Good Morning America recently had a story entitled Palin's Pals, in which four of Sarah Palin's closest friends are interviewed. They've been friends with Sarah for fifteen years (I think that's what it said).
What interested me is that it's a politically diverse group. Three of them identified themselves as pro-choice. One said she wasn't even sure if she'd vote for McCain. Another said she's thinking of voting for a Republican Presidential candidate for the first time in her life. Someone in the group disagreed with Palin on whether polar bears should be declared an endangered species.
The Palin presented in this story seems to be different from the one in Anne Kilkenny's letter. Kilkenny portrays Palin as someone who considers anyone who disagrees with her to be an enemy, and works to undermine that person, whatever the cost.
Who knows? Maybe Palin governs differently from how she runs her personal life. If Kilkenny is correct, then Palin likes to surround herself with yes-people and uses arm-twisting to get things done. But absolute agreement on politics apparently isn't a criterion for the friends she chooses.
But the story did say that Palin doesn't really discuss politics with her friends.
Palin is a pro-life Christian conservative, yet she's friends with people who clearly are not. I wonder if she gets to be salt-and-light in that group--not by manipulating people into believing the same way she does, but by representing Christ through being a good friend. I'm reminded of something a pastor told me about why God isn't mentioned in the Book of Esther: you don't have to mention God's name to represent him.
But some will disagree with that statement. Also, I think Palin's friends pretty much know she's a Christian, whether or not she's actually "witnessed" to them.