Sarah Palin in church controversy

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Following in the wake of Barack Obama's controversy concerning the the firey sermons of Jermiah Wright videos posted on YouTube (click here) showing vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin taking part in an church ceremony in Wasillia, Alaska in which the preacher praying over the Alaskan governor, calls upon God to fight "the spirit of witchcraft",  has been appearing across the globe under the title, "Sarah Palin's exorcism". The footage, taken by Max Blumenthal was, according to the reporter taken down by Youtube for being "inappropriate".but later appeared on the site having been posted by other users.

The preacher, Bishop Munthee, founder of the Word of Faith church who held the service in May 2005 at the Assembly of God featuring Palin, claims to have ride the Kenyan town of Kiambu of witchcraft which his follower's claimed was the work of  a local witch known as Mama Jane. According to the Tranformation promotional video produced by George Otis, Munthee's intervention in the Kenyan town resulted in a dramatic fall in crime and the accidental death rate in the community (click here to see an extract on the video featured in the documentary,Sarah Palin's Churches and The Third Wave movement).

Although Palin no longer regularly attends the Wasillia Assembly of God church she was a member for nearly 25 years according to an artilce in Daily Kos and was present at a service as recently as June 8 this year as a speaker for the graduation of the contoversial Master's Commission program at the Wasilla Assembly of God. The visit itself drew fire from Anchorage Daily News which claimed that Governor Plain had paid for the journey to her old church using state funds.

However, Bishop Thomas Munthee is not the only source of controversy surrounding the Assembly of God. Senior preacher, Ed Kalnin, has repreadly drawn been the subject of media attention which his sermons which have included the idea that all supporters of John Kerry would go to hell and that the end of the world or Rapture as it is known in US evangelical parlance would happen in his lifetime.

The initial boost to the McCain compaign that Sarah Palin offered, especially amongst female voter could backfire for the Republicans in November as more and more details of Palin's past come out, gleefully pounced upon by a media deeply angered by the McCain's attempts to control access to the vice presidential candidate (click here for an ABC report).

It could just be that Palin's candidacy could be the most damaging choice of VP since George McGovern fateful decision to ask Thomas Engleton to join his ticket in the disasterous 1972 Democratic presidential campaign.alaska, us elections, sarah palin