Christine O'Donnell: God is the reason I'm running

 

The woman who dabbled in witchcraft sat down with a Christian TV network and said she was called to a run for Senate by no other than God himself.

"God is the reason that I’m running," tea-party darling Christine O'Donnell told David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network.  "If I didn’t believe that there were a cause greater than myself worth fighting for, if I didn’t believe that it takes a complete dying of self to make things right in this election cycle, I would not be running. "When you die to yourself, you rely on a power greater than yourself. Prayer is what’s gotten us all through. The day that we saw a spike in the polls was a day that some people had a prayer meeting for me that morning for this campaign, so I believe that prayer plays a direct role in this campaign, and I always....

... ask, 'Please pray for the campaign; please pray for our staff; please pray specifically that the eyes of the voters be opened.' "

CBN is a channel best known for conservative televangelist Pat Robertson's long-running "The 700 Club." CBN has daily news shows with a Christian bent and some weekly programs such as "Stakelbeck on Terror" and "The Brody Files."

The Republican nominee for Senate met with Brody on Friday night at Wesley College in Dover, Del., and explained that if she had known that politics were in her future, she wouldn't have appeared on shows like "Politically Incorrect" in the '90s and uttered all the statements that are now haunting her attempt to become a senator.

"I’m not someone who has always planned her life for when I run for office one day, obviously, or I wouldn’t have said all those things on TV. In the '90s, I looked at all the TV opportunities as a ministry opportunity, as an opportunity to share my new-found faith with a television audience that otherwise would not be watching -- you know, when I would go on 'Politically Incorrect.' "

For those who wish to curse O'Donnell for running, it appears they should instead raise their fist at the good book, specifically Psalms 37:4 ("Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart"), which the GOP nominee drew from, believing it's God's plan to have her run to be his voice on Capitol Hill.

"I still pray this now, 'God will give you the desires of your heart,'" O'Donnell said. "Some people think its what you want. God will give you what you want. But he will create those desires in you so that you have a passion to do what He is calling you to. So through this whole campaign, that's what I pray: 'God you gave me this desire. You gave me this desire of my heart to serve the people of Delaware to go in there and be your voice in Congress. Help me here.' "

 

O'Donnell is hedging her bets with those prayers. After calling her opponent Chris Coons a "bearded Marxist" and the Taxman, her latest attack ad portrays the Democrat as "Rubber Stamp Man" because he agrees with the president and his party on numerous agendas such as the economic stimulus and healthcare.

-- Tony Pierce

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Comments

[John Z]

O'Donnell could have done a hundred wonderful things in her life, but, how does the LA Times open the article? It immediately brings up dabbling in 'witchcraft'.
Would the LA Times open an article about Bill Clinton with the words: Clinton, who dabbled in perjury, or Clinton, who mixed it up with interns less than half his age in the White House?

Of course not. Right, LA Times?

[Kelly Goulart]

None other then Barry Goldwater warned about any politician that claims that 'God' is on their side.

"I don't have any respect for the Religious Right. There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics. That goes for Falwell, Robertson and all the rest of these political preachers. They are a detriment to the country."

[Susan Washington]

I would not be voting for this candidate if I lived in Delaware, but I respect her right to hold and to express religious views.
My problem with this "news" piece is its relentlessly condescending tone -- right down to the nonsensical remark , "no deity required to follow on Twitter" -- disparaging belief in God.
When I see that kind of blatant condescension, which is often acutely directed by the media towards Christianity, I can only conclude as follows:
First -- the majority of people who work in the media must not be Christian, which indicates a disconnect between the media in this country and the American public, a majority of whom, repeatedly in surveys on the question of religious affiliation, identify themselves as Christian, and,
Second -- an inability or intentional unwillingness to use journalistic impartiality in your discussion of Christian faith in public life.
Both of these apparent tendencies are, in my view, a real weakness in the media. In fact, most people in the world and in the United States, too, ARE affiliated with a religion and are not necessarily religious only in a careless, uninvolved way, which seems to be expected by those in the media.
If you want to report on the world and the real people in it, rather than just continuing to publish inside jokes to amuse your wholly secular (I guess) buddies in the newsroom, you might begin with an examination of your own eager, knee-jerk mockery of heartfelt Christians.

[Catherine in Tulsa]

So she isn't praying for God to chose the right person. She wants to be a Senator, and although she has the desire, she has done no work to prepare herself for the job, or even for the interview for the job. So she just wants God to make her a Senator. Does she think that God is suddenly going to give her knowledge of the Constitution, when he has given her ample resources and opportunity to learn it herself?

I didn't realize that God ran a socialist program with government handouts, which she is against anyway.

[jose]

Where was and is the liberal outrage at all of Bill and Al's campaigning at Black churches? I believe Obama has joined that club as well. And Jimmy Carter's ongoing and lengthy pronouncements of his faith during and after his failed presidency? I guess religion is only an issue if it involves a Conservative. You leftists are such whiny-baby hypocrites! You bigoted, self-impressed elitists are gonna get a huge Smackdown on November 2nd so yuk it up while you can!

[NikkiTaMere]

Soooooo god made a mistake when he let her go on Politically Incorrect?

and when she loses, will she lose faith in god?

Yeah, right.

[AimEMcC13]

PLEASE! keep Politics separate from religion. The last thing the world needs is YET ANOTHER person in office who believes in the supernatural ie god, santa claus, and the easter bunny.

I say this with great relish: People who believe in fairy tales should not hold ANY position of power. Only people rooted in reality should have the authority to hold office. So, if you beleive in any of that magical thinking, then keep it to yourself!

[Mr. Z]

So she talks to her imaginary friend and now her imaginary friend talks back???

Most people would say that is classic INSANITY and would subscribe meds to treat her delusional fantasy!

[brian]

Let's not focus on JOBS, DEBT, HEALTHCARE and TAXES (what Americans really care about), but instead, lets focus on silly personal issues from when candidates were teenagers --which is all the Democrats have left. People, don't let them confuse you. Keep you focus on what is really important. The Republicans have the right solutions on these issues. You know it and I know it. We have tried it the Democtrat way exclusively for two years and THINGS ARE CLEARLY GETTING WORSE. Vote Republican.

[All Hallows Eve]

she is so far out there

[Libertarian]

Earth to O'Donnell ...

Your personal beliefs or lack thereof have nothing to do with your ability to be in Congress, nothing to do with Taxed Enough Already.

[Tuthmosis]

...and God is the reason you're losing. God is great.

[Larry Linn]

Did God tell how to resolve the problems with the economy? What did God say?

[Rosemary]

She has no shame. She pimps the name of God to get voters....master manipulation.

I don't care about her witchy thing, I do care about her continuous exaggerations (lies) about her education. I do care that she doesn't understand the Constitution even though she claims to be well educated in it (another lie). Her recent debates revealed that the education on the Constitution didn't stick.

She is another version of Sarah Palin in her repetitiveness, her lack of originality, her robotic replies, her exaggerations (lies), and she like Palin loves making up their own facts and then invoking the name of God and Country to try to cover up their divisiveness.

She may be qualified to run however, she is not qualified to be elected to office.

[Naishkarma]

"Dying to oneself" is possible IMO, but a rare thing indeed as only very saintly persons have ever attained such a lofty spiritual state.

She is using this phrase to imply that her political platform is being directed from 'on high'.

May the Lord save us all from this form of spiritual neurosis.

[Me Dia E]

I'm guessing the reason LA Times brought up the whole witchcraft issue is because this Wicca-dabbling clown is now claiming - irony, irony - that "GOD IS THE REASON (SHE'S) RUNNING!!!!"

Are you really this stupid?

[DG3]

If God had something to do with O'Donnell running, it's proof-positive that he has a sense of humor.

[james]

as a Christian - I'm ashamed of people like her using Christ as if they are the only ones with a line to heaven. Did God tell her to dabble in whichcraft? Did God tell her to lie about her knowledge of the Constitution? Take some responsibility woman and stop invoking God as a last-ditch effort to win over voters shamelessly. Your campaign is in shambles, you are not a qualified candidate, and God has nothing to do with that nor will He save you here...

[INDEPENDENT VOTER]

EARTH TO ALL THE PRACTICAL ATHEISTS THAT ARE OPINING ON THIS BLOG. CHRISTIANS, GUESS WHAT, BY VIRTUE OF THE FACT THEY ARE CHRISTIANS, BELIEVE GOD TO BE SPEAKING TO THEM, LEADING THEM, DIRECTING THEM, ETC. OF COURSE YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT. THEY ARE NOT "OUT THERE", THEY ARE NOT PIMPING GOD, THEY ARE NORMAL AMERICANS. COME DOWN FROM YOUR HIGH HORSE AND READ OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENTS!! THE FATHERS OF THIS COUNTRY SAID THE SAME THING!! HELLO!! WERE THEY LUNATICS TOO? THE ONLY FAIRY TALE HERE IS BELIEVING THAT SOMETHING COMES FROM NOTHING.

[Roberta]

Did God direct her to dabble in witchcraft? I think not. I also think this lady is off the beam, and doesn't know what she's doing or why. Please, Delaware, vote for anyone else!

[Roberta]

Rosemary... well said!

[Mr Bretz]

Too bad we don't live in Salem....you know what they did to witches.

[Bruce Albert]

Roberta pleaded: "Please, Delaware, vote for anyone else!"

I hear you! For the first time in over 50 years of voting. I will vote for a Democrat for national office.

Bruce
Life Long Republican
Rehoboth Beach DE

[thomas dicks]

Come November 3rd, Chris O'Donnell is going to realize that maybe she had been misinformed and that God didn't want her to run after all. The whole idea that she and others like Rand Paul, Miller in Alaska and Angle(sp) in Nevada are given any credence or attention is absolutely mind-boggling.
As the saying goes, "When little people cast a long shadow, you know the Sun is setting".
tom dicks
Minneapolis

[Mark G]

"God is the reason I'm running" ... I hope he's getting a good laugh.

[truth to power]

Mixing Religion into politics is madness!

[Oregon Jeff]

INDEPENDENT VOTER - Just a reminder. Any member of government when they take their oath of office places their hand on the bible and swears to uphold the constitution. They do not place their hand on the constitution and swear to uphold the bible. Sorry, but that's my biggest problem with the "Religious Right" is they forget what they are obligated to uphold.

[scott]

God told GW Bush to go to war -- he said so himself ..

so is it a religious war were waging .. ? or do they hate us for our freedom?
you can take your God and shove it - plus mines bigger anyway !

[John Cruiser]

When you make up your own god and your own religion and interpret the Bible anyway that fits your agenda of course god (small "g") is going to be on your side.

Funny how God would be on the side of someone with NO political experience whatsoever, and someone who worships Satan.

[John Cruiser]

"First -- the majority of people who work in the media must not be Christian, which indicates a disconnect between the media in this country and the American public, a majority of whom, repeatedly in surveys on the question of religious affiliation, identify themselves as Christian, and,
Second -- an inability or intentional unwillingness to use journalistic impartiality in your discussion of Christian faith in public life."

Funny how the "Christians" immediately go into a persecution complex. The above post follows the typical pattern of these out of touch people - anyone who disagrees or shines a light on the stupidity posing as sponsored by God is suddenly "not a Christian".

[Mr Mark]

The delusion is strong with this one.

Suggested reading: Richard Dawkins' book on the subject, The God Delusion.

Get some help, Christine. You'll have plenty of time after Tuesday. Reality will be intruding shortly, no more so than when you're prosecuted for illegal use of campaign funds to pay your rent (and make-believe-guy-in-the-sky knows what else).

[notsospecialKM]

which god are we talking about here anyway?

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.

[Anti-Theist]

God called her! How? Does she talk to God? If so which one? Well, if God called her then she surely won't have any problems beating her opponent. What's the point of campaigning?

God said it, I believe it, that settles it! Right? Right?

So we accept that God talks to her, but if she was to state that God talks to her thru her hair dryer, we'd say WTF!!! Your crazy!

What's the addition of the hair dryer got to do with it?

This is insanity! She is a nut-bag, a delusional, egotistical, homophobic, ignorant tea bagger and so is her God.

[Native Angeleno]

If Christine O'Donnell wasn't such an opportunist, who went on tv to become a little celebrity, and said crazy things, probably lies, to get ahead in that career, she wouldn't now be decrying those attitudes she espoused. She actually is very consistent: She is still the little opportunist, now celebrating her god, for votes, to get ahead. She is as shallow as a puddle, and it shows by the sheer ridiculousness of what she says she thinks---because she thinks very little of the intelligence of those who would promote her up the ladder of her career choice of the moment.

Luckily there is not enough of those people to satisfy her meglomania, which is, at the moment, to get in the position of writing law everyone must follow. Her real future, for which this campaign is laying the groundwork, is to be the Sarah Palin of Fox News, probably with her own gossipy weekend news show, where she will expound, entertain the masses, continue to MAKE news, and make a mint.

Were she sincere about getting drenched in her shallow "relationship" with her god, which by her words can be seen as the typical elementary dualism of God as being outside her, something that speaks "to" her, not understanding, which takes great effort for a scatterbrain, that the thoughts she thinks are her icon's voice not being transmitted into her mind, that she IS her god, realizing that unity within, she would drop her quixotic series of carnival barker incarnations during her so-far ridiculous life and come clean, stop trying to fool people into elevating her, and actually be the leader and the focus of people's attention she now craves to be---but by being it, for the first time, in an honest way.

[Sandy]

Is this the same God that George W. Bush said chose him to be president?
Well, at least God's judgment is consistently bad.

[Laurence Glavin]

This is an interesting day for all this discussion about a so-called "God's" intervention in human endeavors. Several hundred people at least are dead today with very little warning because the earth shifted slightly near an island. Did they DESERVE this fate? Was it something they did or said? Considering the locale, where fundamentalist Christians are hard to find, most if not all of the deceased are now in hell because they were not baptized or had accepted Jesus Christ as their personal savior, including infants and toddlers, and maybe some unborn. No wonder the Gnostics rejected the "God" of the Bible as they knew it.

[Emile Zola]

O'Donnell reminds me so much of that miss teenager from SC that obviously was mentally handicapp and her words confirmed it. The same happens with O'Donnell. She is not even qualified for city council, much less the senate, but then again, if Palin can be candidate for the presidency after having Bush as president, maybe mentally challenged people should hold elective office. One thing I don't understand is why people with special needs flock always to the republican, tea partiers and then it hits me: How can a party that is for billionaires, millionaires can vote for the elite, when all tea partiers receive Medicare? The answer has to be that they'll rather go under and live under a bridge that give up their racism. Conditions under GWB were much dire and they were nowhere to be found. Enter a black as president and then all hell breaks loose.

[Donald Michael Kraig]

I strongly disagree with your description of CBN as having “daily news shows with a Christian bent.” That implies that the station represents mainstream Christianity. It does not. Christianity is not a monolithic structure and has numerous sets of beliefs among followers. Not all follow or agree with the extremist right-wing politics shown on this station.

[mansterEZ1]

If Chrissy reflected the words of our founders and shifted the conversation to Deism the she might have garnered some real support from the political middle. Instead witchcraft pushed her ideals out to the extreme right and out of touch with the majority. When any evangelical born again speaks with rational reason, even if they really don't actually practice it (think GeeDubya), low information voters will most likely follow. Her problem is that she came in carrying that Christian right anchor like a badge of honor in a middle of the road electorate state. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride and she is riding that pack horse with all the baggage of her colorful past.

[Jim]

Let me try to explain this to those who do not understand Christianity. God created everything. God is the reason for everything. God cannot be separated from anything, be it politics, life, the world, or the entire cosmos.