Should a candidate be judged by their pastor?

Question

A review of recorded sermons by Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God since 1999, offers a provocative and, for some, eyebrow-raising sketch of Sarah Palin's longtime spiritual home.

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services.

But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to h**l; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

It is impossible to determine how much Wasilla Assembly of God has shaped Palin's thinking. She was baptized there at the age of 12 and attended the church for most of her adult life. When Palin was inaugurated as governor, the founding pastor of the church delivered the invocation. Palin continues to worship at a related Assembly of God church in Juneau.

Moreover, she "has maintained a friendship with Wasilla Assembly of God and has attended various conferences and special meetings here," Kalnins' office said in a statement. "As for her personal beliefs," the statement added, "Governor Palin is well able to speak for herself on those issues."

Clearly, however, Palin views the church as the source of an important, if sometimes politically explosive, message. "Having grown up here, and having little kids grow up here also, this is such a special, special place," she told the congregation in June. "What comes from this church I think has great destiny."

Answer 1

Religion has no place in politics.  

Answer 2

You should post a link to that so we can all read this. Did the pastor GD America?

Answer 3

Did he say "God d**n America" or say the Government invented aids?

Nice try....Maybe you should do better research.

Answer 4

Jeremiah Wright is a lunatic racist, not a man of God.  The only appropriate analogy is to David Duke.

Answer 5

Yes.

However, the huffingtonpost.com means nothing to me for being so liberal.  Like the New York Times, it's not above lying.

http://www.barack-n-michelle.com/

http://www.billoreilly.com/

http://www.hannity.com/

Answer 6

Everyone needs to realize that this woman is a right wing conservative nut job with a very conservative agenda.  The neo-con fundamentalists have been trying to take over our country for some time now.  Riight now they're trying to make abortion a more important issue than the economy.  

I love little babies too, and I hate it that so many young women turn to abortion as a means of last resort, but it's still not right to outlaw all abortions.  People need to realize that Obama would encourage comprehensive s*x education and effective birth control in place of the rampart practice of abortion as a means of birth control.  He also has the good sense to know that neither abstinence nor condoms alone work for our young people.

I've seen Obama described as a baby killer on this and other sites.  It's wrong to say that just because he won't take a stance in favor of ourlawing abortions.  Some of these crazy people would rather see their children's lives ruined than allow them to have an abortion.  That's one of the reasons why we have so many ignorant people in this world--they start having babies and that's the end of their educations, their hopes and their dreams.  Of course, Mrs. Palin's daughter will be okay--she has a rich mama who will hire a nanny to care for her grandchild while her daughter goes to school or whatever.  But many other young women and their children end up on welfare, which by the way, the Republicans would do away with too, if they have an opportunity.

Answer 7

Separation of Church and State.

Answer 8

Exactly! Not to mention John Hagee, McCain's pastor. And let's not forget the radical views of other pastors the Repugnant Party has sold it's soul to, like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

Apparently, it only matters when it's a BLACK pastor.

I second the guy above. Religion does not belong in government. That's why we cannot allow someone like Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House.

Answer 9

source please?

Of course the Republicans will try to twist this around and say it's a good thing, just like with Bristol's pregnancy.

And I don't understand how people are saying "separation of church and state" when we all know d**n well there are sadly so many loopholes around that. What about swearing on the Bible when you are in court? Hopefully you guys haven't forgotten that. And the church does have revelance on who the person is. If she's been there for so long and is good friends with them, etc., then that more than likely reflects her character and judgment.

Answer 10

Yes, if they listen to, and follow them for 20 years without intention of stopping until the Presidential candidacy is at risk, because of the pastor's lying, foul words. Barack should have stopped following Pastor Wright the moment he heard him say a bad thing about his country, if he loved us. He didn't, and Pastor Wright has been thinking his same hatred of white people and America since Barack joined his congregation...that tells me Barack believed him, followed him for 20 years, and therefore hates white people, and America, too.

He wrote it in his own books, as well. What more proof do you need?

Answer 11

only if they are racist pigs.  Yes....rev. White is a racist...  We all know it, but liberals embrace it!

Answer 12

Can you give us the link to where this story came from.  Thank you.

Answer 13

Honestly as long as they are spewing hatred toward a group of people then it's all whatever... and to say that religion has no place in politics is unreasonable since a majority of Americans has some type of religious ties whether it is Christianity, Judaism, Catholicism, and the list goes on... and to most people their religion makes up a great deal of who they are and what they believe....

However, saying that people that vote one way or another is going to go to h**l is quite unusual to come from any pulpit... I think it should be the other way around in my opinion... Politics should stay out of church... If the church is doing it's job and teaching and practicing the morals they say they live by then people will vote based on those morals... :/

And again seperation of church and state says that the church should not control the state nor should the state control the church... not that we can't have things like the 10 commandments in the courthouses....

Answer 14

No where in your rant do I see where the Pastor "God damned America" as did Wright.  One interesting difference in Palin and Obama is that, whether you agree with their pastor's beliefs or not, Governor Palin doesn't claim that she sat in the pew for 20 years but didn't know what he was preaching.  

Answer 15

What is this fruitcake "pastor" telling his lemmings this year ?

Pitiful some people take these nuts seriously and end up year after yea voting against their own financial best interests.

I read in the article that this pastor thinks Jesus approves oif the Iraq war. Gee the Prince of Peace is happy to see over a millon innocent Iraquies killed and thousands of Americans. Sick, sick sick !!!!