She told WorldNetDaily:

“If I felt that’s what the Lord was calling me to do, I would do it,” she answered. “When I have sensed that the Lord is calling me to do something, I’ve said yes to it. But I will not seek a higher office if God is not calling me to do it. That’s really my standard.

“If I am called to serve in that realm I would serve,” she concluded, “but if I am not called, I wouldn’t do it.”

And in 2006 she said:

God then called me to run for the United States Congress, and I thought ‘What in the world will that be for?’ and my husband said ‘You need to do this,’ and I wasn’t so sure, and we took 3 days and we fasted and we prayed and we said, ‘Lord. Is this what you want? Is this your will?’ and after long about the afternoon of day two, he made that calling sure. And its been now 22 months that I’ve been running for United States Congress. Who in their right mind would spend 2 years to run for a job that lasts 2 years? You’d have to be absolutely a fool to do that. You are now looking at a fool for Christ. This is a fool for Christ.

Image: Glen, Flickr

The religious right is ramping up its campaign against health care reform, even joining with the “tea party” movement to encourage conservative Christians to swamp town hall meetings. Minnesota’s religious right leaders say that the health care reform package is against God’s plan for health care and that Christians should go to community forums and “read them the riot act.”

Jan Markell of Maple Grove–based Olive Tree Ministries called on her radio listeners to attend congressional town hall meetings in August. “Here’s what you can do, your congressmen and senators are coming home for much of August,” she said on last week’s program. “They are going to have town hall meetings all over the place. You need to go there and give them an earful. The ideal thing to do is to go to their town hall and read them the riot act — in Christian love — but read them the riot act on this issue of health care.”

But she implied Rep. Michele Bachmann should be spared, heaping praises upon her: “[Michele Bachmann] is one of my favorite people. She is doing just an outstanding job in Congress standing up for what is right. She’s got a target on her back. You need to pray for her and her family.”

The Minnesota Family Council says that Obama’s plan for health care reform is against God’s design.

“Some may ask what does God have to do with our health care system,” wrote Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard. “For one, He’s created the government as an institution in society to do certain things. When we reject His design for government, in a sense, we’re rejecting Him.”

Prichard continues, “In Obama’s worldview, our trust is in government not in God. A denial of how God designed and created our economic and social systems to actually work in the real world. The result? The abysmal failure of government control of health care in socialist models. From the USSR which takeover [sic] everything, including health care, to our neighbors to the north, Canada and European countries such as the UK where rationing and massive waiting periods are the order of the day.”

In the national context, the largest and most well-known religious right groups are employing some bizarre tactics. The Christian Coalition of America is pitting seniors against immigrants. Health care reform would “provide healthcare to illegal aliens, while rationing care to elderly and disabled American citizens.”

Americans for Truth say that the public option would go to pay for sexual reassignment surgery for transgendered people. “Will ObamaCare Turn into Taxpayer-funded ‘Tranny-Care’?” asks their latest email alert. The Family Research Council is pushing Republican talking points — verbatim.

And the majority of these groups are tagging along with the tea party movement to swarm congressional town hall meetings. Focus on the Family is urging its members to attend such meetings and “demand that abortion funding be explicitly excluded from any reform bill.”

The Family Research Council want its members armed with video cameras. “Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share–in a respectable manner–your thoughts with your congressman,” an email from the group instructs. “While you’re at it, why not bring your video camera?”

And the American Family Association tells its members to keep the pressure on: “Don’t let the liberal left silence you! The future of our country and our children and grandchildren is at stake. The ugly name calling shows that your voices are being heard. Please keep it up!”

Norm Coleman (WDCpix)

It worked for Rep. Michele Bachmann. In 2006, the Stillwater Republican told worshipers at her church that “Twenty-two months ago, [God] called me to run for United States Congress.” She was elected — and then re-elected. On Friday, former Sen. Norm Coleman made similar statements about his own calling to be back in the Senate.

Coleman, who is Jewish, told nationally syndicated conservative radio host Mike Gallagher that he knows “God wants me to serve,” according to Smart Politics.

But for local, presumably more centrist audiences, he gave a godless version the same day. “I’ve been blessed to serve,” he told Minnesota Public Radio’s Tom Crann. “I want to continue to serve.”

Perhaps it’s a sign that Coleman’s hoping for some divine intervention in his Senate contest. Early last week, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight said that the chances of a win based on another look at rejected absentee ballots is unlikely.

Update: Apparently a Huffington Post link to this Smart Politics post overloaded the site’s server; here’s Google’s cache of the page [screengrab].

Related: Video: Burris’ backing from God recalls Bachmann’s, Palin’s

Roland Burris, Jan. 5, 2009: “The Lord put his hands on the governor and said, ‘This is the person that has to go to Washington.’”

Michele Bachmann, Oct. 14, 2006: “He called me to run for United States Congress”