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Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of VirginiaChapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New YorkChapter 10 - The Baptists of North Carolina, Maryland,...

Southern Baptists are organizing a nationwide prayer campaign to accompany their values-voter registration drive, seeking spiritual renewal for families and churches, and God's favor for public officials who are guided by the Bible. The 40/40 Prayer Vigil for Spiritual Revival and National Renewal will run from Sept. 24 through Nov. 2, two days before the general election. The daily prayers include requests for God's guidance in voting, for the election of more "godly Christians," for God to "help churches find ways to help Christians get to the polls" and for public officials to be protected "from the attacks of Satan."...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode Island Chapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of VirginiaChapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New YorkChapter 10 - The Baptists of North Carolina,...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of VirginiaChapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New YorkChapter 10 - The Baptists of North Carolina, Maryland,...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of VirginiaChapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New YorkChapter 10 - The Baptists of North Carolina, Maryland,...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles? Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and Puritans Chapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger Williams Chapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode Island Chapter 4 - The Providence and Newport Churches Chapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea Church Chapter 6 - The Boston Baptists Chapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New Jersey Chapter 8 - The Baptists of Virginia Chapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles? Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and Puritans Chapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger Williams Chapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport Churches Chapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea Church Chapter 6 - The Boston Baptists Chapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New Jersey Chapter 8 - The Baptists of Virginia Chapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New York...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of VirginiaChapter 9 - Baptists of Connecticut and New York THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS X. THE BAPTISTS OF NORTH...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New JerseyChapter 8 - The Baptists of Virginia THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS IX. BAPTISTS OF CONNECTICUT AND NEW YORK In considering the introduction and spread...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston BaptistsChapter 7 - New Centers of Baptist Influence: South Carolina - Maine - Pennsylvania - New Jersey THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS VIII. THE BAPTISTS OF VIRGINIA No chapter of Baptist history, European or American, fills honest hearts with warmer gratitude...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea ChurchChapter 6 - The Boston Baptists THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS VII. NEW CENTERS OF BAPTIST INFLUENCE--SOUTH CAROLINA--MAINE-- PENNSYLVANIA--NEW JERSEY As a wrathful tempest scatters seed over a continent, so persecution has always forced Baptists where their wisdom had not led them. The first American Baptist...

Previous posts in the series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport ChurchesChapter 5 - Chaunce, Knolly, Miles and the Swansea Church THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS VI. THE BOSTON BAPTISTS Fierce bigotry and intolerance did much for the ancient Baptists in Jerusalem of old, and this history repeated itself in Boston during the year 1651. The story is very simple. William Witter, a plain old farmer,...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Despite media speculation to the contrary, three new polls show that evangelicals, including Southern Baptist pastors, support Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama by wide margins. The polls were released as Obama courts Christian leaders and voters in hopes of cutting into what has traditionally been a Republican stronghold. During the Democratic primary, Obama's campaign released a flyer in conservative Kentucky showing him at a pulpit, with a cross in the background, quoting him as saying, "I won't be fulfilling God's will unless I go out and do the Lord's work." The flyer called Obama a "committed...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Under pressure to fight child sex abuse, the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee said Tuesday that the denomination should not create its own database to help churches identity predators or establish an office to field abuse claims. The report decried sexual abuse as reprehensible and a sin. But the Southern Baptist principle of local church autonomy means it's up to individual churches _ and not the convention _ to screen employees and take action against offenders, the committee said.

Previous posts in the series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode IslandChapter 4 - The Providence and Newport Churches THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS V. CHAUNCE--KNOLLYS--MILES AND THE SWANSEA CHURCH Several hints are found in the early colonial writings, that an individual here and there amongst the colonists inclined to Baptist views in relation to infant baptism and immersion before the immersion of Williams. Governor Winslow wrote of the Baptists, in 1646: 'We...

I have hang over of Biblical proportions. As in my head is splitting like the Red Sea. Fire and brimstone are flying from me like the wrath of an Angy God. I believe the Germans caused this by immigrating to Texas and brewing a concoction known as "Shiner Bock." Anyone have any suggestions?

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger WilliamsChapter 3 - The Settlement of Rhode Island THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS IV. THE PROVIDENCE AND NEWPORT CHURCHES ROGER WILLIAMS, having adopted the old Baptist principle of absolute soul-liberty and given it practical effect in the civil provisions which he had devised, could not stop there. This deep moral truth carried with it certain logical outworkings concerning human duty as well as its rights, and as his doctrine...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction - Have We a Visible Succession of Baptist Churches Down from the Apostles?Chapter 1 - The Colonial Period: Pilgrims and PuritansChapter 2 - The Banishment of Roger Williams THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS III. SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND Salem was filled with excitement and grief when Williams was banished, and asked what its good pastor had done to merit this cruelty at the hands of his fellow-disciples in Christ? John Cotton, snugly housed in his Boston home, severely discanted on Williams's exile as any thing but 'banishment.' In that dreary New England winter, as his brother...

Previous posts in this series: Introduction THE AMERICAN BAPTISTS I. THE COLONIAL PERIOD. PILGRIMS AND PURITANS The passage of the Mayflower over the Atlantic was long and rough. Often before its bosom had been torn by keels seeking the golden fleece for kings, but now the kings themselves were on board this frail craft, bringing the golden fleece with them; and the old deep had all that she could do to bear this load of royalty safely over. Stern as she was, the men borne on her waves were sterner. More than a new empire was intrusted to her care,...

NEW YORK — Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors nationwide to defy an IRS ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction. The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., will ask the clergy to deliver a sermon about specific candidates Sept. 28. If the action triggers an IRS investigation, the legal group will sue to overturn the federal rules, which were enacted in 1954. Under the IRS code, churches can distribute voter guides, run voter registration drives, hold forums on public policy and invite politicians to speak at their congregations. However, they cannot...

"Headstrong in their two faiths, a Mormon and a Baptist squared off recently at the Tempe Institute of Religion at Arizona State University and spent 2 1/2 hours demonstrating they could aggressively question each other's religions but come away with deep respect and love for each other. Actually, some 55 times since 2001, the Rev. Gregory Johnson, founding pastor of Ogden Valley Baptist Church in Utah, and Robert Millet, dean emeritus of religious education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, have held "A Conversation Between a Mormon and an Evangelical" in the U.S., Canada and England. Between genial ribbing...

Gays, women seeking abortions, couples not married will be includedJust as the Christian church has done many wonderful things throughout history, says the Rev. Richard Mark Lee, it also has done many terrible things, such as targeting, judging and condemning various individuals and groups. On Sunday, Lee plans to apologize for these past wrongs in a sermon at his church, Sugar Hill Baptist, known as The Family Church. Some of the groups Lee said he'll apologize to include gays, women seeking abortions and couples who live together outside of marriage. "For too long, we're been known for the issues we're...

Several dozen leading members of the Southern Baptist Convention, including its current President and several past Presidents, recently released a "Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change." I attended Liberty University, a school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and specifically affiliated with Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. Both the church and the University were founded and led by Jerry Falwell until his death last May. The school and church are now led by Rev. Falwell's two sons: Jerry Falwell, Jr. is the Chancellor and President of Liberty University, and Jonathan Falwell is the senior pastor of the...

Leaders in the new Southern Baptist environmental movement were careful Monday to avoid criticizing fellow Southern Baptists still skeptical of climate change, while at the same time pushing them to have greater concern for the environment. Tue, Mar. 11, 2008 Posted: 14:07:05 PM EST Leaders in the new Southern Baptist environmental movement were careful Monday to avoid criticizing fellow Southern Baptists still skeptical of climate change, while at the same time pushing them to have greater concern for the environment. “This is a journey for each of us and Southern Baptists are at different points in this journey,” said Jonathan...

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Former president Jimmy Carter convened a large assembly of moderate and liberal Baptists in Atlanta a few weeks ago, meeting under the banner of a "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," seeking unity for social action across racial and theological boundaries among 30 different Baptist denominations. Ironically, President Carter's appeal to the first century dispute between Paul and Peter as an example of why Christians today should seek unity in spite of theological differences is actually a vivid illustration of the theological danger ahead for this effort and why Southern Baptists cannot be involved. Conspicuously absent from the gathering was...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Evangelist Billy Graham was recovering Thursday from a surgery to update a shunt that controls excess fluid in his brain, a family spokesman said. The 89-year-old Southern Baptist minister was expected to spend some of the day walking the halls of Asheville's Mission Hospital and to return to his usual diet later Thursday, said Graham spokesman Larry Ross. "He rested well overnight and is in high spirits," Ross said. White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said President Bush placed a call to Graham on Thursday morning. "He wished Rev. Graham a speedy recovery and said that he'd...

The Gaza Strip is home to 1.5 million Muslims - and about 3,000 increasingly frightened Christians. The small evangelical Baptist community has been a principal target of the extremists because of its missionary work, which has been halted. "Christians get killed here, let alone a Muslim who converted," said Ashraf, 36, who did not give his last name. "I stopped going to church even before the coup." And recently, even his church leader, pastor Hanna Massad, has fled to the West Bank. The murder of Baptist congregant Rami Eyad in October sent shock waves through Gaza's Christian community. Eyad's religious...

I am disappointed in the tactics and statements of almost all the presidential candidates, both Democrats and Republicans. My grandmother used to say that you can tell just as big a lie with a half-truth and sometimes a bigger one. Take the half-truths said about Mike Huckabee and taxes. I lived in Arkansas when he was the governor. He did away with the marriage tax penalty and the capital gains tax on the sale homes. He doubled Arkansas' standard deduction and the child care tax credit. He slashed the capital gains tax for both individuals and businesses. In 2001, Mike...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee skipped out of campaigning in Florida a day before its primary in hopes of laying claim to Fred Thompson's backers in Tennessee. He also squeezed in some time in a Music Row recording studio, playing bass guitar with a group of country music stars and session musicians. Huckabee said those who backed the former Tennessee senator's presidential run should now turn to him because he's consistently shown he's a conservative — supporting anti-abortion measures and tax cuts while governor of Arkansas. Thompson withdrew from the presidential race last week after a disappointing...

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam (BP)--Vietnamese Baptists met at Grace Baptist Church in Ho Chi Minh City Jan. 10-11 to celebrate the church’s receiving official government recognition and to organize a new national confederation. This historic development is expected to encourage future evangelism and church-planting efforts in the country. The Vietnamese government made this possible by granting a certificate of religious practice to the church. The 400-member group met to create Grace Baptist Southern General Confederation. It adopted a constitution and elected officers for the new organization, which will organize and represent new churches across Vietnam. Bouquets of flowers and...

Candidates from Hope are hip. Bill Clinton had his saxophone; Mike Huckabee plays his electric bass guitar. But when Americans hear the labels "Southern Baptist" or "evangelical," they probably don't immediately think "hip." Next to Mormons, evangelicals are probably regarded as the least cool segment of the American population. How did Mr. Huckabee become a hip evangelical politician?

(ABP) -- Evangelical scholar and seminary president Al Mohler will be nominated for the Southern Baptist Convention presidency next June, but he likely will face opposition for the prominent post. Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., will be nominated by Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. Jeffress announced his intention to nominate Mohler Jan. 2 through the SBC’s news agency. Prominent SBC blogger Wade Burleson, who earlier predicted Mohler would be nominated -- and lose -- said Jan. 4 that he expects a little-known pastor to be nominated and be elected over Mohler....

Ed Rollins is a nasty, nasty piece of work. Here he was tonight on Fox News: Rollins: The wise men like you who say Huckabee doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in heck - well, he can still go out and take his message to the people. And we’ve seen all the wisdom doesn’t live in Washington, and all the wisdom doesn’t live in the press corps.” Wallace: You can accuse me of a lot of things, but I would note we’ve had Mike Huckabee on Fox News Sunday several times— Rollins: —and we’re very grateful for the opportunity to take...

Baptist of the Year: Al GoreRobert Parham 12-28-07 Al Gore, pictured here from "An Inconvenient Truth," is EthicsDaily.com's 2007 Baptist of the Year. Al Gore is EthicsDaily.com's pick as Baptist of the Year for 2007. He has pressed for the global good with a compelling message about the danger of climate change and a clear call for moral responsibility, knitting together science and faith, reason and passion. He has refused to be distracted by the character-assassins, the fear-mongers, the science-deniers and the merchants of short-term gain. He has remained faithful to his mission of protecting the earth and its inhabitants....

When Mike Huckabee went to Houston on Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved presidential candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a nonpaying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president. Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they encountered each other in California. The former governor of Arkansas took issue then with comments by Pressler, a former Texas appeals court judge, that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war...

When Mike Huckabee went to Houston on Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved presidential candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a nonpaying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president. Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they encountered each other in California. The former governor of Arkansas took issue then with comments by Pressler, a former Texas appeals court judge, that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war...

WHEN Mike Huckabee went to Houston Tuesday to raise funds for his fast-rising, money-starved candidacy, a luncheon for the ordained Baptist minister was arranged by evangelical Christians. On hand was Judge Paul Pressler, a hero to Southern Baptist Convention reformers. But he was a non-paying guest who supports Fred Thompson for president. Huckabee greeted Pressler warmly. That contrasted with Huckabee's anger two months ago when they saw each other in California. The Arkansas ex-governor took issue then with comments by Pressler that Huckabee had been a slacker in the war against secularists in the Baptist church. Warmth in Texas and...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Republican Fred Thompson, Hollywood celebrity and former Tennessee senator, went from hot to not in short order. Now, he's trying to create another popularity burst in the presidential race, this one perfectly timed. His voice and expression serious, Thompson told Iowa voters this past week: "I would ask people to think of one thing _ when our worst enemy's thinking about what he can do to the United States of America, who do you want sitting on our side of the table representing you? That's probably the guy you ought to elect president." It was Thompson...

Negotiating the dicey waters of presidential diplomacy would be easier than resolving differences between various Baptist groups, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said in a recent campaign appearance. This is the same Mike Huckabee who last May accepted -- then rejected -- an invitation to speak at a historic pan-Baptist gathering set to begin in late January. “Being president -- that’ll be a heck of a lot easier job than getting all the Baptists to agree on everything,” Huckabee, a Baptist minister, said at a Dec. 6 political event in Greensboro, N.C., Hendersonville (N.C.) Times-News. The former Arkansas governor said...

Huckabee’s opinion on gay marriage is out there, but we should also be publicizing Huckabee’s opinions on heterosexual marriage. Specifically, what he believes about a women’s role in a marriage. In August of 1998, Huckabee was one of 131 signatories to a full page USA Today Ad which declared: “I affirm the statement on the family issued by the 1998 Southern Baptist Convention.” What was in the family statement from the SBC? “A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.” Read on… The...

Jason Pratt, novelist, lay theologian and orthodox Christian universalist, notices a peculiar convergence of statistics presented by Ed Stetzer (director of LifeWay Research) during a conference on Reformed theology and the Southern Baptist Convention last week. The statistical anomaly suggests as many as 40 percent of recently graduating SBC pastors may be ready to consider universalism.Dyer, TN (PRWEB) December 7, 2007 -- Last week, the LifeWay Ridgecrest Conference Center hosted a conference on Reformed theology (commonly known as 'Calvinism') and the Southern Baptist Convention, in Ridgecrest, NC. Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, presented startling statistics in his opening address...

The whole time Mitt Romney was talking this morning, we were thinking: "Is he presidential?" And "his hair looks askew" and "but, is he presidential?" What we heard was: "Blah blah blah" and then the money quote: "Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin," Romney said. And this: "If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion,...

It is very rare, if not unheard of, to catch a presidential candidate, especially a Republican, in the act of saying he or she would be willing to sign any tax increase that lawmakers wished for. But that's what happened to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has rocketed to a statistical tie in Iowa with Mitt Romney, largely as a result of the former Baptist minister's support from evangelical voters in the nation's first caucus state. The Club for Growth, an effective tax-cut advocacy group, has been on Huckabee's back almost from the beginning of his candidacy, sending out...

According to The Politico, New York Post columnist and FOX News contributor Dick Morris has been secretly advising former client Mike Huckabee on his Presidential campaign. Morris claims he is acting in an entirely voluntary capacity by simply offering free advice. Keep in mind that nationally syndicated columnist George Will was pilloried by the media when it became public that he had secretly and voluntarily helped Ronald Reagan prepare for his Presidential debates in 1980. A prominent national GOP insider tells Politics1 that he believes Morris -- despite his claims to the contrary -- is paid for his services through...

New Iowa Leader Criticized by for Indecision on Federal Student Aid. Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who backed in-state tuition for the children of illegal immigrants, hedged Sunday on whether illegal immigrants who have gone to school in the United States should become eligible for federal student aid such as Pell grants and subsidized federal student loans. "I'm not sure that I would support that," Huckabee told ABC News, "it was a different program in Arkansas." Huckabee's failure to take a clear position on federal student aid while appearing on ABC News' "This Week with George...

Editor's note, Sept. 1, 2005: Wayne Dumond, convicted of rape in Arkansas and murder in Missouri, died of apparent natural causes in prison Tuesday. The occasion prompts us to republish Murray Waas' prize-winning article for the Arkansas Times in 2002 about the extraordinary steps Gov. Mike Huckabee took to help win Dumond's freedom. He has since blamed others for Dumond's release to kill again, but his actions over many years demonstrated his support for Dumond and, ultimately, the instrumental role he played in the parole board's decision to free him. Special handling How the Huckabee administration worked to free rapist...

One of the national writers putting together a profile of Mike Huckabee asked how it might be that this preacher showed such an affinity for popular culture. The Chuck Norris alliance, the tailgate party in South Carolina with the wrestler, the pardon for Keith Richards, the playing of bass guitar in a rock cover band offering Lynyrd Skynyrd - isn't all that out of character for a man from the Southern Baptist pulpit? Actually, Huckabee was a radio man before he was a preacher and he has remained more decidedly a media man than a pulpit man. His superficially likable...

With word that the FairTax political operation has run out of money, the talk in Iowa is that a new organization may be coming to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's aid. A 501c4 organization is said to be forming to help Huckabee in the 30 or so days leading up to the Iowa Republican caucus. Huckabee has been leveraging the support of two semi-obscure groups in Iowa, the FairTax group, a one-time offshoot of the Church of Scientology, and a second-tier home-schooling coalition, which operates a 501c4 and has been attempting to organize support for Huckabee in Iowa, South Carolina,...

Republican presidential candidates have pulled out their knives for Mr. Nice Guy. A surprising surge of support for Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, who had long seemed a rank outsider in the 2008 presidential race has turned him into a target six weeks before voting in Iowa. The Times of London reports that “running on a shoestring budget as an affable conservative with unrivalled religious qualifications (he is a former Baptist minister), Huckabee has been previously dismissed as an under-funded no-hoper. He is mostly known for a quirky sense of humor and his skills on bass guitar -...