{"id":340,"date":"2008-10-02T10:07:22","date_gmt":"2008-10-02T10:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/10\/sarah-palins-christian-teflon.html"},"modified":"2008-10-02T10:07:22","modified_gmt":"2008-10-02T10:07:22","slug":"sarah-palins-christian-teflon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/stevenwaldman\/2008\/10\/sarah-palins-christian-teflon.html","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Palin’s Christian Teflon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hugh Hewitt:<\/a> Do you think the mainstream media and the left understands your religious faith, Governor Palin?
\nSarah Palin: I think that there’s a lot of mocking of my personal faith, and my personal faith is very, very simple. I don’t belong to any church. I do have a strong belief in God, and I believe that I’m a heck of a lot better off putting my life in God’s hands, and saying hey, you know, guide me.<\/p>\n


\nWhat else do we have but guidance that we would seek from a Creator? That’s about as simple as it gets with my faith, and I think that there is a lot of mocking of that. And you know, so bet it, though I do have respect for those who have differing views than I do on faith, on religion. I’m not going to mock them, and I would hope that they would kind of I guess give me the same courtesy through this of not mocking a person’s faith, but maybe perhaps even trying to understand a little bit of it. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She’s got Christian Teflon<\/a>. Because Christians feel mocked, they will love her more if she’s attacked, especially if they feel her faith is being ridiculed. In truth, the mockery has not focused on her desire to seek “guidance” from “a Creator,” but rather a few other matters, some quite legitimate<\/a>.
\nBut her faith is more mainstream than critics on the left proclaim. Trying to live one’s life according to “God’s will” is a common (and, mostly, noble) aspiration for millions of Americans, as it was for the Founding Fathers. Her decision to join a non-denominational Bible-based church fits one of the most significant evangelical trends, a helpful desire to get to the roots of Christ’s message rather than get bogged down in ancient doctrinal disputes. You can make fun her attendance at a Pentecostal church but do so at your peril: it’s one of the fastest growing denominations in American and one that includes the religious outreach director for Barack Obama and CEO of the Democratic convention.<\/a>
\nFor a fair-minded summary of Palin’s faith, see Terry Eastland’s run-down <\/a>at The Weekly Standard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hugh Hewitt: Do you think the mainstream media and the left understands your religious faith, Governor Palin? Sarah Palin: I think that there’s a lot of mocking of my personal faith, and my personal faith is very, very simple. I don’t belong to any church. 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