Sarah Palin: Christian Publisher's Proselytizing Saint

Sarah Palin may very well be the Republican Party's version of Lady Gaga. In two shorts years, this failed Vice-Presidential candidate has transformed herself from small time Governor to full time super star. She has written a best-selling book, makes frequent, and highly lucrative, speeches, coined the term "Death Panel" and has signed on as a Fox News personality.

Yes, Palin has fully embraced the fame monster and evolved into a political and social force in and of herself. Now third parties are taking advantage of that force to turn Palin into something more than a politician: she's becoming an icon for right wing proselytization. And that crusade isn't likely to include many gay warriors.

Publishing house Zondervan announced last week that they will release a Palin biography written specifically for the grade school set. The book, Speaking Up: The Sarah Palin Story, comes complete with an enticing tagline, "The story of a girl from Alaska who grew up to run for the White House." Or course, nothing's simple when Palin's involved; or, rather, invoked: the former Governor hasn't approved the book. She's been transformed into something of a right wing patron saint, and I'm sure she would approve of Zondervan's mission.

You see, Zondervan isn't simply an imprint of HarperCollins, which published Palin's own book and is itself owned by NewsCorp, which owns Fox News. They're also one of the world's largest purveyors of Bibles and Biblically-inspired books, and founded the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. The Palin title fits perfectly into their agenda, and, like their other biographies, will focus on a person who is "working for the betterment of the world in which we live and who [is] motivated primarily by their Christian faith."

On the surface, Speaking Up sounds pretty straightforward. Palin is, after all, a timely success story that's worth telling. Who knows, she could inspire the first female President. But Zondervan isn't simply looking at how Palin beat the odds. They're highlighting how she used her Christian faith to reach new heights. One story, for example, will focus on how she turned to God when debating whether or not to abort her child who has Down's Syndrome. Daughter Bristol Palin's teenaged pregnancy, sadly, won't make the cut. Explained a company spokeswoman, "We tried to stay away from the super-heavy stuff." Because religion and its affiliated punishments are so light.

Even if Zondervan doesn't want to admit a political agenda, they're no doubt aware the impact their books and authors have had around the world. Evangelical preacher man Rick Warren's penned Zondervan's greatest hit, The Purpose Driven Life, and uses it to help spread his anti-gay agenda in far-off locales like Uganda. The Palin biography may very well do the same thing here in the States.

Christianity isn't intrinsically evil. Not by a long shot. It can indeed be used to spread goodwill. And Zondervan knows the Christian message isn't always one of extremism: they're publishing a book on Bono's charitable work, work that fits squarely into a Biblical perspective. When harnessed for a right wing political agenda, however, religion becomes something used to divide, to oppress. And there's no way "Speaking Up" won't be right wing: Speaking Up author Kim Washburn herself explained that the media will figure as one of the book's biggest villains. "With one-sided sources and one-sided facts, some of their stories had more spin than a twirling igloo," she insisted, parroting a traditionally conservative argument.

Speaking Up frightens me a bit, because Palin's already so powerful, and children will no doubt want to know why everyone's talking about Sarah Palin, so they're inclined to explore her story. This book may not broadcast her anti-gay views, but it will expose children to her ideas, ones that are discriminatory, stagnant and based on moralistic prohibition.

With Speaking Up's publication, Palin becomes something more than a politician: she's an inspiration, a golden calf for those looking to spread a specifically conservative Christian agenda. Palin has a handle on the mothers of the world. Now Zondervan's using "Speaking Up" to reach the children, thus guaranteeing Palin and her politics a place in American culture for generations to come.

Now, I'm not one to dissuade children from reading, but a book about Palin and her narrow, exclusionary worldview may provide the perfect excuse to break out the Wii.

Image via GeerlingGuy's Flickr.