FACT: This smear is the result of out-of-context excerpts from a talk given by Gov. Palin at Wasilla Bible Church in June 2008. This is the AP story that originally misquoted Palin. Here is a Dallas Morning News story also based on the same out-of-context assumptions.
With regard to Iraq, here is what Palin actually said about her son Track and the war effort:
“Pray for our military. He's going to be deployed in September to Iraq. Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do also what is right for this country – that our leaders, our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure we are praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”
It is common for Christians to offer prayers for civic and military leaders, asking God to direct those leaders toward actions that reflect His divine will. This is not "controversial," nor is it equivalent to a propositional statement declaring that decisions made by our leaders are always in harmony with God's will.
At the same church service, Palin also asked the audience to petition God for a spirit of unity:
"I do my part in doing things like working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline; about a 30 billion dollar project that's going to create a lot of jobs for Alaskans because it will have a lot of energy flowing through here. And pray about that also. I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies, so pray for that. "
Again, Palin is asking the congregation to pray for God's will, not declaring that the pipeline is the will of God. Palin obviously believes that Alaskans must be unified in order for the pipeline to get built, and she believes that God can act in ways that will unify Alaskans. She is asking the congregation to pray for a divinely-inspired unifying spirit among the people of Alaska. If you understand the charismatic/fundamentalist faith tradition, this is not unusual at all.
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The Huffington Post continues the slanted look at Palin's Assemblies of God background here.
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