I won't be voting for McCain in November. I should say that up front. I should also say that I'm not impressed with what I've seen of Sarah Palin, so far, and disagree with her on a number of issues.
However, I think we are duty bound to do our homework, to critique the guy we're planning to vote for (something I do on this blog) and to acknowledge when the man or woman we're not for isn't getting a fair shake. While I think a lot of the criticism of Palin in the press is fair and constructive, here's one that concerns me.
I am, as a pastor, hyper sensitive to those who might tie the agenda of Christ with the agenda of country. I don't like either side speaking of America as "the last best hope for mankind" (and both sides have) and I don't like the idea that we can simply say God is on our side and then assume he is (I agree with Lincoln, who said, "I am not so much concerned with whether God is on our side as with whether we are on His.")
That said, I was concerned with this quote attributed to Sarah Palin about the plan for war in Iraq being God's plan. That's the sort of heresy and hubris that has me wanting to throw stuff. But I do my homework and I looked at the clip.
What she says is that we must pray that whatever plan we choose is God's plan. To quote her directly, "that's what we must make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."
She isn't saying "there is a plan and that plan is God's plan" (the "God is on our side" that Lincoln derided), but we must pray "that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan" (the "we are on His" that Lincoln praised).
Get this. I don't like that Palin claims she's strong against stuff that she only got strong against once it wasn't cool to be strong for it (Bridge to Nowhere) and I don't like how excited she gets about guns, especially semi-automatic ones. And I don't like that she seems to imply, later in the same video, that the Alaskan pipeline she's working for IS God's will. But let's be fair to Sarah Palin.
She never says (at least in that video) that the war in Iraq was God's plan. She said we must pray that whatever plan we choose is God's plan. That is my prayer as well.
There are reasons not to vote McCain/Palin. Just make sure they're informed reasons.
10 comments:
While I appreciate your attempt to be generous here, I highly doubt she would ever say that pulling out of Iraq is God's plan or nonviolent action is God's plan, etc.
I don't disagree. One of the things she and I disagree on is the war in Iraq. However, much is being made of this statement she made at her church about Iraq and "God's plan". Charles Gibson quoted this statement and asked if she thought Iraq was a Holy War. My point is not that I agree with Sarah Palin (more often than not, I don't), but that we should be reacting to the whole story. She supports the war in Iraq. That alone, in my opinion, is reason enough not to be for her or McCain. Let's not then compound that with her saying that the war in Iraq is God's plan. She didn't.
So then what is she saying? When she's looked at all the evidence and decides that it's best to stay and best to stay for as long as we need, then isn't she in essence saying that we are following God? I think so.
Again, I think she would argue that what's best is to stay in the war in Iraq and therefore, assuming she wants to do God's will, must believe that this is God's will. But she was being saddled with the kind of hubris that causes President Bush to refer to democracy as that "power, power, wonder working power". His statement comes off as "if you're on my side, then you're on God's side." I find that beyond bothersome. She was being accused of the same sort of statement when what she actually says is the clip is, basically, "pray that what we end up doing is the right thing." She clearly thinks it is. I think it's not. But I think it's unfair to take the quote out of context in a way that robs it of the humility it seems to have.
All I'm saying is that we ought to be for or against a person's statements or choices based on what statements or choices they actually make. I think Sarah Palin has made statements and choices worth standing against. I just don't think this statement is one of them. And I think we too often, in politics, give into finding fault with everything a person says or does simply because we disagree with most of what they say or do. And I think that's wrong. It was wrong when they took Reverend Wright out of context and it's wrong when they take Sarah Palin out of context. I don't have to find fault with every statement she makes simply because I find her views on the war (and many other things) to be wrong. In fact, it gives criticism more weight when it's informed criticism. A willingness to admit when the other side wasn't wrong brings credibility to the criticism when they are.
I think Palin is wrong on a lot of stuff. I think she has said things that should not have been said (the snide "community organizer" remark, for one). I just don't think this was one of them.
Nice thoughts and well said. One thing that concerns me (as an Obama supporter) is the perception that Obama gets a free ride from the press and Palin gets unduely ripped. Thats the kind of thing that turns a good candidate into an insufferable one.
Cheers,
Marc
I agree her quote was taken out of context. The reasons for thinking she wouldn't make for a suitable VP (and possibly President) are myriad, in my estimation, but her quote isn't one of them.
Regarding vetting Palin, though, here's an interesting article by Sean Quinn on fivethirtyeight.com today:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/dems-must-give-voters-explicit.html
In short, he argues that people who have already developed an emotional connection to Palin are more likely to be defensive when it comes to critiquing her record than they are to be swayed.
What you are driving at here needs to be heard.
A guy I know was complaining today that some family member of his was voting for McCain/Palin because there was a woman on the ticket. Now, while I agree that it's not the best reason, we can all admit that she IS in fact a woman. Same for those who vote for Barack because he's black.
While our aim should be an approach that is a bit more thoughtful, it is better that a vote be made for Obama because he is black, that against him because he is Muslim.
Too often falsehoods guide our elections and to a large extent the outcomes of those elections. It seems that every year the "political warriors" get better and better at the subtle lie.
Thanks for pointing bringing this one to light.
All I can say about all this is that I wonder how FAIR Mrs. Palin has been to others as she presses her agenda in Alaska. WE haven't heard the "whole story" yet, but I'm sure there are many who will continue to enlighten us as to what this "story" really is. And I wonder how FAIR she is being to the American people as she guages her accomplishments in "half-truths". There's a heavy element of revisionism here - applying different motivations/definitions to what she has said in the past and this is worrisome. What is more worrisome is that she is a product of her own "hype" (or someone elses) and that there is little substance to give her any credibility. Being cavalier about our nation's high offices and not respecting the American people as intelligent enough to figure all this out, and "talking down" to us at the same time is political suicide. As a woman who is 60-something, I think I'm a pretty good judge of character - I did learn a few things along the way - but red flags were raised in my mind the moment I heard her speak. I don't think diplomacy and compromise are any of her strong suits. (Pity...)
It's like the final song in "The Color Purple" - "God's tryin' to tell you somethin'" Lincoln's famous observation about trying to fool some of the people some of the time, but not ALL of the people ALL of the time, surely has great application here. Also, as they say, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely"...Sarah Palin is on a "power high". Is it fair to America for this woman to be touted as a "quick study" as she learns about what is assumed to be learned by others BEFORE they achieve the office of VP? This is NOT a good time for OJT amid the dire crises' befalling our nation. Her Nixon-esque tactics regarding her enemies (the "haters") is an ominous sign as well...the secrecy and just "not showing up" are red flags in themselves. But to intone God's name in all this is her efforts to put God in a box. Truth will overcome in all manner of ways. We are all mortally fallible...the secret is to let Americans know that she will present herself as she really IS, instead of what she thinks she is, or what others think she is.
But I appreciate your open attitude...that we need to read both sides, and try to decern the truth. I admire you for this.
My point, again, isn't a Sarah Palin love fest or even a Sarah Palin apologetic. It is to say that we, as critics, must be fair even when others aren't. It bothers me that some of the response to a post on being fair to the other side is met with, "but THEY aren't fair". That's my point. If we start playing by THEIR rules, we lose.
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