Posted on 09/07/2008 10:27:23 AM PDT by wagglebee
Associated Press religion writers Eric Gorski and Rachel Zoll are accusing GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of concealing her Pentecostal religious roots by identifying herself “simply as Christian” in her biography on the website of the National Governors’ Association.
In their Sept. 4 article headlined “Pentecostalism obscured in Palin biography,” Gorski and Zoll rely on Duke Divinity School’s Grant Wacker to suggest a motive for Palin’s alleged duplicity. Wacker says, “the public still perceives [Pentecostals] as sectarian and uncompromising, and those traits will not help Palin’s image.”
“Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian,” Gorski and Zoll begin. “Yet John McCain’s running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism...[a Christian tradition] often derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike.”
Palin grew up attending a Pentecostal church, Wasilla Assembly of God, but has attended the non-Pentecostal Wasilla Bible Church since 2002 (see related article). Pentecostalism is a branch of evangelical Christianity that emphasizes discernible spiritual gifts from God, such as speaking in tongues. Many Christian denominations embrace Pentecostal theology.
Gorski and Zoll misunderstand Palin’s use of the word “Christian.” Evangelical believers, especially those like Palin who attend independent Bible churches, commonly refer to themselves as “Christians,” not as members of any particular denomination or school of theology.
The article says more about Gorski and Zoll than about Palin. Though they cover the religion beat for AP, Gorski and Zoll have a great deal to learn about evangelical culture and theology.
In addition to misunderstanding the term “Christian,” Gorski and Zoll make a serious theological mistake. They incorrectly accuse Wasilla Assembly of God senior pastor Ed Kalnins of questioning, “whether people who voted for Democratic Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election would get into heaven.”
Kalnins’s exact words were, “I’m not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I’m sorry.”
Orthodox Protestant theology teaches that salvation is possessed in the present. Anybody with a rudimentary knowledge of evangelical Christian doctrine should understand that Kalnins was not saying God would send Kerry supporters to hell. In fact, Kalnins was suggesting that people willing to vote for Sen. Kerry might not already be saved.
In misinterpreting Kalnins’s remarks, Gorski and Zoll committed the same mistake made by leftwing Huffington Post writers Nico Pitney and Sam Stein, and explained in greater detail in another Culture and Media Institute article, Pro-gay Journalist: Palin’s Religious Worldview “Controversial”.
Such a fundamental theological error is understandable coming from a pair of youthful leftwing bloggers, but not from two Associated Press religion writers. Brian Fitzpatrick, a frequent contributor to OneNewsNow, is senior editor for the Culture and Media Institute. This article is printed with permission.
I disagree, the leftist bloggers are simply following the model that the leftist media has developed over the past four decades.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
and Rev Wright’s church is.......
so does brawk but he went to Indosian Muslim school
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Keep making her more popular. Religon, lets bring out Rev. Wright
Obama’s people think they can get mileage attacking Palin’s Christianity, which calls into question Obama’s strategy of presenting himself as just another evangelical Christian.
If Obama sees Christianity as alien, if he can stand by while his disciples savage her faith, he can not claim to be a Christian himself.
Hey AP!!!! When ya gonna call out B Hussein for his admission of being a closet MooseSlime!!!!!
So, when was the last time a Pentacostal committed an “honor killing” or flew a commercial airliner into a skyscraper?
For that matter, when did a Catholic, Evangelical, Jew, or Mormon ever do that?
Hey, if a muslim can claim he’s a Christian, then Palin doesn’t have to elaborate.
It’s gonna get ugly, folks.
When did it become part of the litmus test to announce your denomination? And why is AP playing the religion card?
I was raised Roman Catholic, attend a Presbyterian church and would identify myself, just like Sarah Palin did, simply as Christian.
AP religion writers ought to know better.
Am I missing something? Did a page drop away and I am not getting the whole story?
I mean really Palin is Assembly of God and why is this an issue?
Barry’s Been Lying For a While Too. Why dont Erik Dorkski and Rachel Troll write about that?
I almost feel sorry for these idiots now.
According to the Barna report, some 36% of Americans now consider themselves to be charismatic and/or Pentecostal.
Have they forgotten so quickly that John Ashcroft was Assembly of God?
“AP religion writers ought to know better.”
They know exactly what they are doing.
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