Sarah Palin's Breasts Are Real; Not So With Growing Number of Faithful

So Sarah Palin has officially debunked the rumors that she's had a boob job, thus sending legions of liberals into despair.

For a brief shining moment last week, Palin's critics were hoping they'd finally caught her in a bit of hypocrisy that even her devotees, especially among the Christian right, couldn't possibly forgive. If "Saint Sarah," as Newsweek's cover story dubs the queen of conservative evangelicalism, was caught augmenting what God saw fit to give her, Palin would have to be excommunicated by the faithful. Right?

Fat chance. It turns out Christians may be as easygoing about cosmetic surgery as everyone else -- except of course Joan Rivers -- so if Sarah Palin did have work done (like she needs it?), there's a pretty good chance the response from the faithful would be somewhere between "Amen!" and "You go, girl!"

As far back as 2004, J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine and a leading voice in Pentecostal Christianity, was lamenting what he saw as the obvious rise in cosmetic surgery among Christians, telling readers about "one prominent charismatic church where all the women on staff -- and the wives of all the pastors -- have had breast-enhancement surgery. "

The fad only appears to have increased since then, for Christians and everyone else.

Nationally, the number of cosmetic surgeries jumped nearly 70 percent in the first decade of the new millennium, according to an April survey by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. And a January poll by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery (AACS) showed that public acceptance of all forms of cosmetic surgery, from breast augmentation to Botox treatments, is also up sharply.

"This is a confirmation of what many of us have felt for a long time -- that cosmetic surgery has become mainstream," Dr. Mark Berman, president of the AACS, said of the survey showing 71 percent of respondents think society is less judgmental about cosmetic surgery than it was five years earlier, with 62 percent saying that made them feel more comfortable about getting a procedure.

That acceptance seems to extend to the Christian community as well, and especially among evangelicals and other conservative Christians whose cultural background often places a great emphasis on looking good.

For example, revelations that beauty queen Carrie Prejean had her breasts "enhanced" before competing in the Miss USA Pageant -- she finished second, while sparking controversy over her criticism of gay marriage -- did nothing to diminish her popularity among Christian conservatives.

And the reigning queen of prosperity gospel preachers, Joyce Meyer, made no apologies for the work this 66-year-old "Bible teacher" has had when she talked to ABC News in April.

"God doesn't love me anymore or less because I had some work done on my face," Meyer said. "You know, I prayed about it a long, long, long, long, long time, because there again, I wouldn't want to do anything that I felt was going to be offensive to God...But I just felt like he finally just came to my heart, you know, it's your face, do what you want to...It was a really good thing that I did for me. It made me feel good...And you know, when you're in front of millions of people every day, you want to look your best."

She added: "I want to look my best for God. So many people have the attitude that if you're a Christian you've got to dress bad, wear an old color, not do anything to your hair, have nothing. It's no wonder that Christianity is not very attractive."

Not all Christian leaders feel that way. "I admit I'm concerned. If the preacher is plastic, what does that tell us about his preaching?" Grady asked in his 2004 essay.

In the March edition of Christianity Today, writer Mollie Ziegler Hemingway pushed the issue further, asking, "Is Cosmetic Surgery Immoral?" Her answer seemed to be -- it depends:

"[P]erhaps the best way to approach questions about the morality of cosmetic surgery is to pinpoint why we're pondering the issue," Hemingway writes. "A woman who thinks her marriage will improve if she improves her bust line certainly needs help -- but probably not the kind of help that a scalpel provides. But what about the man who recently lost hundreds of pounds and has the saggy skin to prove it? Is he morally justified in getting a skin tuck? What about someone who has a birthmark that, while harmless, is tremendously distracting to others?"

This kind of ethical hand-wringing can be found in Christian chat rooms and blogs across the Internet, perhaps an indication of the rising recourse to plastic surgery along with enduring guilt over exactly why a Christian should be paying to have a tummy tucked when their fellow believers in other countries are starving.

"As for cosmetic surgery, I think it is generally unnecessary. But then, so is most of what passes for 'necessary' in the affluent West. Our homes, our wardrobes, our cars, our entertainment...it can boggle the mind," a poster called "Psalmist in Texas" wrote on one thread.

But others note that Americans (and generally women, though men increasingly) habitually engage in all sorts of cosmetic physical improvements, from tweezing eyebrows to shaving legs or coloring (or replacing) hair, and, of course, applying deodorants to mask what God gave us.

"Don't fuss over it," wrote another commenter, TeriLynn. "There are Christian cosmetic surgeons. If you find a good one and can find the cash, I say go for it...After all we cut our hair when it get's wild or too long and unruly. We pluck our eyebrows and the strange grey hairs that migrate to the chin as we get older. Most of us shave our legs and under our arms. We can do a lot of socially presentable activities and personal vanity items in moderation."

In a recent essay at Christian Women Today, motivational speaker Kay Harms spoke of feeling envious watching the final, emotional moments of an episode of "Extreme Makeover," which featured a contestant who'd been treated to all sorts of physical fixes. Harms then set out all the pros and cons about Christians opting for cosmetic surgery, and tended to come down against it. But she conceded that she and her husband had since "talked a little more seriously about saving money so that I can have my teeth professionally whitened."

The scale of the physical improvement, the extent of physical intervention required (surgery versus Botox injections, e.g.), and the relative cost all seem to be important factors for those making the moral calculations. After all, Sarah Palin had a tanning bed installed in the governor's mansion, and the main uproar was about the cost.

For most, the decision seems to come down to motivations. If you are getting cosmetic surgery because you are envious of others you feel are better looking than you are, or if you are so vain about your own good looks that you can't bear to see them change under the onslaught of the years, then there may be a spiritual problem. But not always.

"I do not feel it is a sin to have surgery to make a person feel better," a commenter named "TexasGrandma" -- who said she herself would not get work done -- wrote on one Christian message board. "In this world today, there are jobs that require a woman and man to look young and fresh and it is NOT just in the entertainment industry."

The recession may have alleviated some of the moral angst over whether to have the costlier procedures, as plastic surgeons report a modest decline -- or rather a "pause," as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) puts it -- in invasive procedures.

But industry analysts say they expect those numbers to rebound along with the economy, and they say that in the meantime, less-costly surface treatments like Botox injections, laser hair removal, chemical peels and "soft tissue fillers" are going strong.

"Skin is in," said ASPS president Dr. Michael McGuire.

And that only means the horde of Palin-obsessed critics are just going to have to look that much closer.