Posted on 12/13/2007 9:29:41 AM PST by Grig
Now that he has his moment in the political spotlight, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee does not want his days at the pulpit to be scrutinized.
As Huckabee has surged to the front of the Republican pack in Iowa, his religious views have drawn media and voter attention. After all, Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, has been campaigning as a "Christian leader." But he has vacillated on how far to interject faith into politics. At an early debate, he indicated he does not believe in evolution, but at a more recent debate, when he was asked by Wolf Blitzer if the creation of the Earth occurred six thousand years ago and only took six days, as stated in the Old Testament, Huckabee said, "I don't know. I wasn't there." During a question-and-answer session with students at fundamentalist Liberty University last month, he asserted that his rise in the polls has an explanation that is "beyond human" and is due to the power of his supporters' prayers. Afterward, he backtracked slightly, adding, "I'm saying that when people pray, things happen.... I'm not saying that God wants me to be elected." (At a victory rally held after Huckabee won a 1993 special election for lieutenant governor, Huckabee told his supporters that he had only won because God had intervened, according to the Texarkana Gazette.)
With Huckabee walking this fine line, his campaign has declined to make available sermons that Huckabee delivered during his preaching days.
Before beginning his political career, Huckabee was a Southern Baptist minister for 12 years in his home state of Arkansas. He assumed the pastorate at Immanuel Baptist Church in the town of Pine Bluff in 1980, at the age of 25. Six years later, he moved to Beech Street First Baptist Church in Texarkana. In both locations, Huckabee's energy, ambition, and skills as a communicator energized his congregation. Under his leadership, each church grew.
When asked for copies of the sermons Huckabee delivered at Immanuel Church, an employee there claimed none could be found. A Beech Street Church pastor's assistant maintained that much of the archival material from Huckabee's tenure as pastor had been destroyed during a remodeling. The rest, she said, was not available to the press.
When Mother Jones contacted the Huckabee campaign and asked if it would help make his previous sermons available, the campaign replied in a one-sentence email that it had received multiple requests for such material and was "not able to accommodate" them.
Only a small sampling of Huckabee's early speeches are publicly available. While the pastor at Beech Street, Huckabee became president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. (At 34, he was the youngest person to ever preside over the 490,000-person group.) He held the office from 1989 to 1991. Several of his sermonlike speeches were featured in the convention's publications. In a 1990 speech to his fellow state Baptists, Huckabee urged the audience to hold to what he called "The 10 Commendations," including "Thou shalt love like a family" and "Thou shalt be found faithful." Huckabee also said, "It doesn't embarrass me one bit to let you know that I believe Adam and Eve were real people."
This remark was a bolder endorsement of biblical creationism than any comment Huckabee has been willing to make while campaigning for president this year. During a CNN/YouTube debate, the Republican field was asked by a man holding a Bible, "Do you believe every word of this book?" Huckabee said that portions of the Bible should "obviously" be seen as "allegorical." He again stated that he could not know the exact meaning of parts of the Bible, saying, "There are parts of it I don't fully comprehend and understand, because the Bible is a revelation of an infinite god, and no finite person is ever going to fully understand it." His earlier comment about Adam and Eve suggests he takes at least Genesis literally.
Huckabee certainly has reason to be concerned about an examination of his earlier remarks and sermons. Comments he made 15 years ago about AIDS and homosexuality recently became a campaign issue. During a failed run for the U.S. Senate in 1992, Huckabee noted in response to a questionnaire, "Homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk." He suggested that the federal government commit no additional federal funding to finding a cure for AIDS, then considered by many to be a gay disease. In the same reply, Huckabee displayed callousness toward AIDS victims and an ignorance about the ways in which AIDS could be transmitted. "If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague," he wrote. "It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents." Instead of additional federal funding, said Huckabee, "An alternative would be to request that multimillionaire celebrities, such as Elizabeth Taylor [,] Madonna and others who are pushing for more AIDS funding be encouraged to give out of their own personal treasuries increased amounts for AIDS research."
Seeking to explain these comments recently, Huckabee made it clear that he still sees homosexuality as sinful, but that he has softened his position on AIDS research. "If I were making those same comments today, I might make them a little differently," he said.
Huckabee has indeed mixed religion with policy previously. In 1997, when he was governor, he answered a question about capital punishment during a call-in show:
Interestingly enough, if there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, "This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency."
Huckabee's argument: since Jesus didn't say that, according to the New Testament, capital punishment is fine. Also that year, Huckabee refused to sign legislation to assist storm victims because the measure referred to tornadoes and floods as "acts of God." Putting his name on such legislation, Huckabee explained, "would be violating my own conscience" due to the bill equating "a destructive and deadly force" as "an act of God."
In all the sermons Huckabee delivered before jumping into politics, he no doubt revealed beliefs and ideas that would be of interest to voters today. But his campaign, looking to attract evangelical Christian voters without alienating others, is not interested in seeing that material become part of the current political discourse. Huckabee the candidate is shunning Huckabee the pastor.
David Corn is the Washington D.C. bureau chief for Mother Jones. Jonathan Stein is a reporter in the Washington bureau.
If his sermons are released, Huckabee will be annhilated.
That doesn’t matter to me really, unless it becomes something that he tries to infiltrate into my everyday life.
What bothers me about Huckabee is the fact that he’s liberal on just about every issue outside of gays, abortion, and guns.
Huckabee would never rise to any position of prominence in the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, let alone retain it for two years, if he deviated from the Word of God.
Do I really see Mother Jones articles being posted on Free Republic without a barf alert? Break out the Birkenstocks, power to the people, and bring back the summer of love!
bookmark
“If his sermons are released, Huckabee will be annhilated.”
That may very well be the ace Hillary has up her sleeve. Can you imagine article after article of Pastor Huckabee’s preaching cherry picked and taken out of context? They’ll be able to make him sound like the biggest idiot who ever drew breath, I’m sure.
He has no chance in the general. By the time Hillary gets done slicing and dicing him, coupled with the fact that he just threw away the votes of millions of Mormons, who, by the way, vote Republican in higher percentages than even evangelical Christians do, he has no chance. None. Republicans better wise up if they want to win this election.
Wow, this is too rich. Huckabee being criticized for his religious beliefs!!
But Huckabee criticizes Romney’s religious beliefs and is called a bigot! !
The PC folk are going to twist themselves in knots.
Romney spoke a number of times too as a religious leader. People forget that he was a Stake President, a religious leader over probably 1,500 to 2,000 people. He also served as an LDS Bishop. He’s got a number of talks (or sermons) that I would welcome to be released. I think the Romney campaign could really do some damage to the Huckabee campaign by releasing some of those talks that Romney gave in stake conference (I’m sure he’s got paper copies somewhere as there won’t be any video or audio recording of them) or other church meetings. Huckabee would look bad if he released his sermons or if he continued to refuse to release them. I’m certain he voiced some inflammatory things while Romney’s talks are going to be more than acceptable to just about any Republican that reads them.
I don’t want the primary to be a contest between LDS and Southern Baptists. Focusing on their records as Governor would be more productive.
Kind of a reach.....
Not that I give a wit about Huckabee...as I happen to think he's as big a problem as Romney.
And I'm not talking about R E L I G I O N.
I'm talking about their policies........
Good point.
It’s just a gold mine for opposition research. They’ll try to take a sentence or paragraph out of context (actually strike the “try” . . . they will take a sentence out of context surely) . . . and it will be an unfair attack.
While I may not agree with the huckster on many issue’s, when he stands up for what is right, that is good. In all honesty how can someone these days be ignorant about how the AIDS virus is spread? Leftist rubbish.
It would be a fascinating comparison, especially a blind comparison, but I won’t be holding my breath. The only relevance I can see in it would be in seeing if MH is saying one thing from the pulpit and another on the campaign trail.
I believe that was a deliberate calculation by Huckabee or his advisers. The Mormons count about 13 million members and that is a worldwide figure. The Southern Baptists alone claim about 16 million in the U.S. I’ve read that Christian Evangelicals number about 40 million but that may be low.
Huckabee was quoted: “Don’t Mormons,” he asked in an innocent voice, “believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”
Huckabee is parlaying the power of religious bigotry into votes. Most politicians, of either party, will sell their soul for power. That includes politicians posing as preachers.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
In Huck’s case, his sword is religion.
His answer was to say he does not know how God created the world - 6 literal days, or 6 periods of time. He only said he believed God created the world and did not go into how He created it.
My question is this - if asking a simple question about Mormon doctrine (one that has plagued LDS for several years) is out of bounds, how could rehearsing years of sermons to the general public be “in bounds?”
Out of curiosity, in what way?
As noted here, it is unlikely he preached anything other than the same Gospel proclaimed by other Baptist clergy such as Charles Stanley or Jerry Falwell. Is there something in their message which is illegal, immoral, or otherwise improper?
So he's okay with bringing back crucifixion, since Jesus didn't say it was cruel and unusual punishment?
God told him to keep all that stuff under wraps.
But Huckabee criticizes Romney’s religious beliefs and is called a bigot! !
The PC folk are going to twist themselves in knots.
Exactly! And by the way, since when is it so terrible for voters to take someone's religious beliefs into account when choosing a candididate?
This is still America (I think) and I'll choose my candidate according to my own criteria, not the mass media's.
Not directing that last paragraph at you, just venting.
no, of course not. the media will crucify him (pun intended) either way, because he’s republican, conservative, straight, male, and non-diverse. being religious is a bonus to them - a gold-mine for oppo ammo.
heathens.
If it was a deliberate calculation, it was stupid. This is an evenly split electorate, as we’ve seen from the last few elections. Margins of victory are slim, and Huckabee throwing away millions of potential votes is shortsighted.
If he’s the nominee, Huckabee’s already got the votes of evangelicals. They’re not going over to the Dem when they’ve got one of their own to vote for. What he needs are the votes from everybody else: Mormons, Catholics, moderates, fiscal conservatives, etc. If that coalition doesn’t hold, the Dem will win. And Huckabee, in his overarching eagerness to seal a deal with evangelicals which is already sealed, is alienating too many of the rest of the votes he will need to win.
You may be right. It may be calculated. I’ve been thinking for a while now, that, of all the candidates on our side, Huckabee is the most glib, but the least intelligent.
That's not the issue really. The issue is that most Americans will not allow a Baptist Preacher to occupy the White House...right or wrong.
It scares the hell out of them.
The Drive Byes and Dims are just chomping at the bit to toss around the phrase “Taliban Wing of the Republican Party”...
If there wasn’t something there that could be used against him, even if it has to be twisted and taken out of context in order to do so, he would release the sermons.
I assume you are coming at this from the view point of a staunch evangelical Christian. You understand the terminology, the phraseology and the context of such sermons. Remember that most Americans are Christian, but they are not evangelicals, and don’t have that background to draw from in analyzing his writings. Also keep in mind that most voters are not going to take the time to read the sermons themselves, consider them in their totality, and put them into context. Instead, they will get their info from the MSM and judge the sermons accordingly.
Gee, you mean someone might take complex theological doctrines out of context, and spin them with disingenuously loaded misrepresentations? All to appeal to the preconceptions of voters who are suspicious of unfamiliar sectarian concepts and beliefs? I can't imagine anyone using THAT tactic *coughuckcough*.
I’m not voting for Huckabee in the primary. But if he is nominated I’m sure not voting for Hillary.
Well, I am a Christian myself. I’d love to have a Christian in the White House, all else being equal. But the fact is, a majority of Americans are quite uncomfortable with politicans who are very open with their faith. And that’s putting it in a nice way. More like, hostile. The Democrats could find ample ammunition in a random sermon. The point being, his sermons were probably not meant for political consumption. It’d be like if your co-workers could all hear some very private conversations you’d had (or even worse, your own thoughts). At the very best, you’d feel like you were raped. The conversation would be played for an audience it was not intended for.
You Mormons really are reaching if you will post this against Huckabees integrity.
AMEN and AMEN!
I live in the area. Everybody knows everybody for hundreds of miles around.
What do you believe? Big Bang?
He just might be the answer to the Clinton smoking gun!
I think that it is the job of Baptist preachers to scare the HELL out of Americans or anyone else.
“Did you complete college in 2 1/2 years?”
It took me a little less than three years. Of couse, I had a double major, and I graduated Magna Cum Laude. I am also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society, and qualify to join Mensa.
It took me 18 months to finish graduate school with a 3.9 GPA.
Thanks for asking. How about you?
He’s book smart, and he may have a decent IQ, for what that’s worth, but if he keeps opening his mouth only to change feet, he’s going to take himself right out of contention.
He’s a liberal in all areas but a few trying to run as a conservative, and the cognitive dissonance that engenders appears to be taking its toll. Even Rush Limbaugh, not one to violate Reagan’s 11th Commandment, said today that some of Huckabee’s answers in the debate could have come from John Edwards. That’s going to hurt.
Since “they” know so much about Huck, how again is he hiding his faith?
Amen brother!
The dems seem to pick the worse person they can find instead of the best and they get worse every 4 years
Clinton, Gore, Kerry and now Bills Wife.
We are doing the same thing if we fall for Huckabee.
[Exactly! And by the way, since when is it so terrible for voters to take someone’s religious beliefs into account when choosing a candidate?
This is still America (I think) and I’ll choose my candidate according to my own criteria, not the mass media’s.
Not directing that last paragraph at you, just venting.]
Vent away. It even deserves a Re-Vent!
The Huckster KNOWS better than that, and if he doesn't, then he should be defrocked. I suspect that he really does know, but this is just further proof that the man is basically dishonest.
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