Posted by Dave on 09/11/08 at 05:14:01 pm
Categories: Capital Punishment

NOTE: See update at bottom.

People are talking about Palin saying we may need to go to war with Russia. That is a big deal, though I am not so sure that is it not getting blown out of proportion. Then again, even the idea of a war with Russia, spoken by a Vice Presidential candidate from a major party, is pretty absurd.

But something else interested me from the transcript excerpts of her interview with Charlie Gibson:

GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, "Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God." Are we fighting a holy war?

PALIN: You know, I don't know if that was my exact quote.

GIBSON: Exact words.

PALIN: But the reference there is a repeat of Abraham Lincoln's words when he said -- first, he suggested never presume to know what God's will is, and I would never presume to know God's will or to speak God's words.

But what Abraham Lincoln had said, and that's a repeat in my comments, was let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side.

That's what that comment was all about, Charlie.

Huh?

How does saying that the war in Iraq is a "task that is from God" at all relate to Abraham Lincoln saying "let us not pray that God is on our side in a war or any other time, but let us pray that we are on God's side?"

Palin said quite explicitly that the war in Iraq was a task from God. And now she is saying that what she meant was that we should should pray that we are on God's side?

Anyone else confused?

***UPDATE***: It looks Gibson was a bit off on his quote, and in turn my analysis is a bit off. This is the quote that Palin is referring to:

Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

I believe what she is saying is that she is praying that the war in Iraq is God's plan. She does not say that it IS God's plan. So the Abraham Lincoln connection makes sense, and I apologize for that mistake.

Now, with that said, I find it completely absurd that bombing the hell out of a nation is "God's plan." Because that sure is not in my Bible. I do not believe that war is a "task that is from God." But that is a theological issue, not a political issue.

And of course, the idea that this MAY be God's plan, or that it is a "task that is from God" does give credence to the idea that this could, or would, be a "Holy War," which is quite problematic both politically AND theologically.

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