WASILLA, Alaska-The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God’s will from the governor’s office. What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assemb
WASILLA, Alaska-The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God’s will from the governor’s office.
What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.
An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at a taxpayer’s expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.
Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.
Palin has publicly said her personal opinions don’t “bleed on over into policies.”
Still, after the AP reported the governor had accepted tainted donations during her 2006 campaign, she announced she would donate the $2,100 to three charities, including an Anchorage nonprofit aimed at “sharing God’s love” to dissuade young women from having abortions.
An AP review of her time as mayor, from late 1996 to 2002, also reveals a commingling of church and state.
Records of her mayoral correspondence show that Palin worked arduously to organize a day of prayer at city hall. She said that with local ministers’ help, Wasilla–a city of 7,000 an hour’s drive north of Anchorage–could become “a light, or a refuge for others in Alaska and America.”
Palin’s former church and other evangelical denominations were instrumental in ousting members of Valley Hospital’s board who supported abortion rights–including the governor’s mother-in-law, Faye Palin.
“Gov. Palin is motivated by the needs out there, and faith-based and community initiatives are a great way to do that,” Lt. Gov Sean Parnell said.
“It matters not to state government what religion people belong to, so long as they are serving the public and the money they receive is used appropriately.”
Still, a state worker who directs an Anchorage-based group that advocates for church-state separation, Lloyd Eggan, said Palin’s administration hasn’t done enough to assure voters that government money doesn’t support ministry.
“That sort of thing is exactly what courts have said is barred by the First Amendment,” Eggan said. AP
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
