Yet Another Preacher Controversy

Nico Pitney and Sam Stein over at HuffPo tell us here that “Governor Hottie,” fresh off her barnburner attack of propaganda at the ReThuglican Denial Show yesterday (and really, my friends, is it actually a surprise that she railed against Obama and the Dems the way she did? I mean, you really didn’t think she was going to sensibly address the issues we face, did you?), had what passes for her worldview informed at an early age by the Wasilla Assembly of God Pentecostal Church, specifically by the “teachings” of the Very Un-Reverend Ed Kalnins.

This guy is a real sweetheart…

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

Oh yes, how true it is that Our Lord operated from “war mode”; you know the gospels tell us that Jesus said “love your enemies”? Well, Kalnins is right, as it turns out; that was an error in transcription (I mean, they were lucky to have ink, papyrus or a tablet to write on, for God’s sake). He really said, “club your enemies.”

(OK, blaspheming snark mode off…).

Continuing…

During the 2004 election season, (Kalnins) praised President Bush's performance during a debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal candidate preferences. "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry." Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time."

Months after hinting at possible damnation for Kerry supporters, Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government's handling of Hurricane Katrina. "I hate criticisms towards the President," he said, "because it's like criticisms towards the pastor -- it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you."

Much of his support for the current administration has come in the realm of foreign affairs. Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a "world war" over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives.

And only a cynical liberal blogger like your humble narrator would consider it to be anything more than a coincidence that all of Kalnins’ writings and videos of his sermons have, as if by magic, suddenly become inaccessible from the Wasilla Assembly of God web site, as Jake Tapper reports here (server traffic my corpuscle).

And here’s more on Kalnins, by the way…

He also claims to have received direct "words of knowledge" from God, providing him information about past events in other people's lives. During one sermon, he described being paired with a complete stranger during a golf outing. "I said, I'm a minister from Alaska and I want you to know that your wife left you -- you know that your wife left you and that the Lord is gonna defend you in a very short time, and it wasn't your fault. And the man drops his clubs, he literally was about to tee off and he dropped his clubs, and he says, 'Who the blank are you?' And I says, 'well, I'm a minister.' He says, 'how do you know about my life? What do you know?' And I started giving him more of the word of knowledge to his life and he was freaked out."

I'm sure he's got a lot of company at this point.

And in conclusion…

…Kalnins, like many national conservative religious leaders, sees Alaska's governor as one of his own. "Gov. Sarah Palin is the real deal," he told his church this past summer. "You know, some people put on a show...but she's the real deal."

I’m sure she is (and by the way, here are the latest depressing TV numbers for the ReThugs from kos – tee hee – and georgia10 brings us up to speed here on all of the latest concerning “Governor Hottie”).

Oh, and lest I forget, here's another one of those untidy little moments when church and state overlap for the Repugs, as they always do.

Update: It turns out that "Governor Hottie" is a real "rainmaker" all right, but for the wrong party.