Why the widespread interest in Gov. Palin's religion?
I've been amazed at the apparent desire people have to know more about Republican VP candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's religious beliefs and denominational preferences. Since I posted a brief article yesterday entitled "Palin's Religion," the Gazette has received an estimated 1,000 visits just from search engine results for that and similar phrases.
A search on Google for Palin religion now yields almost 600,000 more than 800,000 (updated 8/31) relevant webpages. I'm willing to bet that 24 hours ago, the return would have been a minuscule fraction of that total.
Why the widespread interest? I think part of it is simple fascination with Palin. It's rare to have such an unknown figure assume a position of such prominence on the national stage. But I also believe that religion continues to be hugely important to many Americans, and one's religious preferences form a big part of the identity we assume.
When Palin ended her speech in Ohio with an emphatic I God bless you, and God bless America! (a phrasing that struck me as a bit odd, by the way), the first question I had was along the lines of "is this just something she says, or does it indicate something she believes?" I suspect that I'm not the only one who had that question. And it seems pretty clear to me, based on what I've since learned, that her faith is an integral part of who Sarah Palin is, and not just something she'll parade when it's necessary to appeal to a particular demographic.
The continued emphasis on faith in public and political life is a phenomenon that some continue to ignore or discount. They do so at their own risk.
Eric,
I thought what she said was a bit odd but I dismissed it as a slip. The first thing I looked for was her stance on abortion then I looked for her religious affiliation. Fox said that she was protestant but as you know that is a very broad term and means very little nowadays.
Bill
Posted by: Bill at August 30, 2008 03:16 PM"The continued emphasis on faith in public and political life is a phenomenon that some continue to ignore or discount. They do so at their own risk."
I couldn't agree more, though it's likely we'd disagree on the specifics.
What pleases me most about Palin is that she has no trouble separating how her faith informs her personal life and how it can inform her political one.
She had no trouble vetoing a law that may have closely aligned with her personal view that was also unconstitutional. To me that indicates a strong faith and a strong commitment to public service.
So many governors would have simply signed it into law because they agreed with it and let the courts settle it later. That's pretty wimpy in my view, not to mention very costly.
I'm not religious, but I can't support those who would change our constitution to remove the freedom to worship however (whoever?) Americans choose to.
It is my firm belief that too much involvement with secular government is very bad for organized religion. It invites corruption into the church. For an example look at the Catholic Church in Martin Luther's time.
I have read nothing about Sarah Palin so far that makes me think anything but good about her. Someone somewhere on the blogosphere called her a "breath of fresh Artic air".
Posted by: Donna B. at August 30, 2008 06:05 PMI, for one, stand by our founding fathers take on the separation of church and state.
The gap needs to be wider...for me.
But that probably isn't a newsflash to you or anyone who really knows me...
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie at September 8, 2008 10:21 PMI'm pretty sure the "founding fathers" wouldn't recognize your definition of the separation of church and state. But, it's really better that we just agree to disagree and move on to more pleasant items of discussion.
Like, whether a baby squirrel can take a baby rabbit in a fair fight. ;-)
Posted by: Eric at September 8, 2008 10:25 PMAbout the publisher
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Of course it is important. Many credit Al Gore's loss to having picked a Jew as his VP. This does matter in America.
Posted by: hoss at August 30, 2008 01:05 PM