The Sacrilegious Sarah Palin

The American Conservative ^ | 4-27-14 | Rod Dreher

[Flame Retardant]

Man, the 12 minute speech Sarah Palin gave to the NRA convention is awful. It's just witless, red-meat blathering, delivered in that nasal whine of hers that makes it sound like she's chewing wads of tinfoil. For people who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like.

Fast-forward in the video to the 6:30 mark, though, and listen to what she says about terrorists. It's part of a long harangue about lily-livered liberals, delivered in such a way that makes Archie Bunker sound like Cicero. Money quote:

"Oh, but you can't offend them, can't make them feel uncomfortable, not even a smidgen. Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists."

OK, stop. Not only is this woman, putatively a Christian, praising torture, but she is comparing it to a holy sacrament of the Christian faith. It's disgusting--but even more disgusting, those NRA members, many of whom are no doubt Christians, cheered wildly for her....

Palin and all those who cheered her sacrilegious jibe ought to be ashamed of themselves. For us Christians, baptism is the entry into new life. Palin invoked it to celebrate torture. Even if you don't believe that waterboarding is torture, surely you agree that it should not be compared to baptism, and that such a comparison should be laughed at. What does it say about the character of a person that they could make that joking comparison, and that so many people would cheer for it. Nothing good--and nothing that does honor to the cause of Jesus Christ.

If I thought that kind of hateful declaration and abuse of the Christian religion was what conservatism stood for, I wouldn't be able to call myself a conservative...

[samtheman]

A Rod is such a simple tool.

[EveningStar]

I would vote for Palin in a heartbeat.

she will be the Churchill(Winston not Ward), Reagan, Thatcher of the 21st century if given half a chance.

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This is an ongoing list of historical, popular, and Biblical people, as well as fictional characters and animals that Sarah Palin™ has been compared to on FR:

• Alexander the Great
• Muhammad Ali
• The Beatles
• Boadicea
• Daniel Boone
• Paul Bunyan
• Captain America
• Johnny Cash
• Churchill
• Cincinnatus
• Sarah Connor
• Davy Crockett
• Deborah
• Eliza Doolittle
• Jimmy Doolittle
• Clint Eastwood
• Queen Esther
• Nathan Bedford Forrest
• John Galt
• Gideon
• Godzilla
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Wayne Gretsky
• Nathan Hale
• Hannibal
• EF Hutton
• Ike
• Andrew Jackson
• Stonewall Jackson
• Thomas Jefferson
• Joan of Arc
• Joseph (son of Jacob)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Jeane Kirkpatrick
• Victor Laszlo (Casablanca)
• Robert E. Lee
• Leonidas I
• Lincoln
• MacArthur
• Francis Marion (The Swamp Fox)
• Golda Meir
• Moray Eel
• Moses
• Mother Teresa
• Napoleon
• Admiral Nimitz
• Annie Oakley
• Thomas Paine
• Patton
• Reagan
• Howard Roark
• Teddy Roosevelt
• Rosie the Riveter
• Phyllis Schlafly
• Secretariat
• Shakespeare
• William Tecumseh Sherman
• Luke Skywalker
• Josey Wales
• Snow White
• Sun Tzu
• Thatcher
• William Barret Travis
• Truman
• Mark Twain
• Sir William Wallace
• Washington
• Wonder Woman
• Sergeant York
• Zapata

[Resettozero]

Thank you. The literal meaning of the word baptize is ‘to make whelmed (i.e. fully wet); and is used only (in the N.T.) of ceremonial ablution, espec. (techn.) of the ordinance of Chr. baptism: - Baptist, baptize, wash. (Strong's Greek #907) Is water-boarding the same as getting fully wet or getting sprinkled with water? I have seen babies get sprinkled that reacted like they were being tortured.

Honest, I cannot understand the point you made. Are you saying Sarah cannot use the English word for the Greek "baptizo" unless she is referring to Christians getting dunked?

Pardon my denseness; it's acquired.

[Lazamataz]

Sarah Palin is just like Jesus Christ. She came here and she died for our sins.

[Bratch]

Mark Levin rips National Review for cheap shot at Governor Palin

Posted on April 30 2014 - 10:14 - Posted by: Doug Brady

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Via Josh Painter, this commentary by Mark Levin is right on the money.

Mark Levin via YouTube

I always thought it was the exclusive province of the Left to feign outrage when someone says something that doesn’t fit into their politically correct fantasyland. Not anymore, apparently. These morons, Dreher, Brennan, et. al., are purposely and aggressively missing the point in order to take a cheap shot at a conservative fighting in the trenches whose influence and credibility they’ll never come close to matching. I don’t believe for a moment that they’re dumb enough to believe what they wrote. They couldn’t be. But it’s clear they think their readers are. In Governor Palin we have one of the few conservatives who’s unafraid to mock liberal orthodoxy and its politically correct dogma by taking the fight straight to them. You beat the Left and all they stand for opposing them, not joining them. And yet the aforementioned morons, who I assume call themselves conservatives (like Levin, I’ve never heard of them), have adopted the tactics of the left by leaping into the fray as the self-anointed speech police for the right.

Since when did conservatives become so hyper-sensitive that they’re too obtuse to comprehend a one-liner at a speech? Since when should conservatives go out of their way to not offend those who go out of their way to be offended? I must have missed these developments, and certainly don’t agree with them. If being a conservative these days requires the contrivance of faux outrage on my part, no thanks. Oh, by the way, here’s a tip for the speech police: The word "baptize" has more than one meaning.

(h/t Greg W.)

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[Telepathic Intruder]

They’re enemy combatants, not citizens. And “harsh interrogation” isn’t used to determine if they’re terrorists, it’s used to determine who their compatriots are and what they’re planning next.

[Psalm 73]

"Is Rod Dreher a man?"

Rod is what's known as a "Crunchy-con" - in touch with his feminine side"....

[ElectionInspector]

I don’t believe for a moment that they’re dumb enough to believe what they wrote.

...thanks for posting Mark’s response!
Just more NR “Girly Boys” which shows us what disasterous shape the “conservative” movement is in. Throw them all out and start over. Can barely read NR these days with the idiocy usually on display. Still angling for the DC cocktail circuit invites it seems.

ymmv

[EveningStar]

What's Flame Retardant doing wrong here? It says Jump right in! on the Home Page, doesn't it?

[Just mythoughts]

Honest, I cannot understand the point you made. Are you saying Sarah cannot use the English word for the Greek "baptizo" unless she is referring to Christians getting dunked? Pardon my denseness; it's acquired.

The pious author ignores what the word baptize literally means. Some religions allow the individual to seek literal baptism and others require babies to get sprinkled with water and call that baptism.

Thus the reactionary comments come from each personal acceptance of what it means to be baptized and wrap a 'sacrilegious' accusation against Sarah. I find no occasion or example wherein any baby can make a conscientious decision to be baptized, sprinkled or fully immersed in water.

Conservatism is the idea that each and every person is individually responsible for their own mind and acts. So I so not know if Sarah was speaking in general terms or IF there is a more pointed message given. I would not dream of telling Sarah what she can or cannot say.

[Nevadan]

When I see articles and commentary such as this one, they cause me to seriously wonder about the identity of the Republican Party and Conservatives in general. I would like to know what they believe. What do they stand for? What percentage of Republicans are conservative these days? What percentage of Republicans are on the left side of the spectrum? What percentage are in the middle? What percentage of Republicans are pro-life? What percentage are pro-abortion? What percentage support gay marriage? What percentage support low taxes, free enterprise, a strong national defense, small and limited government? I seriously have no clue. Of course I have long known that the party has its share of RINO's and left-leaning wannabees in the country-club set, but I have long believed that people like me were in the majority in the Republican party. I am beginning to think I am in the minority.

[Real Cynic No More]

Every conservative talks big about political correctness in speech gone awry, and then they go ape$hit over Sarah using the word baptism in the same sentence with waterboarding. The over reaction on this issue is so ridiculous that it’s insulting.

[turducken]

While the rest of these “intellectual” giants are playing footsie Sarah is playing hardball and they can barely comprehend it.

[GeronL]

Dreher sickens me

[BlueDragon]

Sarah Palin is just like Jesus Christ. She came here and she died for our sins.

Reports of her death have been exaggerated.

[Mr Rogers]

“The officer is God’s servant for your protection. But if you are leading a wicked life you have reason to be alarmed. The “power of the law” which is vested in every legitimate officer, is no empty phrase. He is, in fact, divinely appointed to inflict God’s punishment upon evil-doers.” - The Apostle Paul

I think God WANTS governments to protect their citizens, and to strike fear and terror in the hearts of evil-doers!

[BlueDragon]

...but it does appear she is still being tortured (suffering serial crucifixions).

Somehow she keeps on smiling brightly.

Dan Rather should be pleased?

Courage

[Darksheare]

It’s a good bet that if they’re shrieking “Allah Ackbar” at you before you catch them, or they are planting IEDs, or they are flying the Al Qeada flag they are a terrorist.

[Servant of the Cross]

What's Flame Retardant doing wrong here?

Since you asked ...

Sure, a n00b should "jump right in". But if they're trolls, they should expect that other FR posters may jump right back at 'em if their behavior seems more trollish than conservative. For example:

Rod Dreher?! Srsly? Rod Dreher makes up ways to attack Sarah Palin. And to be able to use a "sacrilegious" angle? He's literally peeing on himself over the glee. You can say she made a really poor joke/analogy, but sacrilege? C'mon Man! That crosses into Pharisee land. And liberals like Dreher who could care less about the sacredness of Christian baptism are delighted over how they can use it to drive a wedge amongst conservatives.

And it's a two-fer for them! They can also divide conservatives over the definition of 'torture'.

You make the call. What has this thread caused at FR? For a brand new n00b to POST a thread like this (rather than reply on other threads), is not a coincidence, IMHO.

Therefore, I stand behind my first post (and Viking Kitty ping) ... Sniff.