This is the kind of political/religiously insane-type story that I don't have any ability to resist. Nevada GOP Senate hopeful Sharron Angle, in a report seen in The Huffington Post, campaigned against a local high school wearing black-colored jerseys because they were "evil".
Take it away, Bill Roberts:
Also opposing the black jerseys was another group including Angle, a member, if not its leader.
They argued against our charges wearing black on religious grounds.
I cannot quote scripture as they did to justify their point but the gist of their argument was that black as a color was thoroughly evil, invoking the supernatural and especially the devil my take from dictionary definitions and not from scripture .
Angle may or may not have thought this a political statement. But she became a high profile advocate of a specific religious position during her very first campaign.
Whichever argument prevailed, school administrators caved in and prohibited the Muckers from wearing the black apparel.
As a parent and journalist, I was incensed and made my wishes known to Jones, imploring him to ignore his bosses and go ahead with the black jerseys. He told the “editor” he could not go against the administration but privately said he would follow through with the plan except the administration held the offensive apparel under lock and key and would not give them up.
And then she used that when campaigning for the county school board. How demogogue-ish!
Now this, is fairly absurd, but it's not a stand-alone example of Sharron Angle absurdity. Now, I think Harry Reid probably will retain his Senate seat, even though the polls are tighter than they should be, and I am fairly disappointed with his stance regarding Park 51, which I regard as being most probably political. But I think it's worthy of note that Sharron Angle has the strong support of one Sarah Palin. I also think it appropos to point out a very excellent probing article by Amanda Marcotte at Slate's Double X:
In discussing religion, Angle often edges into the prophetic. When she was confronted about her unwillingness to support exceptions to an abortion ban even in the case of rape and incest, she said straightforwardly, "God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives." She objects to laws that prevent pastors from endorsing candidates from the pulpit. Most interestingly, she claimed that entitlement programs of all sorts violate "the First Commandment," and in case her point wasn't clear, she elaborated in biblical talk: "We have become a country entrenched in idolatry, and that idolatry is the dependency upon our government. We're supposed to depend upon God for our protection and our provision and for our daily bread, not for our government."
Oh. Erm. And compare that to this article from The Awl regarding Sarah Palin's religious connections:
She giddily recalled the day in 2005 that demon-obsessed Kenyan bishop Thomas Muthee laid hands on her for victory in politics. "He didn't know what I was going to do," she said, but he's "so bold," he just kept saying, "Lord, make a way." Muthee also called on God to protect Palin from "every form of witchcraft." (Those last three links are to videos, by the way, so you can see the proceedings for yourself. The Muthee clip is especially disturbing. A warning for anyone with a background like mine: may induce flashbacks.)
To view her submission to these prayers as political pandering is to underestimate the zeal and hubris of someone like Palin. "'She scares me,'" a liberal Wasilla pastor has said. "'She's Jerry Falwell with a pretty face… [P]eople in this country don't grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology."
Both Palin and her former pastor have said that they expect Jesus to return in their lifetimes. Other pastors with whom she's connected have made similar remarks.
This is pretty mainline evangelical stuff, but there's every reason to believe her religious convictions only get more extreme. If the media spent less time being entertained by Palin's antics, and more examining her connections, they'd find ample evidence of her fanaticism.
Most of the candidates that Sarah Palin has supported in GOP primaries have lost, and I would like to think that many Americans view her as a strange little political celebrity who doesn't really mean all that much right now, but who the media still finds strangely attractive. But since she's still out there (and I do mean "out there", as her support of Dr. Laura's melt-down suggests), I think it's really necessarily for her to be taken really seriously.
And also, too, she should be laughed at as often as possible.
And so, as the jersey story, and videos of Sharron Angle running from the press, should imply, should many of the people she supports be laughed at.
Sadly, also, too, her former running mate, John McCain, that she has also endorsed. Because he's runnin' down there in Arizona, and saying things and doing things with his usual aplomb! Like creditin' George Bush with ending the war in Iraq nearly two years since he's been out of office! . Because nothing says "being in touch with the American electorate" like supporting GWB!
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