Palin on Iraq: "Task that is from God"

I'm going to do something I don't often do.... I'm going to conditionally retract this post. Based upon the fact that Palin is finally granting interviews -- she has addressed this and put it in a larger context saying she would never presume to know what God wants. Just as I criticize others for not taking people at their word.... I will take Governor Palin at her word and give her the benefit of the doubt, at least for now. The conceptual warning regarding the separation of church and state still holds, but I will no longer cite Palin as an example.

Edited: 9/11/2008

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From the Associated Press:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

I gave Palin a fighting chance. I listened to her with an open mind and heart. I know she is sincere -- which is all the more reason she is unfit to hold ANY public office, even less the Vice Presidency. I believe this is fact - not just opinion.

The second any public official believes they have a direct pipeline to God and makes judgments based on that little voice they hear - they are violating their oath of office. The second any public official puts even one American life in harm's way because they believe God is telling them it is the right thing to do -- they should be tried for treason. The second any public official is allowed to implement ANY policy decision with an arrogance that believes their mortal knowledge has somehow been enhanced by God to include even a small piece of God's infinite wisdom -- we have instituted our own version of the Taliban.

Abraham Lincoln said it well:

"In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both MAY be, and one MUST be wrong. " and "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

Those who would not share Lincoln's concern; who would believe that they need not be concerned because they already know what God wants are not only arrogant, they are blasphemous, and they are dangerous. How dare ANY mere mortal presume they know what God wants?!?!? Dismissing the arrogance, accepting for the sake of argument that someone DOES literally know the specific will of God - it is still, unquestionably, an unconstitutional act in this country to implement the will of your own God through laws which may or may not be in keeping with the faith of others.

I don't doubt that this post will anger some of those who hold views similar to Palin's. I can't help that. I believe in 'freedom of religion' and 'separation of church and state' as fervently as the N.R.A. believes in the 'right to bear arms'. To legislate Christianity would be to turn our great republic into a theocracy. ALL have the right to their own beliefs. NONE have the right to impose their beliefs on others.