Given all Mike Huckabee’s theotalk–he’s been a ten on God-o-Meter since the first of the year–you’d think GOM would be completely desensitized to it by now. But Huck keeps upping the ante. According to NBC News, he’s inserted new lines into his stump speech about wanting to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage and abortion out of a desire to bring it into line with higher laws:
“[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it’s a lot easier to change the constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that’s what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards,” Huckabee said, referring to the need for a constitutional human life amendment and an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Huckabee often refers to the need to amend the constitution on these grounds, but he has never so specifically called for the Constitution to be brought within “God’s standards,” which are themselves debated amongst religious scholars.
Even if there were no debates among religious scholars over God’s standards, God-o-Meter wonders whether the constitution of a non-theocracy ought to be brought into alignment with the divine.
10
posted January 15, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Huckabee is clearly crossing the line when it comes to the separation of Church and State. I am glad that the majority of Americans will rejects Huckabee’s message of religious identity politics and intolerance.
posted January 16, 2008 at 4:59 am
The title misrepresents what Huckabee said. He said “God’s standards”, not “the Bible”. It appears to me that this could mean general spiritual values that are common to most religions. Things like “Thou shalt not kill” and the other last six of the 10 Commandments. The principles behind these commandments are common to essentially all world religions. If that is what Huckabee meant, then I would tend to agree. There should be separation of Church and State, but not separation between spiritual values and State. There is a middle ground between theocracy and secularism.
posted January 17, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Most preachers, rabbis and priests are racketeers. This is obviously a ploy to get the Bible mutant vote.
posted January 18, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Let me give you a clue, Mike…..Speaking as an evangelical Christian (and I may be in the minority here; we’ll have to see how the primaries eventually turn out), your faith and practice have absolutely no importance to me in this presidential election. You are using your faith, not as an example of character or of inspiration, but as a political weapon against the rest of the GOP field. You have no foreign policy experience, which is necessary in a dangerous world. You have no military experience, at a time of war. You raised taxes whenever the whim hit you. You left the GOP in shambles after your term as governor in AR.
You show too much “faith” in government to solve problems when the message of conservatism should be that there are limits to what government can do. Like many religious conservatives, you have elevated politics to a religion, and the state to an idol, giving both a position that they shouldn’t have in the convictions of believers. You seem to think that government can do what only the gospel can do (change hearts, change society, change the culture). No wonder you got out of the ministry. You are taking the Republican Party down a path which will reduce its appeal among the general electorate. Your candidacy violates both what I believe the Republican Party should stand for, and what Christianity in America stands for.
posted January 19, 2008 at 6:54 pm
That’s so wrong. Just because we’re believers doesn’t mean everyone has to be. Who are we to judge other people’s beleifs? The way to witness is not to force people to do what we want. Our country was formed on the basis of freedom of religion. God doesn’t want people to beleive because they are MADE to, but because they CHOOSE to.
posted January 20, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’m relieved you gave Huckabee a “10.” In actuality, this guy is way off the chart when it comes to imposing what’s clearly his own lust for power while insisting it’s actually God’s will. Apparently God tells Huckabee to do all sorts of nasty little things (starting with lying about a theology degree, covering up his son’s torture and killing of a dog, just to name a couple).
In fact, there’s been so many allegations against Huckabee that he’s felt it necessary to address them one by one on his website under the heading “Truth Squad” — at this count, up to 17 allegations — and some not even mentioned.
However, I don’t know if Huckabee would recognize the truth if it came straight from God in the form of a lightning bolt to his aw-shucks grinning head. I’d rate him a “10″ as most potentially dangerous in the White House, also. In the Afterlife, Huckabee may very well find himself in the 8th Circle of Hell.
Be afraid. Be very afraid if this guy gets anywhere near the White House.