The pastor who clashed with Palin

[EV_Ares]

Baptist minister Howard Bess, who wrote a book Palin wanted banned and who fought her on abortion and gay rights, says the country should fear her election.

Sept. 15, 2008 | WASILLA, Alaska -- The Wasilla Assembly of God, the evangelical church where Sarah Palin came of age, was still charged with excitement on Sunday over Palin's sudden ascendance. Pastor Ed Kalnins warned his congregation not to talk with any journalists who might have been lurking in the pews -- and directly warned this reporter not to interview any of his flock. But Kalnins and other speakers at the service reveled in Palin's rise to global stardom.

It confirmed, they said, that God was making use of Wasilla. "She will take our message to the world!" rejoiced an Assembly of God youth ministry leader, as the church band rocked the high-vaulted wooden building with its electric gospel.

That is what scares the Rev. Howard Bess. A retired American Baptist minister who pastors a small congregation in nearby Palmer, Wasilla's twin town in Alaska's Matanuska Valley, Bess has been tangling with Palin and her fellow evangelical activists ever since she was a Wasilla City Council member in the 1990s. Recently, Bess again found himself in the spotlight with Palin, when it was reported that his 1995 book, "Pastor, I Am Gay," was among those Palin tried to have removed from the Wasilla Public Library when she was mayor.

"She scares me," said Bess. "She's Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.

"At this point, people in this country don't grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology."

rest of the article @ the Salon link: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/

[RoadRage]

For those on the far-right.. this makes them want to vote for her MORE not LESS.

Sad, eh? :eyes:

[tblue]

1. Sarah's "radical theology" = CULT. Even some pastors can't stand her.

[VAliberal]

2. I love the Rev. Bess!

He is a very moderate American Baptist (ABC) pastor. I just finished using his text, "Pastor, I am Gay" as part of a sermon series in my two congregation Presbyterian parish.

His book debunks the standard fundamentalist reading of the 'anti-gay' Biblical texts and goes on to offer a very loving, inclusive and pastoral approach to glbt folks in the church.

It only stands to reason that Palin would find his book offensive - it is a very accessible, non-scholarly treatment of the issue rooted in large measure in the words and experiences of gays and lesbians and the ill-treatment they receive from many church folk.

Rock on Rev. Bess! Wake people up to the Palin danger.