"A Spirit of Witchcraft"

I guess that since Sarah Palin is supposed to be the reincarnation of Ronald Reagan, it’s appropriate that she’s turning into a Teflon Vice-President. It seems that, no matter how kooky her background becomes, the conservatives will rally to her cause. Part of the problem is that some of the stuff is so bizarre it’s hard to take seriously; it seems like an elaborate practical joke.

Keith Olbermann reviews Palin’s comments about Pastor Thomas Muthee.

Hannah Strange reports for The Times:

The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells.

At a speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God on June 8 this year, Mrs Palin described how Thomas Muthee had laid his hands on her when he visited the church as a guest preacher in late 2005, prior to her successful gubernatorial bid. …

An African evangelist, Pastor Muthee has given guest sermons at the Wasilla Assembly of God on at least 10 occasions in his role as the founder of the Word of Faith Church, also known as the Prayer Cave. …

“We prayed, we fasted, the Lord showed us a spirit of witchcraft resting over the place,” Pastor Muthee says. …

According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a “divination” centre called the Emmanuel Clinic. …

The “witch” eventually was run out of town.

Here’s what the Christian Science Monitor has to say about Muthee:

In 1988, [Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee] and his wife, Margaret, were “called by God to Kiambu,” a notorious, violence-ridden suburb of Nairobi and a “ministry graveyard” for churches for years. They began six months of fervent prayer and research.

Pondering the message of Eph.6:12 (“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world…”), they prayed to identify the source of Kiambu’s spiritual oppression, Mr. Muthee says. Their answer: the spirit of witchcraft.

This election is increasingly a contest of the crazies. Certainly this is the most frightening election of my lifetime.