Witchcraft and the White House

VICTORIA-
I always enjoy Mr. Deepak's reasonable responses.
I swing left wing liberal- but just because I have a personal bias- doesn't mean I cannot try to be fair.

" ask Sarah Palin if she gained the governorship of Alaska by exorcising witches at the behest of an African minister who prayed over her."

It was the pastor who exorcized the witch in Kenya- not Sarah Palin.
And she has publicly stated that she, personally, does not speak in tongues- but there are those in her congregation who do.

Small matters- but they cloud the truth-
The Palindrone is really bad enough for so many other reasons- it is not necessary to obfuscate or distort.

FARNAZ_ She seems to love Jews- ALOT- although that love is tempered with a latent belief that eventually all Jews will see the light, and embrace Jesus- still- her affection for Jews and Israel is beyond reproach.
She has already promised young american lives to protect Israel- any time, and unconditional supprt to back Israel up should it follow through with it's publicly announced(2 weeks ago) intentions to bomb Iran.
I cannot speak for the fidelity of her love if it happens that she feels Armageddon is upon us-

I think a more revealing question would be WHY does she hate Musims?

Of course she will answer Athena and Farnaz's question in the affirmative.
However- we have seen enough of her personal philosophy on record to realize that she does not FEEL this to be true, but must uphold it- or at least appear to.

Now, everyone is always complaining about the litmus test of religion in public office-

There is no litmus test- BUT_

It is the will of the people- and if 51% of the people will a religious leader into office by their own preference, that is their right, isn't it?
that is the electoral process-

If the majority were atheists, wiccans, hindus, buddhists, jews or muslims-
would those particular groups complain as loudly about a philisophical litmus test that kept them in power by majority rule?

As a muslim- who represent about 2.2% of the total population- we are currently the only group that it is encouraged to be maligned and hated-
it is patriotic!

But, I still respect that it is the will of ALL the people- not just my own personal interests that matter-

KeirGazelle
You can ask Palin all you want..then hire a translator for the answer. She speaks gibberish.
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It's plain that KeirGazelle has no feeling for pentecostals. What you take for gibberish is Sarah speaking in tongues.

Like a number of Americans, I just don't get what the big deal is with religion in politics. I have no objections at all. I repeat, I have no problems with the conflation of politics and religion. Of course, my only proviso in the marriage of religion and politics is this: politics must reflect exactly my own belief system down to the last dotted i and crossed t. On this I’m sure any sensible person would agree; disagreement would cause the emergent necessity of my smoldering righteous indignation. MY theology is the only one that can possibly be true and if you doubt that, ask any member of MY CHURCH. By virtue of this logic it follows - “your religion won’t do”.

So stop your squabbling, fussing, and debating. It's all nonsense - just accept MY RELIGION cause if you don't...Well!!
Stick with MY RELIGION and we can defeat this satanic secularist ideology that proclaims we can best live in harmony with a complete separation of church and state. Who are these secularists kidding anyway, telling us we can live together in equity, justice, and security by precluding MY RELIGION from government? Sounds like a disaster to me.

You can ask Palin all you want..then hire a translator for the answer. She speaks gibberish.

But for my question and follow up is:

Would you, like George Bush in 1999 with Bob Barr, say that my religion is not a religion, because it is not one of the big three? What do you call a religion and what gives it protection under the First Amendment?

terra

"The Constitution kept God out of politics"

Not exactly. The Constitution keeps churches out of governmental politics. It would be impossible to keep God out of politics. Democratic politics is the means by which we select one religion over another. Religion must be kept distinct from the church, which is a political entity, so that religion can evolve along with the law.

The politics of intolerance have been in play since Reagan, and the increasing influence of right wing preachers in Republican administrations. The religious culture wars we are fighting now is a direct result of the Republicans using anything they can as a wedge to win seats and the white House. bush certainly did and then basically never followed through on most of his promises to the fundamentalists. Many of them feel betrayed.

But the rest of the country feels betrayed too- by the idea that one group's ideas and values should be foisted off on the rest of us. Our diversity is the greatest strength we have as a country, but only when we stand united and equal. those who reach across to take the hand of a stranger, are stronger than those who cower in fear behind walls of their own making. The republicans have done everything they could to divide us.

I've never cared for Dr. Chopra's books, but this essay is worthwhile. I agree that invoking religion polarizes and that religion is properly a private affair. If it informs a candidate's policy plans, the candidate should provide reasons beyond "My god wills it so." If that happened, religion would probably become irrelevant in elections, because voters would be able to evaluate policies on the basis of their potential benefit for the common good instead of their imputed metaphysical consequences.

Well said Dr. Chopra.

My question would be are we giving up on separation of church and state? And if so, would a simple pronouncement by the King or Emperor do?
Or do we need an act of Congress? Constitutional...."adjustment"?

Then I might ask, "Are Jews okay in your book?"

Just wondering....

I ask out of ignorance, not as bait...DC said "But Palin, riding the crest of right-wing fundamentalism, insists that religion become a litmus test"
When/where was that?

"the inflamed conflict that has mired this country since the Reagan revolution"

really there were no 'god' battles in government before Reagan? Seriously? I strongly recommend a much thicker American History book...

Sadly this question could have been much more eloquently answered by Mr. Chopra without the obvious and very politically biased anti-Palin screed...

My questions would be: "Do you believe that America is a Christian nation? If so, do you feel that non-Christian religions deserve equal protection under the law?"