liberation theology which is another way of saying Marxism wrapped in a phony religious wrapper to make it seem more palatable. Thistlethwaite launches a distinctly un-Christian snarky attack upon Palin right from the start of her blog (emphasis mine):

"Wives be subject to your husbands, as unto the Lord." So says the Christian scriptures in Ephesians, 5:22. What I would like to know, first of all, is who is going to have the final authority as Vice-President if Sarah Palin is elected, Palin or her husband? In fact, I think the first order of business with Palin is to ask her to give the same kind of speech that was demanded of John F. Kennedy re his Catholicism. Kennedy said he would obey the Constitution over the Pope. Will Palin obey the Constitution over her husband?

You see where Thistlewaite is coming from? Of course, Brooks would never think of asking that question of Nancy Pelosi...or Hillary. Brooks continues plummeting into the depths with a direct attack on Palin's religion:

Palin, the presumptive Republican vice-presidential candidate, belongs to an Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world. Members of the Assemblies of God believe that the Bible in its entirety is verbally inspired by God, is the revelation of God to humanity and is "the infallible, authoritative rule of faith and conduct." That means, in a literal reading of scripture, that the authority in the Palin family rests with her husband.

The "evangelical base" who are reported to be so "energized" by Palin's nomination as vice-president need to ante up here. Do they believe in the literal word of scripture or not? And if they believe in the literal word of scripture, then they need to demand that the we vet not only Sarah Palin, but more importantly, her husband, Todd Palin. Todd, by the way, works for British Petroleum.

And Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, by the way, works for the leftwing Center For American Progress. Thistlewaite continues her highly partisan attack with an assault upon all those who don't buy into the credo of Global Warming Alarmism:

But the "wives be subject to your husbands" problem is far from my only concern with Palin as vice-president. She is even to the right of many Evangelical Christians on global warming. Palin does not believe (and believe is the operative word here, since facts do not seem to enter in to her judgment) that global warming is caused by human activity.

...This fundamentalist position on the environment is closely related to Palin's contempt for science and her advocacy of the teaching of creationism alongside traditional science. In a televised debate in 2006, Palin said she supported teaching both creationism and evolution in public schools. Creationism, as is well-known, refers to the religious belief that the world as we see it today, human life, the earth and indeed the entire universe, was created by God in its current form. It is the religiously-motivated rejection of the science of evolution.

Thistlethwaite is hardly finished with her PDS rage against Palin:

Palin, in addressing students graduating from a program at her home church, Wasilla Assembly of God, in June of this year, described the war in Iraq in messianic terms. Iraq is a way in which the United States was carrying out the will of God, according to Palin. She exhorted the graduates, "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God...That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Astonishingly, God is also to be exhorted, according to Palin, in order to get a $30 billion dollar national gas pipeline built that she wanted for Alaska. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said. She has strongly promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, including opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuse (ANWR) to drilling.

Gasp! Palin has effectively broke through a deadlock of many years and arranged for a $30 billion "national" gas pipeline to be built. And how dare she promote oil and natural gas resource development at a time when our nation desperately needs it. Thistlethwaite has wandered far afield from matters of religion to politics but that is what really interests her in the first place.

Think even a liberation theology type would hesitate to attack Sarah Palin's family at least for the sake of appearances? Not Thistelthwaite. Feel the hate:

She is, as a Christian conservative/fundamentalist, anti-abortion, even in the case of rape or incest, though supporting abortion when the life of the mother is at stake. She says she is a "firm supporter of abstinence-only education in schools," according to CNN in 2006. When running for governor, she wrote, "Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," in response to a questionnaire by the Eagle Forum Alaska. Abstinence-only programs have been shown to be ineffective in preventing teen pregnancy, a fact that Palin has just proven in her own family and the unmarried pregnancy of her 17-year old daughter.

Yes, yes, I know Barack Obama has said that families should be off limits in the campaign, but I don't think this is an issue just of Palin's personal life and that of her family. It stands to reason that people should be asked to justify their policy positions, such as abstinence-only sex education, and it stands to reason that people should be asked whether they learn from experience.

Thisthlethwaite concludes with a tirade over the thought of Sarah Palin as one day becoming president. Something the United Church of Christ minister simply cannot tolerate:

Now look. Do you really want this again in the White House? Given John McCain's age and health, we have to take Sarah Palin very seriously not only as a vice-president, but also as a possible president. And this is true of any vice-president, in truth.

I can tell you flat out I don't want somebody else in the White House who mouths conservative Christian views, takes us into faith-based wars, will cave in to the oil lobbies and who does not even understand modern science.

Really, women have achieved true equality when I can honestly say there's no way I could support this person for leadership of our country.

Note to Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite: You just made the job of Obama's evangelical outreach Religious Affairs Adviser, Shaun "Jesus Was An Illegal Alien" Casey, quite a bit harder in his effort to fool Christians into supporting the Lightworker.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: assemblyofgod; fauxchristians; jeremiahwright; liberalmedia; mccainpalin; obama; palin; palin2012; palinandgod; religion; religiousleft; ucc; wp
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To: buzzyboop
Palin, the presumptive Republican vice-presidential candidate, belongs to an Assemblies of God

Does this mean that Pastor Wright's church teachings are back in play in this election?

21 posted on 09/11/2008 9:48:18 AM PDT by weegee (Say no to the Marxist who "denounces" the 911 terrorist attacks and yet befriended a Pentagon bomber)
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To: Question Liberal Authority
To be fair, the book of Leviticus strictly forbids the opening of the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

And the book of Corinthians explicitely prohibits right turns at red lights.

Or something like that...

22 posted on 09/11/2008 9:50:54 AM PDT by Caipirabob (Communists... Socialists... Democrats...Traitors... Who can tell the difference?)
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To: buzzyboop
While Palin grew up in an Assembly of God congregartion, she's a member of Wasilla Bible Church.

Anybody with a modicum of knowledge about evangelical Christianity knows trhat while The Bible Church movement and the Assemblies of God may may be similar in some respects and cooperative across many goals, they are also distinctive from each other.

The Reverend Doctor Sister Thistlewaite should know better. In March she wrote an article decrying "Spies in the Pew" about how shameful it was that people went to Jeremiah Wright's church and took notes!

That's not a problem for her now. Suddenly, she rather likes the idea. I wonder if her doctorate was in "Christian Nuances in Pagan Labyrinthology."

23 posted on 09/11/2008 9:51:51 AM PDT by cookcounty ("A ship in harbor is safe, but that's not why the ship is built." ---Governor Sarah Palin)
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To: Smedley

From the article: “Palin, the presumptive Republican vice-presidential candidate, belongs to an Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world.”

This is a lie. She was raised in an Assembly of God church, but she is now a member of a non-denominational Christian church.

Having said that, being raised in an Assembly of God church is still going to be a lot more popular with the American people than having been raised in a Mosque.


24 posted on 09/11/2008 10:01:28 AM PDT by keats5 ("I hope for his sake, Joe Biden got that VP thing in writing."- Rudy)
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To: buzzyboop
At the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Clergy Advisory Board 2006 meeting, a thought-provoking keynote address titled "How Is It with Your Soul?" was delivered by the Reverend Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, president and professor of theology at Chicago Theological Seminary.

The body of the address validated all abortionists and abortion seekers as good Christians and those opposed to abortion as Unchristian. Additionally Thistlethwaite validated Islam as a religion compatible with and equal to, Christianity.

Now you know why this shill hates Sarah Palin.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.plannedparenthood.org/images/PPFA/061120_ClergyVoice_BThistle.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/fall-2006-10530.htm&h=207&w=173&sz=20&hl=en&start=8&usg=__kZ_WJTiCmF9Owh-3jZg0Hh6hMaY=&tbnid=uLLDKNC-hnEsVM:&tbnh=105&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSusan%2BBrooks%2BThistlethwaite%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

25 posted on 09/11/2008 10:02:04 AM PDT by Navy Patriot (The beauty of conservatism, Sarah Palin.)
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To: buzzyboop

How is breaking up Big Oil monopolies and raising their taxes “caving in’ to them?


26 posted on 09/11/2008 10:03:22 AM PDT by pollwatcher (Palin was put on this earth to do two things: kill caribou and kick butt. She's all out of caribou.")
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To: buzzyboop
That means, in a literal reading of scripture, that the authority in the Palin family rests with her husband.

If anyone needs further proof of the totalitarian bent of leftists just observe their reactions to statements like this. They hear the words "the husband is head of the family" and shoehorn it into their definition of head of anything from local school board to President.

Authoritarian control with no dissension allowed or tolerated. Critics must be silenced or reeducated. Power!

Their little minds cannot wrap around the idea that the example for "Head of Household" is Jesus as Head of the Church. It is not a position of CONTROL! it is a position of servitude.

27 posted on 09/11/2008 10:03:50 AM PDT by OSHA (framing it as though you've magically neutralized any potential negative eventuality)
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To: buzzyboop

I find it interesting that this author attacks Palin because her church reads Ephesians.

Too funny!


28 posted on 09/11/2008 10:04:11 AM PDT by keats5 ("I hope for his sake, Joe Biden got that VP thing in writing."- Rudy)
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To: buzzyboop
The main point of this article is the confirmation that Bambi is sending out "skirts" to do his fighting for him.

He can't deal with Sarah face-to-face. He had to recruit a bunch of skirts to hide behind!

And he thinks he has what it takes to be Commander in Chief? WHAT A LOSER!

29 posted on 09/11/2008 10:07:07 AM PDT by Redleg Duke ("Sarah Palin...Unleashing the Fury of the Castrated Left!")
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To: buzzyboop

Wow, what courage! You think anyone will try to behead her for this?


30 posted on 09/11/2008 10:20:13 AM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: T. Buzzard Trueblood
Libs are such transparent, pathetic commies.

Worth repeating.

That said, isn't it great to see the Democrats resort to religion during the campaign? It's good to see religion returned to the public square. Then again, the doomed often turn to God when the realize their situation.

They seriously do not realize how trivializing the works of Jesus Christ offend Christians.

31 posted on 09/11/2008 10:25:00 AM PDT by InABunkerUnderSF (Illegal Immigration is not about the immigration. Gun control is not about the guns.)
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To: buzzyboop

You can tell psuedo Christians from real Christians,
“Judge Not, Lest ye be judged”

The true meaning of this was never judge the state of another person’s heart. You cannot truely know the heart of another person. Only God can judge the heart of a person.

When someone starts yapping about the “Chritsianity” of another person, I believe that is against God. That is the work of the enemy.

Sarah Palin has the belief of her convictions and no one can or should judge that but God.


32 posted on 09/11/2008 10:31:09 AM PDT by rlferny
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To: buzzyboop; LibertyRocks
Will Palin obey the Constitution over her husband?

"We're going to need a cleanup, aisle 7, infants dept, please"

Splattt!

33 posted on 09/11/2008 10:35:38 AM PDT by 4woodenboats (***NEVER FORGET*** - Our Marines, Sailors & Troops are still fighting and need our support***)
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To: AD from SpringBay
You would think the WaPo would find a religion writer that is more in tune with what the majority of Americans believe, and not some post-modern-marxist milch chewing cow that has tried to pull Christianity into her own ‘worker’s vision of paradise.’

No, no, AD, this is the WaPo's view of what "religion" is. This is what these people (leftist liberals) think religion is or should be and want it to be, so they can understand it and, more importantly, use government to control it and use it to fight real religion.

Hmm . . just saw a clip on FOXnews of BO on Letterman. Boy howdy, they sure seemed chummy! Think ol' David would be that chummy with McCain, much less even have him on his show?

34 posted on 09/11/2008 10:38:18 AM PDT by jeffc (They're coming to take me away! Ha-ha, he-he, ho-ho!)
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To: Da Coyote

“Contextual theologies of liberation” simply means that in terms of infiltrating religion, Marxism can trick itself out into any religious terminology it wishes.

All it has to do is to empty the religious term of its traditional meaning and substitute a Marxist spin.

This is a variation on the Communist/Marxist strategy of establishing front organizations.

In the Black Liberation Theology “context” racial hatred/racial conflict is emphasized over class struggle.

Such “theologies of liberation” are - collectively speaking - a facet of the “inculturation” strategy advocated by Italian Communist Antonio Gramsci who was the idol of Saul Alinsky, who in turn is the idol of Barack Obama.

LOL Ironically it was WaPo that published the following on March 25, 2007.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/24/AR2007032401152.html

Speaking of “inculturation” there was a joke making the rounds to the effect that the earliest form of “inculturation” on the part Gramscian Marxists consisted of shaving and taking a bath!

When one recalls the ungroomed and hygenically challenged “hippy-style” Marxists of the 1960’s, it isn’t hard to see how history has repeated itself.


35 posted on 09/11/2008 10:38:44 AM PDT by Sons of Union Vets (No taxation without representation!)
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To: scooter2; lilycicero; Baynative
A taxpayer voting for Barack Obama is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders

Hillarious tagline ping!

36 posted on 09/11/2008 10:42:45 AM PDT by 4woodenboats (***NEVER FORGET*** - Our Marines, Sailors & Troops are still fighting and need our support***)
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To: PJ-Comix

You have a Dummie Funnies ping list? Got room for one more?


37 posted on 09/11/2008 10:46:43 AM PDT by 4woodenboats (***NEVER FORGET*** - Our Marines, Sailors & Troops are still fighting and need our support***)
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To: buzzyboop
I've been warning about this very thing. Also discussed how Palin could respond.
38 posted on 09/11/2008 10:57:39 AM PDT by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: buzzyboop; PJ-Comix

Great column, PJ-Comix! This type of attack is inexcusable.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Palin quit the Assemblies of God church this “lady” is referring to a while ago? I’ll go check on that, but I’m pretty sure I’m remembering correctly... (Not that it would matter if she did or didn’t, but it would serve to further undermine this “theologians” claims if true...).


39 posted on 09/11/2008 10:58:27 AM PDT by LibertyRocks ( http://LibertyRocks.wordpress.com ~ Pro-Palin & NObama Gear : http://cafepress.com/NO_ObamaBiden08)
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To: buzzyboop

Ms Brooks is woefully lacking in theological skills.


40 posted on 09/11/2008 10:58:32 AM PDT by WVNan
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