Sarah's ecstatic resignation?

[Posting a link?]

Forum Guidelines
Posting a link? Read This!

Forgot your password? Need help?
Click Here To Contact Us

Mudflats Merchandise
AKMuckraker Amazon Store
Support AKM Merchandise

Download it here!

[the problem child]

This looks like the beginning of an interesting conversation that began on the blog. Perhaps it will continue here.

KateinCanada Says:
July 14th, 2009 at 8:25 AM

I’ve been mulling over Sarah Palin’s yearning for a crack of light behind a door that would call her to plow straight through it. In the context of a lot of small things, from the multitude of comments here, to McCain’s “she doesn’t think she quit” to the strange labored breathing on the youtube video that amplifies her gasping–
I think that by looking for what she was running away from, I’ve had it backwards.
I think we just watched her plow through a door— toward a longed-for state.

This doesn’t mean she isn’t escaping her job and other stresses, or being very practical about money, or making a career move into work she expects to enjoy a lot more. Nor does it mean she didn’t just dump responsibility for something she was doing badly. All of these things can and do apply.

But now I see her as breaking through into her imagery of a crack, in a kind of psychic/spiritual ecstasy, right before our eyes. I want to go back and watch again, and ask a friend who is more knowledgeable about religious trances to watch it and tell me what she observes.

If Sarah does appear disconnected from ordinary reality, I will then have to try to judge whether she was acting that role or to some degree inspired by her beliefs, stress, setting and situation, to genuinely behaving as she did.
Sarah presents herself partially as a religious mystic and I have been viewing this video though an entirely secular, logical lens, colored by my views of her political roots. Someone with ecstatic religious experience, Christian or other, might see something else happening. Few people do this, fewer talk about it. To her religious peers this may have been too obvious to talk about.

I haven’t heard any religious people weigh in on this and very few have even made comments on Sarah’s 20 years of pentecostal religion as her gut experience, not as merely as a set of views driving her politics. I’ve never seen anyone analyze the Muthee video with the question, “What did this experience feel like inside Sarah, how transformative would it be?” Most commenters seem to mention her as participating passively in something they view as weird. If I’m right, she was being anything but passive. Net searches haven’t found much- if anyone has a link to a religious studies analysis of Palin’s background and actions, I’d like to follow it.

Now, I think, we have two videos of Palin experiencing something extraordinary- perhaps there are fragments shot of her on the campaign trail that also reflect her in an altered state.

If any mudpups would like to discuss this idea, especially in light of our own views of religious experience, I’d prefer to do this in the forum. I’ve not spent much time in the forum- has there been discussion of religion there already?

[Kate in Canada]

Hi Problem Child- Thanks for creating a header for this. I just peeked before running off and will make another comment tonight. My background has some work with people who do religious trance, so I can talk about it in general and offer some research links, and maybe I can get a sense of whether something genuine was happening for Sarah during her resignation speech, even whether she expected it to or was caught up in the moment.
At the same time, I feel nervous saying this much, since in many places this would brand me as just one more religious nut case.
Sorry- gotta go, but I'd really liike to hear what you and other think.

[Irishgirl]

That never crossed my mind until now. Maybe she just woke up and had a holy moment! 

[0whole1]

That never crossed my mind until now. Maybe she just woke up and had a holy moment! 

I actually thought therre was the chance of the other way around -- that she thought God had preordained her for success in politics and whent that was shown to be manifestly not the case, that she had a crisis of faith because it seemed God had left her at the altar.

As it were.

[daMamma]

I think God, or her perception of God, weighs heavily in everything she does.  She has been "blessed" and "preordained" to succeed in the "mission".  What ever all that means.  Capt. of the God Squad? 

She will bare close watching more so than ever now.  I'm thinking its a sure bet that this woman is on a spiritual/religious mission that will ultimately affect all our lives to some degree or other.  Let us pray to our respective deities that she fails miserably.

[Lani]

I don't doubt that she believes she is somehow linked to a great holy war and is seeking various paths, cracks, glowing lights, etc., on the road to the end times.  It brings to mind "Sarah, Warrior Princess of God" from the campaign days, yet still relevent.

Code:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/An-open-letter-to-Sarah-Pa-by-Marlene-Winell-Ph-081015-112.html

You cannot trust basic human decency or capability, because according to your dogma, we are sinful, weak, and dependant on God. And so, your decisions would not be based on expert advice or even your own reasoning, but on your gut-level, intuitive interpretation of God's will.

Your thinking necessarily is black or white. People and policies are either good or bad. After all, Jesus said, "He who is not with me is against me" (Matt. 12:30). Under your leadership, diplomacy and cultural nuance would be less important than not blinking. In a spiritual war, you don't negotiate with the devil.

[MonaLisa]

bookmark

[Lucy1]

  I have a problem interpreting her behavior in the absence of knowing whether there is a shoe waiting to drop (and I strongly suspect there is, although I don't know if we'll ever find out).  The changes the motivation immensely.

  I was S H O C K E D to hear Cokie Roberts (who I thought was reasonably intelligent, and politically sophisticated and knowledgeable) speak so authoratatively about how Palin's debts (and she quoted Palin's numbers) and frivolous nature were likely very involved in the decision!

[Lani]

There was quite a bit of info on the 'Flats about $P's particular form of religion beliefs during the campaign.  Much of it has since fallen into the archives.  A major source of news about the new christian political takeover movement is Talk2Action, which monitors religious extremism.  Here's a golden oldie (right, about 4 months old!) that summarizes the $P experience and the media's total failure to discuss the impact of this group on the political decision making process:

Media Gives Palin's Strange New Global Christianity a Pass

Code:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wilson/media-gives-palins-strang_b_182295.html

You find lots of links and videos in the story.  As some warned when the election was over, $P is not going away.  She is part of a larger, growing movement that seeks to literally take over government.  (Sound nuts?  Read its own documents.)  As the author of this article notes:

As I'll be describing in upcoming Religion Dispatches installments, Sarah Palin's novel new Christianity is rapidly moving to achieve dominance in the GOP, but few Democrats appear aware that Palin's rapidly growing new Christianity even exists.

Because of that, there exists the danger that the Democratic Party will be blindsided in the 2012 presidential election, as the New Apostolic Reformation / Third Wave Christianity gambit - of peeling away ethnic constituencies that have traditionally voted for the Democratic Party - comes into play.

[daMamma]

These people scare the socks off me!

[ds55]

I wonder if Sarah or other politicians actually believe the religious extremist doctrines, or if they're just faking it to get the believers to donate dollars.

[Lani]

I'm still wondering about the Wasilla church fire - the one that burned the office and its files.  Any word on the investigation?

Meanwhile, here is the Southern Poverty Law Center report on this growing movement.
'Arming' for Armageddon Militant Joel's Army Followers Seek Theocracy

Code:

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=964

It also mentions a writer on DailyKos who is following Joel's Army:

So far, few members of the secular media have taken notice of Joel's Army, even as they report on Protestant dominionists like Pat Robertson or the more outrageous calls for the stoning of gays and lesbians emanating from Reconstructionist circles. There are exceptions, however. On the DailyKos, a well-read, politically liberal blog, a diarist has been blogging for two years about her experiences as a walkaway from a Joel's Army church. She writes under a pseudonym out of fear of physical reprisals.

She may have real cause for concern. As Wimber, the late founder of The Vineyard, put it in one of his most famous and fiery sermons, one that is still frequently cited by Joel's Army followers: "Those in this army will have His kind of power. … Anyone who wants to harm them must die."

[futurexpat?]

  I was S H O C K E D to hear Cokie Roberts (who I thought was reasonably intelligent, and politically sophisticated and knowledgeable) speak so authoratatively about how Palin's debts (and she quoted Palin's numbers) and frivolous nature were likely very involved in the decision!

I believe Cokie Roberts and her husband both sold out years ago when they started making tons of money on the speaking circuit. Nothing she says would shock me any more. She's the one who criticized Obama when he went to Hawaii for a vacation during the campaign for choosing such an "exotic" location. I think she said something stupid like he should have gone to Myrtle Beach or Disney World.

[futurexpat?]

Well, I could quote a lot of you, but I'll just go on from here. They scare the socks off me, too, DaMamma.

I think that there's a lot that goes on under the surface with these fundamentalists. That, and a renewed militia movement, are really scary.

I think there's something serioulsy wrong with these people. They live in a world most of us could not and would not want to understand, but we need to know that they are out there. I wish I though they were faking it, but I don't. Rachel Maddow covered the C Street House on her program last Thursday and Friday.

On any given day, the rowhouse at 133 C St. SE -- well appointed, with American flag flying, white-and-green-trimmed windows and a pleasant garden -- fills with talk of power and the Lord. At least five congressmen live there, quietly renting upstairs rooms from an organization affiliated with "the Fellowship," the obsessively secretive Arlington spiritual group that organizes the National Day of Prayer breakfast, an event routinely attended by legions of top government officials. Other politicians come to the house for group spirituality sessions, prayer meetings or to simply share their troubles.

Code:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504480.html

The men who live here are high up in the government, mostly Congress, I think. They are a bunch of white men who think they are chosen by God to rule the world.  They have turned Christianity upside down. It's all about helping the rich get richer, who can then distribute (or not) to the rest of the world as they choose.

When you hear them talk about King David, that's code for a man who does really bad things (Sanford, Ensign), but it doesn't really matter what they do because they are chosen by God.

Do you wonder why we are in such a mess in this country today when there are plenty fo people in power out there who feel this way, want to help others up who also feel this way?

I think Palin fits in with this kind of delusional thinking, even though as a woman she would probably not be accepted into the Fellowship.

That said, I have sometimes wondered in the last week if she's not heading for a breakdown. I sure can't figure her out, but I'm guessing money is at the heart of her decision.

[Lucy1]

That said, I have sometimes wondered in the last week if she's not heading for a breakdown. I sure can't figure her out, but I'm guessing money is at the heart of her decision.

  I'm still thinking it's either jail, or pension (which is money, but not employment).  I could buy the book deal and $peaking engagements, but none of that explains the hastily called press conference and gasps of air that gave me the feeling something was making her awfully nervous, and perhaps chasing her.  I don't know if we'll ever know, but I'm still thinking an indictment is a possibility.

[daMamma]

I don't have much use for or tolerance for people that would use religion to justify or excuse the things that they do.  Especially when the things that they do are morally or ethically wrong.

These are people that can be scary when they have a little bit of power and down right frightening when they have a lot of power.

[Lani]

Perhaps $arah does believe that her resignation was a response to a higher calling,  perhaps even a moment of religious courage and declaration.  In this article, a pastor believed that he received a message for SP, and then he had the opportunity to deliver it during the campaign.

"She spun around, looking right at me, and I told her: 'God wants me to tell you that you are a present-day Esther.' She began to cry and shake my hand in an affirming way. She said, 'Yes, I receive that. ... Please keep praying for me,'" says 47-year-old Arnold.

Code:

http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2009/january/20101-the-faith-of-sarah-palin

Evangelist Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries is discussed in the article I posted recently - the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, " 'Arming' For Armageddon: Militant Joel's Army Followers Seek Theocracy."  Joyner posted a video dated March 2009 in which he discusses a long phone call with $arah, urging her to a national calling, saying he had a prophetic feeling that she will be president.  Warning:  the video begins with a glowing reference to Michelle Bachmann as well.  Yep, both of them have spiritual authority, have "something on them".  (I'll just leave that alone....)
Palin Ties To Militant Religious Movement Confirmed

Code:

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/7/16/152533/667

"the Democrats have their people up in Alaska, right now, watching her every move, to try to find anything they can just hammer her on or make hay of, in a negative sense, and they're obviously extremely threatened by her, and I believe rightly so; I believe there is a spiritual authority and a calling on Governor Palin that is extraordinary and I told her in no uncertain terms.... but I believe she has a national calling on her life."

Just great.  Peeps are telling her that she is Esther and the future president of the US.  So she's quit her day job and is heading south.

[daMamma]

You know, its stuff like this that makes me glad I am not currently living in the United States.  These people are messed up in the head and determined to share! 

Thanks, but no thanks.