God's Politics and Soujourners leader Jim Wallis, a noted progressive who is also the author of God's Politics, wrote a very positive goodbye to Mike Huckabee as he concedes the Republican nomination for president to John McCain. His support of Huckabee speaks of Huckabee's nuanced message of social conservatism, and the growth of the evangelical vote away from the religious right.
I would have been a big fan of Huckabee, except that he had to make that comment in favor of the South Carolina state flag. Well, that and I am not sure about the flat tax.
Here is a quote:
In the Republican YouTube debate, the candidates were asked if they believed every word of the Bible. Huckabee said that while some of the Bible was allegorical, we needed to take much of it much more seriously than we do - like the words of Jesus which say, "As you have done to the least of these you have done to me." This is not the text that most conservatives quote when asked about the authority of the Bible. In an interview with Reuters in January, Huckabee spoke about the broadening evangelical agenda:
Unquestionably there is a maturing that is going on within the evangelical movement. It doesn't mean that evangelicals are any less concerned about traditional families and the sanctity of life. It just means that they also realize that we have real responsibility in areas like disease and hunger and poverty and that these are issues that people of faith have to address.
And when conservative columnists like Robert Novak attacked Huckabee for not being a "real conservative," this is precisely what they meant. When Huckabee was governor of Arkansas, he advocated spending money on poor people - behavior which is offensive to the economically conservative wing of the Republican Party. While Huckabee is a consistent social conservative, he is suspect by the party's economic conservatives who, of course, don't support spending any money on overcoming poverty. Huckabee disagrees with them.
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4 comments:
I did like Huckabee, I do not know about the flag comment, I will google it. Anyway...now for me I am afraid it will be more about voting against who I don't versus who I do want, because none of these would be my choice...not even Nader..har har
You know, this brings up something I have been thinking about.
The predictable answer you hear from the Religious Right when it comes to the plight of the poor is: It's not the government's job.
So if it is not the government's job, then whose is it? The church's?
The typical talking point about the primary function of the church we hear is the "preaching of the Word of God."
Fine. Back to the plight of the poor, whose job is it?
Apparently it is nobody's job. After pompously declaring that the plight of the poor is not the government's job, we have no answer when asked whose job it is.
Huckabee was onto something on that issue, and people like James Dobson would rather continue to focus on bashing gays. I would too if I were Dobson. I like keeping my money and spending it on myself rather than seriously considering God's mandate on caring for the poor, which forces me to look in the mirror and study my spending pattern. So let's just go back to bashing gays.
Hey Clint - I miss Don's blog, it was always a fun one. What is up with him pulling the last post, do you know?
David is smart. If I were Christian, I would listen to him and of course you Clint :)
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