I have a feeling that Bruce Wilson and Frederick Clarkson and the other good writers there at
Talk2Action will hold their own in any debate with The Ledger's Cary McMullen.
I find it interesting that McMullen feels the need to respond to the comparisons and queries about connections between Sarah Palin's religious background and that of
Todd Bentley and Joel's Army which he wrote about previously.
Here is what he wrote about the pentecostal re-examining:
The giant white tents are gone now, and so are the crowds of thousands. The evangelist, disgraced, is in hiding. The revival carries on as a bare remnant of its former glory.
One effect of the revival was to provoke what some believe is a crisis in the Pentecostal community, or in that part of it known as "charismatic," meaning those who believe in powerful manifestations of God, such as speaking in tongues, faith healing and prophecy.
"Major Pentecostal figures have been alarmed because the Florida Outpouring epitomized recent excesses in the charismatic world. The dark side of the Florida Outpouring has been a wakeup call," said Jim Beverley, professor of Christian thought and ethics at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto, an evangelical who has studied the Pentecostal movement.
Here is what he is writing today. Most of it is a pretty fair column, and he appears to come to the conclusion that the ties between Palin and Joel's Army are too "loose" to be concerned about. He also refers to an article by Casey Sanchez of the
Southern Poverty Law Center. I don't see the article there yet.
Palin, Bentley Ties Too LooseIt's hard to imagine two more different people than the straitlaced Republican vice-presidential candidate and the tattooed, now-disgraced, faith-healing evangelist who led a raucous four-month revival here in Lakeland. Yet there are some in the blogosphere who are trying to throw the two into the same religious pot.
Let me say first of all I think there's too much hysteria on the left about Palin's religious beliefs. And since I've been at pains to dispel malicious Internet rumors about Barack Obama - namely the lie that he's a Muslim - it's only fair that I do the same for Palin.
But Dear Cary McMullen, the two are not the same thing. Sarah Palin said in public that God led us into Iraq. That in itself deserves great scrutiny. The Obama is a Muslim is not legit, since we learned all about his church and Jeremiah Wright months ago. Be fair.
Bruce Wilson of the religious right watchdog group Talk2Action wrote an article, reprinted on the Huffington Post Web site, that raises questions about Palin because of some doctrines that might be associated with her former church of more than 20 years, Wasilla (Alaska) Assembly of God. Another just-released article, by Casey Sanchez of the Southern Poverty Law Center in that organization's magazine, Intelligence Report, makes similar claims.
..." Wilson and Sanchez claim the church is involved in a controversial Pentecostal movement called Third Wave and wonder (without giving any answers) how it might have influenced Palin. The history of this movement is complicated, but as I understand it, the term Third Wave was coined back in the 1980s by Pentecostal leader C. Peter Wagner. He was part of a group of leaders who came to the Florida Outpouring revival in June to give Bentley their blessing.
The movement is noted for pushing the envelope, and its teachings and leaders have at times been denounced by other Pentecostals. Among the marks of the Third Wave are practices such as emphasis on prophecy, faith healing and what some might regard as bizarre behavior - uncontrolled laughter, roaring, spasmodic twitching - which takes place, it is said, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Some of those things were in evidence at the Florida Outpouring.
There are a number of loose associations - some of them very loose - with this movement. The one that alarms Wilson and Sanchez is something called "Joel's Army," an amorphous group that employs military images and terms in their practice of what is known as "spiritual warfare," namely the belief that supernatural forces of evil - demons and the like - must be fought with supernatural means such as prayer. They also engage in some culture-war issues like anti-homosexuality campaigns.
The column is worth reading, and most of the way he tries to be fair. But near the end he seems upset that anyone would insert dominionism into the fray...and his ending is not fair.
He says: "It's fair to ask what she believes, but anyone who starts hyperventilating about vague connections between Sarah Palin and Third Wavers like Todd Bentley should breathe into a paper bag for awhile."
He's wrong there. She is, as we say, a heartbeat away from the presidency, and we should all be hyperventilating since that day she said that our soldiers were on a
mission from God“that our leaders -- that our national leaders -- are sending soldiers out on a task that is from God.”
She added, “That's what we have to make sure that we are praying for: that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.”
I imagine those bloggers from the two sites can stand up against Cary McMullen. I am quite sure they will. Perhaps they can ask Carey McMullen to view this
video closely.From Bruce Wilson about the video:
Sarah Palin was baptized at Wasilla Assembly of God and attended the church for over two and a half decades, and she has been publicly blessed by a number of pastors and religious leaders employed by and associated with that church.
Last Sunday our research team released a video, a ten-minute mini-documentary, focusing on the Wasilla Assemblies of God and the video seemed on the verge of a massive "viral" breakthrough when YouTube pulled it down, citing "inappropriate content".
The video was banned by You Tube, but it is up in another version at Talk2Action. Palin spoke there in that same church in June of this year. She was a member there for decades. The questioning needs to be done.
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