Gov. Palin and God in Going Rogue

“And I do know there is a God. My life is in His Hands. I encourage readers to do what I did many years ago, invite Him in to take over … then see what He will do and how He will get you through. Test Him on this. You’ll see there’s no such thing as a coincidence.” –Sarah Palin, Going Rogue, p. 413

Here’s a question I get quite often regarding my support of Gov. Palin and my writing at C4P: “How can you, of all people, support Sarah Palin?”

I’m not a religious man – not even in the metaphysical ballpark that some people like to refer to as “spiritual” - and long before Going Rogue was published, it was clear that Sarah Palin is indeed a religious woman. Reading Going Rogue, even the casual, non-critical reader can identify five themes that drive Gov. Palin’s narrative and thus, her life: her love of God, family, Alaska/country, work and running, probably in that order of importance. Show me a person who has at least three of these personal qualities, and I’ll show you an incredibly decent human being.

Rush Limbaugh referred to Going Rogue as, (I paraphrase), an impressive policy book. A religious friend I have who read the book referred to it as a testimonial. Neither summation is inaccurate or unfair.

There is an implied elitism when asking a person who is not spiritual or religious how they can so staunchly support a person who is. The so-called “neo-atheists” (or – shudder – “Brights”) have hardened the sense believers – the majority of the country and most of humanity - have that secular types like myself not only view them as stupid, but backward and naïve, gullible and easily manipulated. Having read all the neo-atheist texts that have sat on the best-seller lists for several years, I shudder to think of the damage that has been done to the perception of those of us who prefer to believe what we believe while allowing everyone else to do the same.

I love the work of Ayn Rand, but her announcement to William F. Buckley the first time she met him that “you’re much too smart to believe in God” pretty much sums up the overwhelming sense of the believer that skeptics are unrepentant snobs, whatever their political affiliation. Aside from being rude, questioning the intelligence of more than 90 percent of humanity against your own worldview is unproductive and silly.

For me, my comfort with Gov. Palin’s beliefs and her openness in discussing them is simple: I grew up in a small Southern Baptist church in the so-called buckle of the Bible Belt, and listening to people talk about their relationship with God, about how they’re praying for you, about how God has a purpose for you is as natural as talking about college football – whether you believe or don’t believe, if you’re from relatively rural places like southern Oklahoma, you don’t have to join them but only a fool would try to “beat” them. Where I come from, a prayer still comes out of the PA system before high school football games begin and, like Gov. Palin, most high school athletes belong to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A person telling me they’re praying for me is neither odd nor offensive. In her acknowledgements, Gov. Palin makes a reference to “prayer warriors,” a term that will probably mystify nonreligious people who live on the coasts while being a term I’ve been familiar with since I was a child.

I’m not uncommon in this regard. I’ve read the KJV Holy Bible multiple times, have studied it inside and out, and like anyone else familiar with the most influential text ever codified, I too have my favorite verses (outside the Pslams and Proverbs, mine happens to be John 10:10).

In short, I believe as the Founders believed: we have three inalienable rights and one of those is the pursuit of happiness, and happiness is not merely the giddiness of a surprise birthday party in one's honor, it is the freedom to seek out the wisdom of those who came before us. It is a condition of mankind that individuals seek the Truth, and each of us find it in our own way in our own time.

Like the metanoia of Saul of Tarsus, some people don’t find this Truth so much as it hits them like a cast iron frying pan to the face, what many a recovering alcoholic refers to as “a moment of clarity.” Others are seemingly born having an idea of the universal truth that guides them, and they rarely waver from it throughout their life. If Gov. Palin believes that God has a plan for her life, that’s good enough for me. Like Gov. Palin, my mother is such a person – she was effectively born into a Christian home, became a Christian, raised her children as Christians and will someday die a Christian. This set of circumstances is reflected in most of the people born and raised in Oklahoma.

When I consider the positive role of religion in so many people’s lives, I think of Pres. Bush (43), a man whose legacy will be redeemed way down the line and a man who, though I disagreed with him on many things, I considered to be one of the most morally decent men to ever hold office. Like Gov. Palin, he endured the graceless mocking of his faith and his intelligence, and like Gov. Palin, he took it in stride.

Gov. Palin’s openness about her religious faith isn’t a “turn-off” for me – I want leaders who are honest about who they are, where they come from, what drives them and, when all bets are off, what it is they turn to when metaphysical solace is the last resort. More than anything, I want to know they have a philosophical grounding and an ethical code that guides them.

Going Rogue is full of such testimony, and it is a primer on how a politician can write about her belief in God and their Christian faith without it being couched in caveats and apology.