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• Wednesday, September 10, 2008 08:54 PM

  Biden, Palin, and the Wrong Questions

  The real question is not: what does Sarah Palin believe religiously?

  The question is: to what extent does she think that the U.S. government ought to be used as a tool to support and spread her relgious beliefs, as opposed to being used to make it possible for people of many different religious beliefs to live together in peace, equality, and freedom?

  I don't worry about Biden's Catholicism because I don't think he would use his government power to follow Catholic rules - for example, he wouldn't push for a law outlawing divorce. (I keep wondering why Catholic bishops, who seem willing to excommunicate politicians for supporting civil marriage for gays, don't seem to have any problem with politicians who support civil divorce, and the right to remarry civilly, for all citizens. Probably because it's easier to pick on homosexuals.)

  I worry about Palin's Pentecostalism because I have no doubt that she would use the office of VP - and, God forbid, the presidency - to reflect or even implement her religious views. I feel quite sure that her desire to use government power to force even teenage rape victims to continue their pregnancies agains their will, and her opposition not just to gay marriage but to civil rights for gays, are just the tip of the iceberg.

  —Spectrum Rider Read Spectrum Rider's other letters
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