It's Sunday...

...so below you'll find today's sermon, reprinted from a post I did at MilBlogs earlier in the week.

Let's talk about Religion and Politics and War

"that's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan"

Pray for guidance - a Christian will apply that advice to anything. That's in large part because Christians are never convinced that mankind (or an individual man or woman) acts in accordance with God's will - but Christians desire to act in such a manner. (A theological argument can be made against free will - but that's another issue altogether.) Many Americans probably don't know this, but one of the best known Christian prayers includes the phrase "thy will be done". (You can Google it, but it's true, I swear on a stack of Bibles.) Praying that you're doing the right thing is exactly the opposite of assuming that you're doing the right thing. People who pray for guidance are acknowledging that they are capable of acting in opposition to God's will, and likewise not convinced that they are acting in accordance with God's will.

So if you are a Christian, if you know any Christians, or if you understand Christianity you understand that quoted comment at the top of this entry. If you hate Christians you'll hate that comment. If you fear Christians you'll fear that comment. And if you feel that the separation of Church and State means that Christians have no place working in government jobs you'll feel that anyone who utters it is disqualified for any Government job, up to and including Vice President of the United States (or the job one heartbeat higher).

Over at The Sniffington Post they're salivating over the discovery that Sarah Palin is a Christian (no, really!?!). Not since the Democratic primaries have I heard an attack on a candidate's religion - or lack thereof. (Obama is a Muslim! Obama's Pastor is a whack job!) but I suspect that having been denied two well-planned attacks (Romney is a MORMON! Liebermann is a JEW!) the Sniffpo crowd is whipping out some prepared remarks, changing a name and a few keywords, and misfiring on this one instead (ready, fire, aim!).

Here's the comment above in context (there's video at the link). I'd add that the Governor - speaking at a church - also notes that she isn't using prepared remarks, so if this reads like someone talking rather than writing that's why.

My oldest, my son Track, he's a soldier in the United States Army now. He's an infantry man - and so Track sends his love also to his former nanny Christie. And Track - pray for our military - he's going to be deployed in September to Iraq - pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right also for this country - that our leaders, our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God - that's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan. So bless them with your prayers, your prayers are protection over our soldiers.

Requesting prayers for her son, his fellow soldiers, and their leaders. Offensive? Disqualifying for high office? I guess that's an individual call. Every vote is sacred, says I - and every voter can make up his or her own mind. Many might even pray for guidance before doing so. That's fine by me.

But here's the Sniffpo interpretation of the scripture - their instructions to the choir on how to feel about this:

Speaking before the Pentecostal Church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

And when I was in Iraq I was always happy to open a care package from members of an American Church* that included a note that "our thoughts and prayers are with you" along with the cookies.

I knew just what they meant.

*We never got packages from Atheist groups.

Postscript here.