Open Letter to Sarah Palin

The Matthew 25 Network, a Christian grass roots effort that has chosen to back Barack Obama has issued a response to Sarah Palin's address to the Republican Convention. Though a rousing speech it was full of misstatements and innuendo about Barack Obama -- much of which was likely written by McCain's staff. The network has issued a letter to Gov. Palin calling for her to retract the false statements and the less than Christian attitudes displayed in the speech. I signed on to the letter myself. I invite you to read and consider signing yourself.

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Governor Palin, Put Away Falsehood

As Americans and people of faith from around the country, we were extremely disappointed in Sarah Palin's divisive, sarcastic, and often deceptive address at the Republican National Convention. We call on her not only as a political figure, but also as a prominent Christian, to recommit herself to campaigning in good faith, with a strong commitment to truth-telling.

As Christians, we are called to be respectful and loving toward our neighbors, honoring their intentions even if we disagree with their plans. We are also called to "put away falsehood" (Eph 4:25) and to refrain from slandering, belittling, or speaking out of contempt for anyone.

If these are the standards God has set for us in our personal lives, our church communities, and our neighborhoods, how much more so should they be the standards of those Christians who choose to be in the public eye? Shouldn't we also expect our brothers and sisters in politics to speak the truth in love and to extend respect and goodwill even to those with whom they disagree?

Sarah Palin has shaped much of her life around her Christian faith. Indeed, it has been continually suggested that one of the major reasons John McCain chose Palin as his running-mate was her Christian faith and her ability to energize evangelical Christian voters. Thus, it is no stretch to say that Palin has suddenly become one of the most visible faces of Christianity in today’s political scene.

As such, we believe she has a calling even higher than her responsibility to her party's victory in November - a calling to represent Jesus to the rest of the world. This is why her speech at the Republican National Convention was so disappointing to us at the Matthew 25 Network.

In questioning not only Senator Obama’s policies but also his motivations, and mocking his career, Palin went far beyond what could be considered acceptable disagreement and into what seemed like open contempt for a political opponent.

To be blunt, we saw very little of Jesus’ love in Sarah Palin's speech, as she heaped contempt on those who disagree with her politically, while offering no vision for how to resolve the critical issues facing Americans today like job loss, health care, growing child poverty rates and the war in Iraq.

Moreover, as has been documented by major media sources including the Associated Press, Palin spoke falsehoods not only about her own record, but about Barack Obama's record as a State Senator and as a U.S. Senator. As Christians, we are called throughout Scripture to speak the whole truth, to put away falsehood, to bear true witness even when it hurts our own interests. The name of Jesus should never be associated with falsehoods or deception, but in Sarah Palin’s speech, we believe it was.

Therefore, we in the Matthew 25 Network call on Gov. Palin to repudiate her attitude of contempt towards her political opponents and to tell the whole truth, not only for the sake of a more honorable politics, but also for the sake of our Christian witness in the world.

Senator McCain is no less responsible because he selected Gov. Palin and praised her speech, and he claims to be a Christian as well. It is ill-fitting to use Christian identity and language for one's political advantage without seeking to live up to that high calling. Ultimately, as the Presidential candidate, Governor Palin's tone and infidelity to truth reflect negatively on Senator McCain as well.

Brian McLaren
Author and Pastor

Douglas W. Kmiec
Caruso Family Chair & Professor of Constitutional Law
Pepperdine University School of Law

Rev. Dr. Susan B. Thistlethwaite
Professor of Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary

Vince Miller
Georgetown University

Peter Vander Meulen
Coordinator, Office of Social Justice, Christian Reformed Church

Rev. Dr. Derrick Harkins
Nineteenth Street Baptist Church

Bart Campolo
Urban minister, Founder of Mission Year

Sharon Daly
Former Vice-President of Catholic Charities

Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus
Vice-President for Social Justice, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Delores Leckey
Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Center
Former Director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women and Youth
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

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*Institutions listed for identification purposes only. This does not imply an endorsement by any church body or institution.

Comments

Allan R. Bevere said…
Hi, Bob:

I received the same email. My response to Matthew 25 was that what Palin said about community organizers was quite unfortunate, but I would not sign the letter until they expanded it by denouncing the Obama surrogates for the trashing of small-town mayors, who do some good work as well.
Robert Cornwall said…
Allan,

It is possible that some surrogates have done what you've suggested, but I don't think the Obama campaign has done this. They have questioned whether being the mayor of a small town is proper training for being VP. Now, Obama doesn't have long experience, but he has been involved as a Senator these past four years in work dealing with foreign policy.

Personally I think that this is a big jump -- and remember that Obama's work as a community organizer was 20 years ago, not 2 years ago.

But we need not trash anyone's work!
Anonymous said…
Great.. a Christian 529 or "move on" or "swift boat" group. This is simply a glass house type situation. Did Palin sling mud? ABSOLUTELY? Does Obama do it? not directly.. but this whole "not her baby" story ran pretty long before he tried to stop it. Also.. he accuses McCain on Muslim rumors, he has never ever eluded to it. But.. of course his bloggers do. You see, the candidates use other sources to get in the mud, while at the same time claiming to be above it.

Ps... on why "change" won't happen with either candidate... see this article on bailing out automakers. I will tell you working in the industy that one, if not two need to fail!! No one buys American.. quality stinks and price is too high.

Both Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, and Republican nominee John McCain have endorsed idea of loan guarantees.

The chances for passage are helped by the fact that four of the states that would most benefit from the legislation, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri, would benefit from research and assembly plants from a new technology drive.

"Michigan, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio -- that's where the election is going to be decided right there," noted one Ford official, who asked not to be identified.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080907041331.w5v4edpo&show_article=1
Anonymous said…
Bob,

I think the notion of asking for an apology is silly. She said what she said and in so doing she has revealed something about herself - not Christianity. Regardless of who wrote the speech, she spoke the words and in so doing embraced their substance. Her words are to be marked and remembered. What is the point of recanting them?

And who ever heard of a politician apologizing for mocking an opponent.

For any group, especially one supporting her opponent, to demand an apology is naive. To suggest that the demand is intended to dramatize the error of her speech is also naive - either you know its wrong or you don't. I think it would be better to point out the "community organizing" done by prior political heroes and then draw attention to the absence of organizing work on her part, in contradiction to her professed faith. (PTA?!?) How come she never bothered to do any real work for "the least of these"? Too busy being mayor of the second largest city in Alaska? Too busy climbing the political ladder from PTA to vice-president?

I really think the emphasis should be on the Obama/McCain contrast - the less time wasted on Palin the less time wasted. I highly doubt Palin will impact the substance of the McCain platform, or impact the policies of McCain should he enter the White House.

Besides, when I think of Palin I think also of Dan Quayle, except that Quayle had neither substance nor style.

John
Anonymous said…
As mentioned.. the hypocrisy on attacks is sad. I thought this was the "no attack" campaign, but sadly it politics always moves to the lowest common denominator. To think one would rise above it is naive and would be well served to review history of campaigns.

Obama attacks.. b/c now he is losing:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13315.html
Anonymous said…
Thank you for taking the time to write this letter. It is encouraging to see others feel the same way I do. The values and morals displayed in recent days by Mrs. Palin are not the same as I was taught growing up in a Christian church and household. The hate speech is nothing short of sick and disgusting. Please pray for this world...

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