More Sarah Palin?

Published on by D. G. Hart

Despite the fact that Sarah Palin has decided not to run for the American presidency, Darryl Hart continues to make his way around the interview circuit to speak about his book From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin.

Dr. Hart returns to Christ the Center to speak about religion, politics, and American evangelicalism with Camden Bucey from Reformed Forum.

Download the episode.

42 thoughts on “More Sarah Palin?”

  1. So are the eeeevangelicals who say “conservativism” instead of “conservatism” also the ones who say “nukeeler” instead of “nuclear”? How disorientating.

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  2. Dr. Hart,

    Thank you for the link. As usual, you were very interesting and informative, and especially timely. I had no idea of the political history of the evangelicals and political affiliation. I read this morning that 46% of Americans are now Independents. I’m guessing this is probably reflected in evangelicals too? Things seem to be changing/shifting too quickly. One of the things I find most troubling in current events is the tug-of-war between the Obama administration and the Roman Catholic Church. The OA seems determined to remove the RC and it’s charitable services from the public square. It does not bode well for the rest of us if the OA is successful.

    I hadn’t thought about Marshall McLuhan or Neil Postman for a long time. Like you and Mr. Bucey, I wish we had a man to fill their shoes and help us in our times. Again, I find all of the changes disturbing and happening too quickly.

    May I ask when you will be interviewed on Issues Etc.? I am looking forward to Todd interviewing – natch, I think he’s great interviewer and has given you some of your best interviews in the past. I hope there will be 2k observations between you two from your book.

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  5. Yep, Zrim. Definitely. Dubya and Pastor Jeffress (who has the dubious honor of saying Mormonism is a cult) live a couple of miles down the road from me. Not to mention Chuck Norris and Glen Beck just a few miles to the west of me. Did I mention that Rick Perry is our governor? Plus we have Kinky Friedman, Willie Nelson, and a slew of other interesting characters in our state. Life is not dull here. 😉

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  6. Lily, all I have in Little Geneva has is Rob Bell, but he bores me. The Chicago Sun Times and TIME both said he was the new Billy Graham. Meh. Maybe Rabbi Bret in Charlotte will become the new DJ Kennedy.

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  8. That sounds utterly blissful, Zrim (from my neck of the woods).

    In our metro alone, and a tip of the iceberg listing of the mega church stars here: TD Jakes, Ed Young Jr., Benny Hinn (yes, he moved here from Florida and has a church of ~5000), Charles Swindoll, plus TBN stars Ken and Gloria Copeland live here, and we are the home to the Daystar Television Network. Not to mention Joel Osteen, John Hagee, Max Lucado, and all of the other mega church star celebrities spread out throughout the rest of the state. Whew! ‘Tis a hotbed of religiosity here. Like I said, never a dull moment.

    P.S. Forgot to mention we supposedly have the largest gay population in the US and thus, the largest gay church – too.

    P.S.S. We are also a highly international metro with numerous enclaves from Russia, Greek, India, Middle East, Far East, and their places of worship. We have 2 large Eastern Orthodox congregations – one Greek, one Russian. Both have gorgeous buildings built to suit their ancient style and a professional iconographer who painted the interiors. Check out his portfolio: http://www.orthodox-icon.com I know it’s not per Reformed tastes, but the historical place of iconography in the church is fascinating.

    P.S.S.S. And…. we are home to one of the Anglican Dioceses that split with The Episcopal Church and is being pursued in a never ending lawsuit by TEC. Don’t want to forget to this great bunch of lovely Christians.

    If you ever get bored, you’re welcome to join our madhouse. 😉

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  9. MM, Mark Driscoll were born on the same day. I hope clairvoyant Libras don’t peer into cessationist ones’ lives.

    Lily, don’t get me wrong–southwest Michigan is a hotbed of religiosity, but just short on religious celebrity. What sounds blissful to me is northwest Michigan where neither exist.

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  10. Too funny, MM – maybe Zrim should add Iowa to a list of potential moves? I’d be interested, but it sounds too cold up there for my old bones.

    Zrim, NW Michigan sounds lovely – is it infested with Lutherans? How about Iowa as a potential move? After listening to DGH’s interview, Hillsboro sounds nice. We could audit his classes and annoy him in person?

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  11. I swear I saw MM stalking Sarah Palin in Alaska while watching FOX news the other day. I knew it was him because he was tossing a frisbee with one of Palin’s daughters.

    Northwest Michigan is lovely- Torch lake and Glen Lake are my favorite areas.

    There are tons of celebrites who live in Northwest Michigan but no one knows where they live and they keep it a secret. Bob Seeger used to always hang out there and I know Bob Dylan and Tom Petty used to have places there too. All the big Auto Executives have summer cottages on the lakes up there. Ernest Hemingway used to go there all the time and had a cottage up there. I think his Doctor father, from Oak Park, Illinois, brought the family there when he was a kid. I believe Hemingway commited suicide when he was there too. I might be wrong about that though.

    The Golfing in northwest Michigan is some of the best in the country headed by some of the best Golf architects in the country. I used to sell funeral and cemetery supplies up there between 1988 to 1994, I know the area well. I lived in Traverse City from 1975 to 1981.

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  12. Shhhhhhh! Yeazel.

    Lily, Hillsdale is a lovely campus and a fine college. Not much for perks in the town itself or the surrounding area. But I was a casual visitor, so maybe there’s more.

    Iowa’s a nice place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit there.

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  14. Blew that one. Thanks for the name/place correction, MM. So… ya’ll are a bunch of durn northern yanks? That pretty much explains eeeeverything I need to know about this cantankerous blog and it’s denizens.

    Iowa, Michigan, and any other northern oasis – nice places to visit in the summer, but wouldn’t want to live there. For some reason, everyone (ok, I’m exaggerating) seems to be moving here and staying! I used to think it was the BBQ and Tex-Mex, but I’m not so sure of that anymore. Last spring, I mentioned to a young man that he might want to look at a university up north and he gave me a truly puzzled look and replied: Why would I want to go there? You can’t tell what the girls look like up there – they wear too many clothes (true story). I almost died laughing (yes, the humor still needs sanctification). He was sooo serious. Who’d a thunk? 😉

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  15. I have been to San Antonio 3 times, Houston and Dallas for funeral related functions and liked San Antonio the best; although my dad had his heart attack when we were at the Funeral Directors National Convention in San Antonio back in 1992. Pierce/Royal Bond embalming fluid is made in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area and I have been there a couple of times with one of our salesman that worked in Dallas (Bob Duncan is his name).

    I have always wanted to go to Austin, Texas. That is the place to be these days in regards to some of the best music in the country. Everyone whom I know who has been there has said it is worth checking out. The people I know who have been there never said anything about woman and how loosely or overly clad they were in clothing though. Come to think of it they were all over 45 so they might not have noticed such things as much as young bucks do.

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  16. I most likely shouldn’t have mentioned that story since it can be taken the wrong way. It gets quite hot here in the summer with lows in the 80’s (if we’re lucky) and no one seems to think too much about what you wear in the heat as long as you’re decent. Winters are mild, so rarely need the kinds of clothes you would in a snowy climate. I rarely wear a coat in the winter – occasional light jackets mostly. I think perhaps this young man may have been thinking winter boots, parkas with woolen hats, mittens, scarves, and such? The girls would look like snowmen? Anywho, I still giggle at his sober serious reaction at the thought of going to a northern university – horrors! Southern sensibilities? We simply don’t need near as many clothes as northerners? Makes for less laundry, too.

    Austin and the surrounding Hill Country is one of the prettiest areas of Texas. It does have a lively music scene downtown and the slogan, “Keep Austin Weird” on bumper stickers and T-shirts (it’s had a nudist park for decades along with other quirkiness). It’s supposed to be the liberalist part of Texas – politically speaking. Even though it’s our state capital – with the universities’ strong presence, it’s considered a college town, so it’s supposedly youth oriented with all the accompanying accoutrements. You would probably thoroughly enjoy the whole experience of sight-seeing available in that region and music night life.

    After all my stories, it may sound like Texas is a crazy place, but as you know, John, the people are very normal.

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  18. Lily,

    Actually, I have had more experience with the southern “rebel” mentality, the bible belt people and some of their aristocratic and southern belle types too. I lived in Macon, Georgia from 1982 to 1987 when I was stationed at Robbins Air Force Base and stayed there a couple years after getting out of the service. I attended a very southern church there with a very southern pastor and his family. I drank lots of sugary sweetened tea (with maybe two or three tablespoons of sugar with each 16 oz. glass). And almost got in a fight with a guy at work who was a confederate still fighting the civil war- he did’nt like us yankee’s much.

    I also used to play tennis at the tennis club in Macon where lots of former Emory University aristocrats hung out. They did not like me much either because I beat most of them at their aristocratic game. There was one guy I could not beat though who had just graduated from Emory- he was an arrogant jerk and there would have been nothing better than to have kicked his sorry aristocratic you know what. Much to my chagrin, and his great pleasure, I was never able to do it though. He was a very patronizing chap.

    Speaking of patronizing, my brothers wife grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and attended Vanderbilt University where she majored in Russian literature. She is quite the aristocratic southern belle herself. She does not mean too but you always get the sense that you do not quite measure up to her expectations while talking with her. I was able to eventually break through to her and we started enjoying talking with each other. She is very interesting to talk to but she made it very difficult to get to know her. Does that sound like any southern belle types that you know? So, normal is a relative word I guess- it depends on what you think normal is.

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  20. MM,

    Great tune by Stevie Ray but I still prefer the Almond Brothers Stormy Monday:

    So what do say we do a boys week out someday and hit Austin and then do the Treme thing in New Orleans.

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  21. MM –

    Stevie Ray grew up in the south metro area – the local PBS almost wore out his welcome last winter re-running several different programs on him. Have you seen the one with him jamming with BB King for an hour? What always strikes me is how big his hands are and wondering if that helped him play so well.

    Don’t forget Janis Joplin’s Ego Rock (apparently, she hated hometown and Texas in general) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Y5ISgBrRk and don’t forget ZZ Top (aka That Little Ol’ Band from Texas) – several of them still live in Houston metro and don’t forget the yearly SXSW festival in Austin. Natch, there’s good live music in almost any of the Texas metro areas, but Austin seems to draw a larger number of aspiring musicians.

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  22. John –

    You’ve had an interesting life – you almost sound like a gypsy. I don’t think anyone can peg Texas into a slot since it’s incredibly big and diverse both geographically and demographically. East Texas (shares border with Louisiana) has more of the antebellum South/confederate memory that you describe. In both Texas and Oklahoma, people were mainly either Methodist or Baptist which seems to support that hard scrabble independent spirit that was needed to settle the states, so maybe that plays a role in attitudes? I’m sure Dr. Hart would have a better explanation, but that’s my amateur view.

    IMO, Perry was fine as governor, but I’m not convinced he’s presidential material.

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  24. A gypsy? The life I am really attracted to is that of a professional writer like George Orwell. He wrote books and numerous articles and essays with titles like DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON, etc., etc. If I had to live my life over again I would learn how to write better and then develop skills of observation and perception in order to write insightfully about various groups of people and how they lived their lives. The Russian novelists have always been attractive to me too.

    My life is in such shambles now that I count it a good week if I just make it to church on Sunday. I do have lots that keeps me going though and I have not lost hope that God still has some kind of purpose for my strange life that has not been fulfilled yet. That gets me out of bed each morning. So there!!!

    MM, I was just kidding about the boys week out thing- I don’t think your wife and kids would appreciate you doing something like that.

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  27. John, have you considered signing up or auditing some college courses in literature and writing? Nothing quite like classes to help motivate and organize one’s life and thinking – it may help pull you out? Being a non-traditional student can be great fun. Most of my professors thought I was the coolest thing since canned peached (eg: oldsters actually read the material, show up for class, ask questions, and are interested in learning). Anywho, it’s a thought…

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  28. Lily, no NWM is not infested with Lutherans. You’re thinking of Lake Wobegon in Minnesota. I can understand the confusion since it’s also the case in NWM that all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average. Both places have it over SW Michigan to the extent that the latter is much more prone to the Lake Wobegon effect: the natural human tendency to overestimate one’s capabilities…to transform the world, that is.

    John, don’t forget Michael Moore who has permanently moved his offices from NYC to TC (and resides somewhere in Antrim county). Say what one will about the man, but he sponsors the TC Summer Film Festival. That’s only a good thing. Plus, I’m pretty sure he says “nuclear.”

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  30. MM, great rendition of Stormy Monday; no one plays guitar like Stevie Ray and Albert knows how to hold those notes until they penetrate into your innermost being. They complement each other well in their style of play.

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  32. Zrim – It seems strange that there wouldn’t be a strong presence of Lutherans in that neck of the woods. Where does “Lars and the Real Girl” live? Is that a possibility? I can’t quite imagine you being happy without us around to amuse you.

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  34. Lily, I spent 5 years at NMC in Traverse City, Michigan, 4 years at Calvin College and almost 2 years of schooling when I was in the Air Force. Plus I spent numerous hours learning manufacturing and CNC operation while spending 12 years trying to fix the manufactuing problems at our family business. Is it any wonder why I went a bit crazy after I got my divorce back in 1995? I am enjoying the theology books I read, some novels I have always wanted to read and stuff I find on the internet that interests me. That keeps me going. I am schooled out but I do know what you mean by Professors loving you. They all liked me at Calvin because I was an older student and really wanted to learn too- so I did my homework, asked a lot of questions and got to know some Professors at Calvin who I still stay in contact with. I really enjoyed my time at Calvin.

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  35. And… what does that have to do with writing?

    Not being a smart-alec here or before. I’m honestly asking about you writing and concerned about the funk.

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  36. I never sowed my wild oats while a youth, I waited until I was close to 40. I don’t think I broke bad enough to be a lost cause yet. God is faithful when we are not. At least I have not lost that hope.

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  37. I will get to it Lily, one last goal I have is to write one really good book before I die. I have enough material and experiences in life to write one- it is just a matter of organizing it and putting it all together. I appreciate the concern.

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  38. John,

    I apologize for not being able to express myself well. I meant to encourage you. You are most definitely not a lost cause for what you said is true: God is faithful and there is no reason to lose hope for he is your refuge. When you write your book, please buy an extra inkwell – it might be nice to throw one at the devil. 😉

    “Here we appeal to every truly devout Christian and ask whether in the terrors of conscience we are not forced to flee for refuge in true faith to Christ alone and rest solely on His merit.” — Blessed Johann Gerhard

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  40. Lily, the thanks should go to Camden who did the interview and set up the link here. I haven’t heard from Issues folks yet. I know the book is on Jeff Schwartz’s radar.

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  42. Doc –

    Re: Issues Etc.

    I’m guessing the hold-up must be Todd needing to read the book (it’s my understanding that he reads all of the books/materials as part of his pastoral oversight) … I may need to send Issues an email and ask him to read faster.

    Re: Grammar

    But, Doc… t’ain’t nothin’ but good ol’ fashioned blessed, sanctified Southern grammar baptized in sweet tea.

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