News & Reporting

FactCheck.org has posted this list of the false rumors targetting Sarah Palin. Notice how many have a religious tie-in:

Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn't cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.

That sham accusation seeks to undermind Palin's commitment to special needs children as exemplified by her decision to carry her Down syndrome baby to term, largely for religious reasons, ie faith-based opposition to abortion.

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.

This one portrays Palin as a narrow-minded Bible thumper.

She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She's been registered as a Republican since May 1982.

OK, that one has nothing to do with religion.

Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesy" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.

This one paints Palin as an out-of-the mainstream culture warrior, though some conservatives took it as proof of her allegiance to the cause.

Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

That one needs no explanation.

This article is cross-posted from Beliefnet's God-o-Meter.

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