Here Come the Christian-Bashers. Leftists attack Gov. Palin's 'Controversial Worldview'




An amusing attempt to equate Obama's America-hating church with the regular Christian gospel. You would have to be an amazing ignoramus to think that the two are the same.

"In an obvious attempt to create a Jeremiah Wright-style scandal for the Republican presidential ticket - and to marginalize conservative Christian values - Huffington Post National Editor Nico Pitney is questioning the religious beliefs of GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her former pastor.

A Sept. 2 Huffington Post (HP) article by Pitney and Political Reporter Sam Stein begins with an ominous headline: "Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview." They write, "And if the political storm over Barack Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright is any indication, Palin may face some political fallout over the more controversial teachings of Wasilla Assembly of God."

Pitney and Stein label Palin's worldview "controversial," and quote snippets from Wasilla Senior Pastor Ed Kalnins's sermons that paint him as extreme. Wasilla Assembly of God church member Karissa Nelson told CMI what she thought of the HP story: "It's sad how people twist your words."....

To define Palin's faith, Pitney and Stein quote what they describe as "provocative" and "eyebrow-raising" statements by Wasilla pastor Ed Kalnins. The minister's teachings, however, may not be as controversial as Pitney and Stein believe. The HP writers display a very poor understanding of conservative Protestant theology and language.

For example, Pitney and Stein quote Kalnins saying in 2004, "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person [Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry], I question your salvation. I'm sorry." As they understand the statement, Kalnins "questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven." Their interpretation of Kalnins's remarks conflicts sharply with the evangelical Protestant theology of salvation.

Properly understood, Pastor Kalnins was not saying that God would punish people who voted for Kerry by sending them to hell. Kalnins was saying that a person willing to vote for Kerry probably had not already received salvation.

Evangelical theology teaches that a person is saved based not on how he votes, or any other action, but on whether he places his trust in Jesus's sacrifice to pay the price for his sins. Trust Christ today and you're "saved" today. Therefore, salvation is not so much a future event as a present possession. Once people are "saved," however, they undergo a spiritual transformation that affects the way they think, behave, and vote.

Source

As Leftist commentary goes, "controversial" is probably a rather mild term of abuse for evangelical Christianity. The HuffPo must be losing its mojo. I expected "Ayatollah Palin" at least.

I have read the HuffPo article and the authors clearly do not understand the Calvinist influence in Protestant thinking. Following Ephesians 1:4&5, Calvin taught that God had predestined who would be saved -- and this tends to spill over to a view that most of the things that happen around us are God's will. There is even a careful exposition of the doctrine in Article 17 of the 39 "Articles of Religion" promulgated by the Church of England. If you have a copy of the old Anglican "Book of Common Prayer", you can find it right at the back of the book.

Posted by John Ray.