CNN REPORTS PALIN'S PASTOR SAYS GOP DOWNPLAYING HER RELIGIOUS BELIEFS: MAINSTREAM MEDIA STILL MUM ON PALIN

Even though more and more is coming out about Sarah Palin that could damage the McCAIN/PALIN ticket, the mainstream media continue to turn a blind eye on covering all the revelations.

The mainstream media has become the defacto public relations arm of the McCAIN/PALIN candidacy.

Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs

Story Highlights
Sarah Palin belonged to Pentecostal church for more than two decades until 2002
Campaign: Palin is deeply religious, doesn't consider herself Pentecostal
Pastor: Issues of belief could be misunderstood, played upon by people
Speaking of the troops in Iraq, Palin says they were sent on "task that is from God"

By Randi KayeAC360° Correspondent
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/08/palin.pastor/index.html

WASILLA, Alaska (CNN) -- For more than two decades, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was a practicing Pentecostal.

She belonged to the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. But though she attended the church from her teenage years to 2002, the Alaska governor hasn't talked much about her religion since joining the Republican ticket.

Palin's former pastor, Tim McGraw, says that like many Pentecostal churches, some members speak in tongues, although he says he's never seen Palin do so. Church member Caroline Spangler told CNN, "When the spirit comes on you, you utter things that nobody else can understand ... only God can understand what is coming out of our mouths."
Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in "faith healing" and the "end times" -- a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ's second coming.

"Our basic belief is that God is God and he knows where history is going and he has a purposeful plan and within the middle of that plan we live in an environment in our world where certain events would take place," says McGraw. "Sarah wasn't taught to look for one particular sign -- a cataclysmic sign. She knew as every Christian does ... that God is sovereign and he is in control."
The McCain campaign says the governor doesn't consider herself Pentecostal.

Watch Palin's father talk about her religious upbringing »


McGraw says Palin's Pentecostal roots may be being downplayed for a reason: "I think there may be issues of belief that could be misunderstood or played upon by people that don't know."
When asked by CNN about Palin's beliefs, campaign spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton would only say the Republican vice presidential candidate has "deep religious convictions.

" Watch how Palin's religious roots formed »


But how might her religious beliefs impact policy in Washington if the Republican ticket is successful?

Palin's former pastor says he has no doubt her religious beliefs will influence her decision making when it comes to government policy. Regarding her desire to build an Alaskan pipeline and explore for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, McGraw told CNN, "Sarah knows that in Genesis, God creates the world and it's very good and that we're supposed to be caretakers in terms of not destroying the environment, so there's no way that Sarah is going to exploit or damage the Alaska tundra in the name of getting gas if she doesn't have to.

" Palin's neighbors react to her swift rise