(I originally posted this as a comment on another diary, but was urged by some Kossacks to publish is as a diary itself. Here goes...)
While there are many @DKos who've explored her pathological lying, her hypocrisy, and even her bipolarity, I feel we aren't getting to to the heart of Sarah Palin, what makes her so transparently false, and yet, so incredibly dangerous.
Much of the discussion of religion on DKos gravitates to two poles: those who dismiss it as fantasy, and those who are progressive believers. It is fascinating to read both viewpoints, and all of the flavors in between, but there is one conspicuously missing, and one which it behooves us to engage as we step up our efforts to swing the undecideds (and those who think they're decided) to Obama/Biden.
Like it or not, the USA is a deeply religious culture, and as Proverbs 23:7—the title of this diary—suggests, "as a person thinks, so she is..."
Hello, my name is Skeezix, and I was a Pentecostal for 21 years.
Not just a "Pew Pentecostal," but a church administrator, church "planter," and teacher.
I understand where Sarah Palin's bravado, ignorance, and yes, corruption, comes from: All of the 115 Pentecostal "leaders" I worked with in a variety of Pentecostal churches (helping them plant churches, incorporate ministries, set-up sub-ministries, and administer their finances), believed they were on a "mission from God" (with apologies to Ackroyd/Belushi), and worked through enormous Scriptural, ethical, and logical gyrations to justify their unbelievable hubris.
They cheated on taxes, lied to anyone in authority, took bribes, paid bribes, cheated on spouses, committed incest, fleeced their flocks, bought prostitutes, molested children, physically attacked opponents and dissenters, used homeless people for free labor, faked healings, robbed widows and retirees, and conducted themselves in many other outrageous ways, explaining it away as "the temptations being so great because the Truth is so great" [translation: I wouldn't be tempted so strongly—and failing and falling and flailing—if I weren't doing such important work"]!
(You have heard this line of reasoning surface publicly from time to time with Jim Bakker—"What's good for the pastor is good for the flock"—and Jimmy Swaggart.)
I'm not stereotyping, either: The frauds I worked with were A/G, COGIC, Jesus-Only Apostolic, Latter Rain Assemblies, UPCI, PAW, COGoP, New Life, Church of God, and many non-Denominational (i.e., non-accountable) churches.
The response of the church bodies (where one existed) to these crimes? "We must forgive our [brother/sister] and, after [he/she] has had some counseling and some spiritual healing, restore [him/her] to [his/her] great work."
Needless to say the cycle always repeated itself, which is why I got the h-ll out!
And lest you think I'm only bashing Pentecostals, this is no different than the response to the Priest-Pedophile scandal in the CC, when Cardinal Law and others swept the allegations aside in those crimes by declaring the offending priests "sinners" (duh!), not criminals (d'oh), but instead sending them for "counseling" and (worse) shipping them off to remote parishes where they ruined many more lives, all because of the "possible damage to the work of Christ."
What does this have to do with Pentecostal Pols like Palin?
Everything!
As soon as I heard the Palin had been selected as the Crypt Keeper's running mate, I cringed, because even without the press vetting that followed, I knew she was a Pentecostal Dominionist, and I knew it would only be a matter of nanoseconds before her lying (Bridge to Nowhere, "Reform" Agenda, earmarks); power abuses (Troopergate, Wasillagate, MatanuskaMaidgate, the coverups, et.al.); her belief in Creationism as "Science"; her sexism (self-funded rape kits, anti-choice, accepting pay inequality should she become Veep); her seeking to justify everything she does as the "Will of God" (Gas Pipelines, Iraq deployments); her weird insistence on secrecy (her Yahoo account); and her astounding arrogance and ignorance would be on display for all.
Why?
As she thinks, so she is: Sarah believes she's above the law.
Like the church leaders I've described above, Palin exhibits the same swaggering "I'm on a mission from God, so anything goes" BS they do. Thus, to people like her, laws, facts, logic, science, integrity, tolerance—even Biblical adherence to passages they claim as inspired, such as 1 Thess. 5:22: "Stay away from anything that even looks like bad behavior"—be damned, all in the name of accomplishing this "mission."
Unfortunately, this is also some of the thinking of a significant swath of America, especially between the coasts and in the South, and changing this mindset requires us not to dismiss them as kooks (some are), nuts (ditto), and frauds (emphatic dittos), but to actually engage them as much as possible, however distasteful that may be.
I do daily, and it is not only liberating to my newfound faith in the Grace and Mercy of Christ, but I've even been able to sway a large number of people who think like this to thinking harder about their faith and their choice of candidates; many are choosing Obama, or at least considering him.
How?
The numbers are actually on our side:
Americans continue to have a healthy appetite for religion in public life—so long as it is not too hard-edged or divisive. Americans are not only overwhelmingly religious—92% say they believe in God and 63% believe that the Bible is the word of God—but they also believe that religiousness is a sign of good character. Only 46% of Americans say that they would vote for an atheist for president, compared with 56% who would vote for a homosexual and 93% who would vote for a black.—From The Economist
All I've done recently is point out the lousy character of these "religious people" and, well, you've seen Palin's 21-point drop in popularity in one week, right? Lying is a character issue, and speaks for itself!
Don't think this is important?
People who have gone to Christian extremist thinking, like Palin, are more like the Taliban extremists they say they hate. Both Christian and Islamic extremism are power grabs with religious veneers, and should be suspiciously regarded whenever they seek power or control.
And, like the Taliban, these shrill, bullying, lying, violent, and sexist fundie extremist minorities have gotten the press, the airwaves, and the bulk of opposition attention, while a sometimes vocal, but mostly silent, majority of moderates has gone unnoticed.
Psssst: They hold the key in both cultures and faiths...
For years, moderate followers of Islam have begged the US government to engage them in the dialogue necessary to begin curbing extremism, and BushCo has refused.
Yet, ignoring and attacking them hasn't made the extremists go away; it's actually made their recruiting more effective!
(Naturally, moderates, conservatives, and extremists, have found their own way to enter a dialogue of sorts on the face and future of Islam.)
Look at the (now-fading) national reaction, and the (over?)reaction of many of us on DKos, and tell me the Palin selection didn't achieve the same recruiting response (in this case, for both sides!).
Obama was correct (again) when he pushed hard, starting in 2004, for engaging the Democratic Party in discussions, debates, and declarations on faith and religion. He understands that, like it or not, religious belief informs most thinking in the US, and ignoring, mocking, or dismissing it, even when it as warped as Palin's, won't make it go away.
Engaging religious thinking, even as repugnant as hers, gives us a chance to shape and change it!
[Update] Thank you so much for the recs. As usual, you are thoughtful, challenging, and funny!