I don’t know, EH. I have wrestled with that very problem. I have been raised my whole life to honor the God-Family-Everything Else priority scheme rather strictly, as a function of my commitment to Scripture. I have no doubt Sarah takes that same view, that this is God’s rule for her life. Not that those other things don’t impact family, but that I am obligated as a Christian to the well-being of my family, especially if the action in question was optional.
Is it really true, for example, that the only way to save the country is for Sarah to run? Some would say so, but I don’t think Sarah believes that. She repeatedly said the opposite, that she is not an egoist, thinking she’s the only one who could pull it out. She is by nature and training a team player, and given conditions on the field of play, she thinks her better role is passing the ball to a player with a better chance of scoring.
Furthermore, she has forfeited much “treasure” in quest of serving her country. To keep herself available for a possible campaign, she passed on an offer of a second season of her Alaska show, worth about ten million. That’s not the pattern of someone avoiding their public duty. That’s the pattern of a commited patriot. Being willing to serve doesn’t guarantee your number will come up, but it does tell people where your heart is.
A reasonable reply. Thank you.
So here’s a question for you: If you were serving in the military and got orders into combat, would you go? Even if you had a wife and two kids and your death would most certainly be bad for your family?
Personally, I think the answer is pretty clear: You would do your duty. Your country would come before your family.
My quarrel with Sarah Palin is not that she did not run, but the REASON she did not run. She explicitly said her priorities are, and always have been: God, family, country. In that order. Sarah Palin’s stated reason for not running made it clear that her family comes before the country.
This country is in enormous peril. We need a leader who can put the country ahead of themselves, including their own family. A lot of shared sacrifice will be necessary to right this ship, if it is not already too late. A leader who is not willing to sacrifice personally cannot ask others to do so and expect them to follow.
That does not mean she is not a good and decent person. I think she is.
But right now we need someone with the leadership ability and all out personal commitment of a Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill offered his countrymen “blood, toil, tears and sweat”, and he brought them through one of Britain’s darkest hours.
Personally, I thought Sarah Palin was our best hope to fill that role. I was wrong.