Dan
Calabrese
Read Dan's bio and previous columns here
January 8, 2008
My Fellow Evangelicals
Blow It By Supporting Mike Huckabee
Secular America looks at the rise of Mike Huckabee and fears the growing
influence of evangelical Christians in the political process.
This evangelical Christian columnist fears it too, for exactly the
opposite reason.
Huckabee’s win in the Iowa caucuses, and his sudden viability as a
candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, owes to one thing
and one thing only. Large numbers of evangelical voters are looking for
someone to represent their values, and Huckabee is the only candidate
who seems to do so.
Even though he looks to finish no better than third in tonight’s New
Hampshire primary, Huckabee has become a force to be reckoned with, and
evangelical voters made it happen.
I
fear that will have devastating long-term consequences for the cause of
Christ in America.
For anyone who takes a serious look at his record, his policy positions
and his handling of life in public office, it should be painfully
obvious that Mike Huckabee is not qualified for the presidency. His
populist economic rhetoric sounds like Ross Perot. His bemoaning of the
Bush administration’s “arrogant bunker mentality” in foreign policy
sounds like Dennis Kucinich. His lectures on health and exercise sound
like Richard Simmons.
He
displays no depth on questions of spending, taxation, national security
and energy policy.
Worse, he seems to see his position of authority as a mechanism to
impulsively apply his evangelical agenda. As governor, he pardoned or
otherwise advocate the earlier release of more than 1,000 criminals, with beneficiaries including 13
murderers (one of whom went on to kill again), Huckabee acts as though
his seat in the state house is license to bestow a Christ-like gift of
grace to anyone he chooses.
Even Jesus didn’t cut the thieves down from their crosses. He just
offered them a place in Heaven. And that place where the caucus-goers
gave Huckabee a win isn’t Heaven. It’s Iowa.
I
am disappointed in my fellow evangelicals because, while I can
understand wanting a person of like mind serving in the Oval Office,
that person of like mind should have minimal qualifications for the job.
He should demonstrate a depth of knowledge of the issues. When a hugely
important National Intelligence Estimate is released, he should at least
be aware of it.
If
Mike Huckabee wins the presidency, what do evangelicals think he will be
able to do to advance the cause of Christ? He can’t sign any laws
granting Christianity any special legal status. The federal government
can do little to promote stronger families (although it can spend a lot
of money to try, and probably fail, and surely bloat the federal budget
in the process). The president can influence abortion law by appointing
Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, but do
evangelicals understand that Supreme Court justices have other cases to
consider? Do they care? And if they don’t, doesn’t the rest of the
country have a right to question whether evangelicals appreciate the
question of constitutional law in its full flavor?
Headlines after Huckabee’s win declared that evangelicals had
demonstrated their “clout.” They quoted regrettably ubiquitous Christian
attention-monger James Dobson as declaring that Christians could not be
ignored in the political process.
Is
this what Jesus commanded his followers to do? Amass political clout and
refuse to be ignored by big secular media? Did Jesus tell his apostles
to take control of nation-states and use the power to battle liberals?
Glorifying God and preaching Christ is the job of local preachers and
their local congregations. It is not the job of the president of the
United States. But the president does have a lot of other jobs, and Mike
Huckabee displays no ability to do any of them.
If
evangelical Christians somehow manage to put this man in the White
House, the inevitable failed presidency – likely a disaster of Jimmy
Carter proportions – will embarrass and marginalize the evangelical
movement for at least a generation.
Evangelicals need to learn the difference between their job – preaching
Christ and spreading his love to others – and the job of the federal
government, which is to govern the secular affairs of the nation and
provide for the common defense.
A
Christian president who actually knows what he’s doing is a great idea.
In fact, we have one right now. A Christian who hasn’t a clue – put in
office anyway just because he is a Christian – would be a blow to the
nation and a crisis of credibility for God’s people.
The only silver lining to such a disaster might be that Christians learn
their lesson and re-focus on the true mission God gave us. Let’s just
hope the nation could survive four years of inept leadership in the
meantime.
© 2008 North Star
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