Mike Huckabee, the candidate of more religious right leaders than anyone else, naturally has on examination, the grim record of an old time religious rightist. Routine reporting will undoubtedly surface more of the dark side of the seeminlgy sunny Huckabee.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."People for the American Way explains why religious right activists like Mike. At the "Values Voters Summit" last fall, he wanted to make clear that he was their guy.
On marriage, he said he would lead an effort to pass a constitutional amendment affirming marriage as "one man, one woman, for life." On abortion, he needled the missing candidates and said "on this issue, our culture rises or falls." He backed the Iraq war, calling it a "theological war" against people "whose religious fanaticism will not be satisfied until every last one of us is dead, until our culture, our society, is completely obliterated from the face of the earth." The Des Moines Register finds conservative Christians unpersuaded regarding Mitt Romney's claims about how his Mormon faith would affect a Romney presidency:
The Wall Street Journal found about the same thing. But the former top political operative of the late religious right leader, D. James Kennedy is more than a little agitated. Gary Cass says in a press release:
"Mitt Romney, Presidential candidate and Mormon Bishop, in his speech regarding his Mormon faith sounded conciliatory towards other faiths. But his position is not consistent with the Mormon beliefs he adamantly affirmed in whole and from which he refused to distance himself. The Mormon faith has, from its inception, attacked all other religions, especially orthodox Christianity," said Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. Pastordan finds a whole lotta "faithiness" (adapted from Stephen Colbert's "truthiness") when it comes to Romney and a lot of what passes for political discussions of "faith."
If a candidate is going to foreground their faith, then they should be responsible for the particulars of that faith. Most especially, they should own how they have lived that faith. After all, as somebody once said, "Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord", will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven." If a candidate wants to play to faith, that's their prerogative. The prerogative of their audience is to hold him or her accountable for accurately representing their beliefs.
Short Takes: Mitt & Huck Edition, The Second | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
Short Takes: Mitt & Huck Edition, The Second | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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