Sarah Palin's long time church preaches some of the most extreme religious views in the nation

[ruggerson]

Where she was saved

The church where Sarah Palin grew up and was baptized preaches some of the most extreme religious views in the nation.

By Sarah Posner

Sept. 11, 2008 | In June, Sarah Palin took the stage at the Wasilla Assembly of God, a deeply conservative Pentecostal church. The excitable Alaskan governor told a graduating class of missionary students that it "was so cool growing up in this church, getting saved here, getting baptized." She went on to declare that her son Track will deploy to Iraq, and urged students to pray "that our leaders, that our national leaders, are sending out on a task that is from God." She added: "That's what we have to make sure that we are praying for -- that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

One big question about Palin is how that deterministic view of God's will in world affairs influences her decision-making on issues ranging from the Middle East to the environment, sexuality to education. What is not in doubt is that her addition to the Republican ticket has fired up the religious right and the party's most conservative base.

The McCain campaign has downplayed Palin's Pentecostal roots. But as her testimony at the Wasilla Assembly of God demonstrates, she is motivated by the idea that godly forces are locked in spiritual warfare with satanic forces. For many with a Pentecostal upbringing like Palin's, fighting that battle is part of God's plan for the end of days, when war will end the world as we know it, Jesus will come back, and non-Christians will convert or perish.

Pentecostals are so named for the feast, or Pentecost, documented in the Book of Acts, during which early followers of Jesus were said to have been "filled with the Holy Spirit" and able to "speak in other tongues." Although they share religious doctrine with other evangelicals, Pentecostals' religious experiences include such "spirit-filled" expressions as speaking in tongues, receiving divine prophecy and revelation, casting out demons and witnessing miracles. While not all Pentecostals are conservative (Leah Daughtry, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Convention, is a Pentecostal minister), most of them, according to a 2006 study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, are more conservative than other Christians on social, moral and spiritual issues, and far more likely to believe in the rapture and end-times.

(more)

[BlooInBloo]

1. As with so many other things, IOKIYW.

[samuraiguppy]

2. people seriously

need to educate themselves about her religion. It is crazy and far out of the mainstream.