Sensationalism on Sarah Palin Overshadows Factual Reporting
Bruce Wilson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 09:32:45 AM EST
Try a Google search on "Sarah Palin, naked". You'll get over 2 million results, probably more than you could check out during the course of the rest of your life. Now, try a search on "Sarah Palin, theocrat": less than 200,000 hits. That proves what you probably already would have guessed: sexual titillation sells better than political extremism, even when that extremism is of a brand which asserts that the "godly" should seize the wealth of the "godless". The fact that a video in the public realm showed, endorsing Sarah Palin, a prominent leader of a movement advocating a form of theocratic socialism whose adherents were told to seize the wealth of unbelievers was, apparently, not at all noteworthy.
In an October 16, 2006 ceremony at the Wasilla Assembly of God, prior to blessing and anointing Sarah Palin as a political leader (during Palin's successful bid for the Alaska governor's seat), Bishop Thomas Muthee called for the "kingdom of God" to "infiltrate" seven key sectors of society including government and the financial sector which, according to Muthee (and as noted by the JTA news service) was currently controlled by "Israelites".

[video, below: Thomas Muthee calls on "God's kingdom" (believers in his movement, that is) to "infiltrate", "penetrate" and influence seven key sectors of society including business and finance and government and politics.]

Perhaps Thomas Muthee's unabashed exhortations, to members in his movement, for a revolutionary sectarian Christian takeover would have received more notice if the video footage had shown the nakedly theocratic Muthee endorsing and blessing the political career of a naked Sarah Palin. We can only wonder.

From September 2008 through early November of this year, America was faced with the prospect of a GOP vice presidential candidate who probably never (in reality) appeared naked in any public photograph but who was (quite demonstrably) nakedly theocratic. Indeed, by the end of October it had been confirmed that Sarah Palin was tied to two living religious leaders who claimed to have fought witches. In fact, AP reporters had discovered, in Palin's mayoral records, evidence that Palin herself had borrowed an inspirational instructional video on how to (it was alleged) citizens can reduce crime and addiction by fighting witches and driving out demons, from geographic regions.

Talk To Action, the website I co-founded with journalist Frederick Clarkson back in late 2005, can lay claim to having shifted the course of the 2008 election by spawning one of the most successful political viral videos of all time, shown around the world and which was credited (by scores of mainstream media outlets) with forcing John McCain to renounce the political endorsement of John Hagee. But despite absurd amounts of evidence tying Sarah Palin to an almost unimaginably bigoted and politically extreme religious movement, Talk To Action writers weren't able to repeat the feat.

In the weeks leading up to the 2008 presidential election, readers could access enough (heavily documented) writing demonstrating Sarah Palin's (close) association, with a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation, which advocates the witch and demon fighting approach to reducing crime and addiction, to fill an average sized book.

The fact that this received negligible media attention probably had something to do with the efforts of various media figures who effectively policed the bounds of the discourse (with ad hominem attacks that ignored the facts) and so ruled out (at least in the public mind if not in actuality) the existence of a vice presidential candidate who appeared to subscribe to a program of reducing murder and drug addiction by fighting alleged witches and by expelling "territorial demons". But in the end those journalistic policing efforts probably paled in comparison with another, rather glumly predictable, factor;

Any day of the week and in any political season, in terms of raw media pull, Sarah Palin, nakedly theocratic, loses to Sarah Palin, naked.

[Also see The Palin Scandal in The Living Room]

Below, in a new 10 minute documentary video, I examine, in the context of its heavily anti-Semitic undertone, the New Apostolic Reformation's recently launched program encouraging and equipping Christians to begin taking control of business and finance: "The Seven Mountains Mandate" (or "7M Mandate").

[At 24, Sarah Palin joined Mary Glazier's Wasilla prayer group. Glazier fought a witch in '95 and now advocates religious cleansing of entire lands, by believers in her movement. The video documentary includes Sarah Palin's October 2008 appearance on Focus on the Family head James Dobson's radio show, during which Palin thanked "our prayer warriors across the nation."]

[below: 73 second video showing virulent anti-Catholic nature of New Apostolic Reformation movement tied to Sarah Palin]

[below: 10 minute video documentary examines virulently anti-Catholic nature of New Apostolic Reformation movement. "Places like Brazil, they are Catholic strongholds," declared Thomas Muthee on March 14, 2004 at a United Kingdom church, "but people are getting saved anyway! Five hundred every single hour!" A colleague of Muthee's planned a "spiritual warfare" expedition to Mount Everest that New Apostolic Reformation leaders later claimed helped contribute to the death of Mother Theresa. This video also examines advocacy of violence by top NAR leaders.

As an additional feature, the video shows the actual video footage of pastor John Hagee's now notorious "God sent Hitler" sermon which this author put into a three minute and forty second YouTube video that went viral, was broadcast around the world, and was widely credited in mainstream media for causing John McCain to renounce his political endorsement from John Hagee. In the video footage of the late 2005 sermon, Pastor John Hagee pantomimes a Nazi holding a rifle aimed at Jews.]

[below: another treatment of the relationship between Mary Glazier and Sarah Palin.]




Display:
This article should at least get the issue showing up when people search the terms 'Sarah Palin naked' or 'naked sarah palin' or basically any variant thereof. Good work!

RAHilliard

by rahilliard on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 11:48:16 AM EST


Oh no! I knew Palin's involvement in this but at the 6-8-08 anointing that's Lt Gov Sean Parnell, Gov Sarah Palin, and Sen Lisa Murkowski. I had seen this video before and thought it looked like Lisa but now that I know it is, I am absolutely horrified. Just how deep does this go? Lisa had been working very hard before the election to convince people to vote for the convicted Ted Stevens. It makes me wonder about her motives now and whether there are any connections between Stevens and this lunatic organization.

by Neptune on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 06:15:52 PM EST
My best guess is that she was just participating in the religious ceremony because it was expected. But, it's worth watching her for a possible association with the NAR movement.

by Bruce Wilson on Wed Nov 12, 2008 at 07:46:03 PM EST
Parent


More people know about the witch hunter Muthee than you think, Bruce. I hear about him all the time from random people (mostly younger) so I think we made a major impact. But I agree with you -- the press is afraid to explore Palin's real beliefs. They are too shallow to deal with theology or policy. Instead they focus on whether she walked into a meeting with a towel on or not.

On a less related note, who will Palin appoint to replace Stevens if he wins? I think we should keep an eye on Lt. Gov. Parnell, the other Kalnins anointee.

by Max Blumenthal on Thu Nov 13, 2008 at 02:34:37 AM EST

The Governor no longer has the power to appoint an open senate seat. Alaska changed that law after Lisa Murkowski's father appointed her to the senate (thankfully). And besides it looks like hopefully Stevens will not win as Begich is ahead of him by some 800 votes as of Wed night. Go Begich!

by Neptune on Thu Nov 13, 2008 at 04:22:46 AM EST
Parent

Laurie Goodstein's October 24, 2008 NYT story confirmed the Glazier Palin link, thus tying Palin to a SECOND witch hunting religious figure.

And, Garance Burke's AP story revealed that in 2000 Palin borrowed one of the "Transformations" videos - in which Muthee described his alleged witch-fighting exploit in Kiambu.

But the only people putting those two facts together are associated with Talk To Action.

My point is this : Muthee is presented as an anomaly. That's utterly wrong. Palin's association with Thomas Muthee is part of a consistent pattern that mainstream media and the left has almost wholly missed.

Further, Glazier and Muthee are high level leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation. Muthee is a "valued personal friend" to C. Peter Wagner who, in a 2006 decree, said it was God's will that believers in his movement "plunder" the wealth of the "godless": that's the real story. Palin's almost certainly in the NAR movement. She speaks in the movement idiom, is associated with two of its top leaders, appears to be in its prayer warfare network and she apparently watches its witch and demon fighting instructional videos. I could go on...

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Nov 13, 2008 at 08:11:10 AM EST
Parent


She didn't mention the NAR but she walked right up to it, by focusing on Palin's tie to Spiritual Warfare.

I agree about Parnell. Interestingly, he wiped some photos, from his Lt. Gov. site, that showed him with certain religious leaders.

by Bruce Wilson on Thu Nov 13, 2008 at 08:13:58 AM EST
Parent


...when trying to expose an NAR-affiliated group, Every Nation Churches and Ministries (formerly Morning Star International).  That group had the added distinction of being the direct descendant of a well-known cult, Maranatha Campus Ministries, and one of its subgroups, Champions for Christ, also got some less than flattering coverage in the press in the 90s over the Curtis Enis affair.  So it's not like I and others were starting from ground zero as far as the press was concerned.

I thought that the fact that they explicitly were trying to take over the world, and had hooked up with Peter Wagner and his friends to do so--and in some cases, meeting with success as a result--was pretty newsworthy considering their well-publicised cultic past.

However, even though this group (and others in what is now the NAR) still engages in the same activities and practices that got them in all kinds of trouble both in the Christian and secular press 15-20 years ago, they are sadly considered more and more mainstream today.  So the fact that they teach "deliverance" aka mind and behavioral control (and it is much less spiritualized behind the pulpit than what you see on YouTube, believe me--they teach easily replicable mind/behavioral control tactics) is no big whoop.  Arranged marriages?  Recruiting college girls as uncompensated handmaidens for the top leaders?  No big deal.  They deny it takes place anyway.  And as long as they deny it, and no one looks to see whether they are, oh, telling the truth or not, they continue unabated.  Wounded perhaps, since it's not like recent criticisms haven't had some effect, but still going forward.

I have spoken to several reporters over the last several years and unless you give it to them on a silver platter... meaning you pretty much do all the investigative journalism, make ALL the connections, and even go so far as to write their articles for them, it probably won't get picked up.  And even then, like you've seen first hand after all the research you have done, they STILL may not be interested.

Well, unless there is a titillating financial or sexual scandal involved.  Former EN financier Greg Feste did get some press coverage over his financial mishaps in the last few years but EN took care of that little problem by throwing him and his "pastor," long-time Champions for Christ president Greg Ball under the bus.  They renamed Champions for Christ a decidedly non-descript, unrelated name, 925 Ministries, joined the ECFA, and now no more problem, right?

Just because their members don't dress like they're stuck in the 19th century, engage in suicide pacts, or live in heavily armed wilderness enclaves doesn't mean they aren't a dangerous cult.  In fact, the more "normal" they seem, the more dangerous they can be, because those are the groups that successfully recruit more members, money, and support for their cause.

I liken the NAR (like the IRD) to a cult group which is infiltrating churches, even "legitimate," non-cultic ones, and turning them into cult recruiting facilities.  Most rank and file members have NO CLUE that their money and their kids are going to support a very extreme, cultic, dangerous, destructive agenda.

Theology (beliefs) drive behavior.  THAT'S why it's important.  But it doesn't make for titillating, gripping news as far as the press is concerned, by and large.

I am heartened though that blogs are picking this up.  I know from recent events in my former group that it is are not recovering as quickly from recent "scandals" as they might have in the past because of what has been posted online.  It appears that recruitment and fundraising has been significantly impacted, which has caused some top leaders to go underground on "sabbatical" or other, less prominent assignments, and other leaders less well known in North America to come in and try to rebuild the US financial base of the group.  However, there's a certain level of legitimacy that is often missing on a blog or discussion site in some people's eyes... even when you present them with insurmountable, factual, verifiable evidence.

And people forget.  There is no other explanation for how Maranatha's former leader, Bob Weiner, became so prominently involved in TheCall.  It used to be that Weiner's name on anything was the kiss of cultic death.  Hence why for years EN leaders NEVER EVER EVER mentioned the word "Maranatha."  Now they can (even though they still usually don't) and no one cares.  Hey, maybe they could recruit Weiner back, now that he's gotten a pretty good rep in Christian circles again?

by ulyankee on Fri Nov 14, 2008 at 12:10:48 PM EST
Parent

And you've been working hard doing that - but, there are also people in the media who function as shills (wittingly or not) to minimize the political danger such movements pose. And, a great deal of right wing foundation money has gone towards corrupting the academic discourse on the subject and has allowed the insinuation of dishonest academics (who hold concealed bias). Best, BruceW

by Bruce Wilson on Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 05:17:16 PM EST
Parent



It is disheartening to see how sensationalism and tabloid-like coverage overshadow factual reporting on important issues such as Sarah Palin's association with a theocratic movement.  home contractor Los Angeles The media's focus on salacious topics rather than political extremism undermines the public's understanding of critical matters.

by isabelladom on Thu Jun 15, 2023 at 01:40:15 AM EST


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