FOX contributor says fundie extremist label won't stick to Palin like "Hussein" does to Obama

http://www.newshounds.us/2008/09/08/fox_religion_contributor_says_fundie_extremist_label_wont_stick_to_palin_like_hussein_does_to_obama.php#more

There's a running joke in the blogosphere, IOKIYAR: it's OK if you're a Republican. That principle was exemplified on FOX and Friends yesterday morning 9/7/08, as FOX News Contributor "Father Jonathan" Morris soothed viewers that Sarah Palin's reported religious extremism was OK, "she's just like you," and the allegations won't stick - unlike Obama's middle name sticks, and his radical pastor's rants stick to this day.
With video.

Her religious fundamentalism will be a net plus for her, said the priest, because a lot of Americans have the same experience (he was talking about speaking in tongues at that point, not a common practice with even the most devout of my friends and family) - "she's Christian." This speaks to her character, he said: "...without a doubt, when someone is giving importance to faith and spirituality in their lives, usually there is some impact in terms of their values and character." This assumption has not been presented for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, both, by all reports (except those stupid emails) practicing Christians. John McCain, it seems, is not a regular churchgoer so perhaps Palin was brought on board to cover that failing among others.

Palin left her long-time Assembly of God church "to the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church in 2002 (when she ran for lieutenant Governor), in part because its ministry is less “extreme” than Pentecostal churches like the Assemblies of God, which practice speaking in tongues and miraculous healings," according to a New York Times article cited by Alisyn Camerota.

None of that's a problem, insisted Fr. Jon: those are core elements of Christianity that you can find in the Bible. It might sound fundamentalist, especially to the NYTimes, but this is the experience of everyday Americans, and none of it's gonna stick. What has stuck with Obama is his middle name - it doesn't sound like ours - and the video of Wright (played 48 times a day for a month straight, he didn't add) - that sticks! Charges of fundamentalism against Palin won't stick - they'll see instead "she's a woman of faith, like me."

Yeah, and that's the problem. Big media gets to decide what we see or not, how often or how little, so they control the dialog.

FOX is trying to nip these facts in the bud, diminish them before they become a bigger story, because speaking in tongues and other fundamentalist practices are NOT like most mainstream religious Americans, and most of Palin's religion-based policies are not mainstream either.

"None of that's a problem, insisted Fr. Jon: those are core elements of Christianity that you can find in the Bible. It might sound fundamentalist, especially to the NYTimes, but this is the experience of everyday Americans, and none of it's gonna stick."

Wanna bet? We need to scare the shit out of people with Sarah's extremist views.

Hussein means handsome. King Hussein (a man of peace) was around when Obama was born.

As for Palin, she is clearly a religious extremist.

Apple, meet orange.

Much scarier than a sort-of muslim name on a black guy.

Fox is equating extremist politics with birth name. What's really tragic is 25% of Americans are more than stupid enough to swallow that nonsense.

she lies with aplomb like a true Republican.

The Hussein issue and the rest of the PR hits against Obama aren't related to his being viewed as too Christian. You aren't going to be able to paint her with the "God Hates Fags" group. As crazy as her views are to an atheist like I am or to Europeans, they are mainstream in American society. Rev. Wright wasn't about religion. It was about anti-Americanism and jew-hate and white-hate, as far as detractors were concerned. Obama's name feeds into American xenophobia. It also feeds into his being a closeted Muslim.