Christianity, Sarah Palin and Game Change (the movie)

“Don’t judge a man until you walk a mile in his boots” is one of America’s oldest and most quoted proverbs. The wisdom of that advice and the simplicity of the phrasing have survived generations, upheavals in society, and changing values.  We have a troll here at The Palin Place who likes to accuse me of misjudging the Palins. Resident troll has never quoted that idiom, our troll is not succinct, but the message of not judging is Ms. Troll’s favorite theme. The Palin Place isn’t alone in attracting this defender of the Palins, our troll frequents all the anti-Palin blogs with her (I’m assuming this is a female troll, maybe even Sarah or Bristol) one consistent argument - “You don’t know them, I’ve met them, you are wrong.”  Or maybe, “Don’t judge Sarah until you walk a mile in her bunny boots.” 

Today, I’m sharing a little more about myself to establish that Sarah and I have walked some miles on the same paths, experiences which I draw from when I analyze her actions.  Along the way, I've been a daughter, a sister, a Christian, a woman, a wife, and a mother. I was raised in a family where I was the middle sister, I had one brother (I mentioned him at Christmas),  my dad taught in the public middle school in our small town, and my mom worked outside the home, too. Sarah played the flute. I played it better than she. Sarah started wearing glasses quite young. I was seven when I got my first pair. By the time I was nine I couldn’t read the blackboard without them, I think Sarah's were pretty thick, too.  Sarah Heath married her high school boyfriend. Ditto. 

But looming larger than any of these things is the fact that Sarah Heath and I both had mothers who “found Jesus” and left establishment churches to join evangelical “Bible-believing,” soul-saving, homeschool-promoting, speaking in tongues and laying on of hands congregations. So when the troll says “you don’t know Sarah,” I think, “yes, I know her quite well.” I understand the impact the preaching of the  Word of God can have on a young girl who finds herself sitting in the pews on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday nights, maybe even Friday nights. I walked in those boots, hearing that there is only One Way and by grace (ie God’s unmerited favor) you have found salvation.  I know why Sarah Heath was leading her teammates in prayer, and feeling smugly better than the lost souls who attended other churches, believed differently or  didn’t believe at all. I get it. Been there, done that, wore the “John 3:16” t-shirt.

In “Game Change” the movie, Sarah says “I know what I know.” Steve Schmitt and Nicole Wallace may have been baffled by that, and the director may have never has a script with phrases  like “ a servant’s heart”and “prayer warriors,”  but any kid who had an evangelical parent knows what those things mean. Those were in my personal lexicon before I took my SATs. But unlike Sarah, I don’t use them today any more than the French I took.  I’m very different than my high school self. Life experience and an intellectual curiosity worked to lessened some of my religious certitude. College and graduate school opened my mind further, and widowhood in my forties and single parenting of teenagers took me places Sarah has not been - places I do not wish on anyone. But I do wish she would grow up.

Even though she is a grandmother approaching fifty, she is often compared to a mean school girl. She's  as self-centered as an adolescent; she thinks she knows it all, she puts herself before others, and when you add to that a heavy dose of religious conceit,  you have Sarah from Alaska. Next time she’s called a mean girl, remember, she’s a religious mean girl. 

Religious superiority is partly responsible for Sarah Palin's lack of shame. She has what I call bumper-sticker Christianity. Bumper stickers can be passive-aggressive ways to preach or brag or say which team you support. Like the one given to Sarah that reads "My Kid Has More Chromosomes Than Your Kid," Sarah might just as quickly gravitate to one that says "My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter."  The depth of Sarah's Christianity matches the thickness of a bumper sticker. But she really doesn't have to worry. She knows once saved, always saved.  Sarah knows she's mean. Sarah knows she lies. Sarah knows she's greedy. But she can dismiss it by repeating another bumper sticker phrase, “Christians aren’t perfect, they’re forgiven.”  

She’s incorrigible. I don’t think she will ever change because the path she took brought her fame and money.  She seems to have forgotten the story in  Luke 4:1-13 when Jesus was tempted by the devil "All this authority I will give You and their glory;"  in exchange for Jesus' worshiping Satan, he refused. He did not bend to the temptation of authority and glory and riches in exchange for denying God and serving Satan. 


I doubt Sarah can apply that to her own story. On the contrary, in her immature and convoluted thinking, she equates money as proof that she is walking with God, doing his work, pleasing him and being rewarded as a good and faithful servant.  Neither you nor I can tell her she’s wrong. She has proof – her bank account balance.

We may have walked the same paths in early years, but we have gone far apart.  It’s unlikely I will ever make seven million dollars from my memoir, and I'm never going to be portrayed in a movie. Even if that very unlikely thing happened, there wouldn’t be a scene where I am bowing my head in prayer before going onstage to debate Joe Biden.  Now, Sarah may read this and say that's proof that her life’s experiences have been more valuable than mine, a or proof that she's been blessed more than I have. But I would disagree. 


I admit my bank account is modest, but the fact is, I’m far wealthier and happier than Sarah from Alaska. You see, I know that there is no money in my name that came from exploiting women, sex trafficking, or selling lies. Unlike she, I have more compassion for Shailey Tripp than I have admiration for Bristol Palin; I have more admiration for Shailey Tripp than I have for Franklin Graham; I have deep loathing for Todd Palin and I love President Barack Hussein Obama; I have adult children who not only love me but they like me; I have grandchildren and their birth dates and stories are real and I can brag like a grandma about all of them; I am happily married to a kind and devoted man; I’m  not hiding deep dark secrets or worrying that the FBI will be knocking on the door; and I no longer believe everything that is preached by another imperfect human being standing in a pulpit on Sunday morning.

Sarah and I have other experiences in common, but it’s the born-again one that gives me insights I use more often than others.  Like Sarah, I know what I know. I know that Sarah Palin does not have a servant’s heart, she is all about herself. She doesn't serve, she exploits. Sarah is not honest.  She is a deceiver.  She is not a family person. Being a good wife and mother is not Sarah's priority. Evangelical women can't avoid hearing about the high standards of the woman in Proverbs 31. Sarah Heath Palin makes a mockery of that image."Game Change" recreated the most memorable examples from her run for national office that showed McCain's running mate was the opposite of that ideal-“She openeth her mouth with wisdom," is says in verse 26 of Proverbs 31, "and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (It was Sarah who was itching to bring up Bill Ayers, and use Jeremiah Wright to turn the campaign into something ugly. There is no kindness in Sarah Palin. Neither does she care about laws, kind ones or otherwise.)

But people who love her are as stubborn as she to see the truth. Many of them are good people who think she is walking by faith. They think this because they don't pay attention. She has them fooled.  
 I have hope for them. I have hope we can show them the truth. If we can expose Todd Palin via national media, or if we get Babygate solved and publicized, some people will see and hear and understand who she really is.  That is why I will continue blogging and exposing Sarah Palin and her political cronies. These politicians who put Sarah on the public stage and continue to keep her there are not good people. They are not harmless.

The message of “Game Change” was that an ugly, hateful spirit was unleashed in 2008 by a VP candidate wearing six inch heels.  The  Republican Party was transformed in Sarah Palin’s image. It’s a holier-than-thou image. It’s ignorant. It’s a mean-girl and frat-boy political party that acts as if God loves rich people best.  It’s very Sarah Palin.  In the name of God, we have politicians trying to stomp out compassion in our government and in our national policies. Whatever your beliefs or mine, we can’t let that happen. Not in 2012. Not in our life time. Not while we can blog, twitter, talk to our neighbors, and vote. 

Do what you can, whenever you can. It all makes a difference. That's what I believe.

PS - Let's all contact the IRS this week and ask them to investigate Todd Palin's income from prostitution. Did  he report it? Did he pay tax on it?  


You are not required to identify yourself. Here is the website:


http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=106778,00.html