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Culturally Acceptable Madness

When John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate for the Presidency, Steve Schmidt asked her how she felt about being chosen for such a prestigious position.  She was not surprised.  Schmidt said he asked Palin about her serenity in the face of becoming "one of the most famous people in the world." He quoted her as saying, "It's God's plan."

Let us, for one brief shining moment, try to put ourselves into that frame of mind.  God, as Sarah Palin and whole busloads of other people believe, is the absolutely powerful, unimaginably wise, incredibly mysterious power behind quarks and Big Bangs and Lutherans and Sarah Palin.  God is the creator of the universe, of Satan, of Heaven and Hell, and of Sarah Palin, and God planned for Sarah Palin to become the Vice Presidential nominee under John McCain.  Sarah Palin said so.  "It is God's plan."

There is no use in blaming John McCain or Sarah Palin.  What could they do? 

Is that utter madness, or is it just serene lunacy? 

Let us give believers their due:  if God is "immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes", together with other such fulsomely-praised capabilities, then it is quite logical, given those premises, for Sarah and her serene friends to say that God not only knew, but quite likely permitted and planned for her to run for Vice President.  God probably planned for her to make an utter, ignorant ass of herself, too, but that only demonstrates that God has a perverted sense of humor. 

Moveover, the logic of believing that God wants you to do something makes you utterly impervious to any other opinions.  If God want you to run for Vice President, who are you to say no?  Who is anybody to say no?  If God want you to strap incendiary explosives into your underwear, and fly to America and set your pants (that is a euphemism) afire, who are you to say no?  God knows everything.  God is all-powerful, and if God wants you to crisp your britches (that is a euphemism), then you had better do it.  Any other opinion is unacceptable for a believer. 

It is no good to bob and weave and duck and say that Sarah imperfectly understood God's will, because if that is the case, we have good reason not to pay any attention to anyone who tell us what God wants.  Admitting, up front, that you are incapable or really knowing what God has in mind is a miserable position from which to proclaim what you think God wants you to do. 

God wanted Sarah to run.  God apparently wanted her to say stupid things, too, and lose. 

It might be madness we are talking about, here:  culturally acceptable madness.  It is far beyond serene lunacy. 

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