A reader writes:

I want to take exception with you on equating Palin's politics as Christian at all. She might use Christian language but I think she engages in apostasy which is what most of the Christian right has done for the past 100 years. I consider what Palin does is to take the Lord's name in vain with her pandering and her rhetoric . She equates her positions with the cause of Christ. Mark's gospel refers to the sin against the Holy Spirit. I believe the sin against the Holy Spirit is to give God credit for that which God has not done and to invoke God's name in order to gain power. I think this describes Palin and those like her.

Me too. To co-opt the Gospels for a philosophy of environmental rape, untrammeled pursuit of wealth and fame, the cynical use of children for political purposes, cruelty toward animals, ignorant contempt for other cultures and peoples, and constant self-serving lies is actually an attack on the Gospels, not an expression of them.