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Saturday, January 5, 2008

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

As some of you faithful readers will recall, a few weeks back, I blogged about a then relatively unknown Republican presidential candidate named Mike Huckabee. Although the post consisted primarly of immigration banter, I did quote Mr. Huckabee and left him basking in a somewhat positive light.

I have to admit that at the time of that post, I knew very little about the Arkansas-governor-turned-wannabe-president. Given the outcome of the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday, and Mr. Huckabee's impressive Republican victory, I figured it would be a good idea to do some more research on the Razorback.

OH MY WORD.

I know that one of my goals for 2008 was to be less anxious and fearful, but, seriously, the thought of this man sitting in power at the White House is terrifying. Truthfully, I'd rather see Dubya serve another term than hear the words "President Huckabee".

Of course, I am going to disagree with Mr. Huckabee's politics on many fronts simply because I lean more towards the left. Granted, his stance against dual citizenship is appauling to me (our family is so "CanAm" that I can't even imagine any one of us having to "choose" one country over the other), his belief in the justification and continuation of the war in Iraq (and the way he uses the phrase "I am focused on WINNING" (from his website) when describing his stance on the war---is killing people winning????) is terrifying to me, his promise to INCREASE defense spending while implementing hee-oooj tax cuts is outrageous (say bye-bye to social services) to me, but, deep down, I realize that these are ideologies and a VERY VERY small part of me can see both sides to many of these issues.

But, and I mean BIG BIG BIG but...

These two issues are absolute red flag, OH MY WORD, this-is-really-scary-to-me types:

1) Posted proudly on his website, Mr. Huckabee touts, "I was the first Governor in the country to have a concealed handgun license." PROUDLY, people! I cannot, simply CANNOT rationalize this way of thinking. How on earth does it benefit society to have MORE people carrying concealed weapons around? I just can't help but think of Ellie. My sweet innocent Ellie, who could be driving in the car with me, happily talking to Cinderella on her new cell phone, on the road with people who possess GUNS in their glove boxes. GUNS! Concealed handguns!! What happens if one of these people snaps? Or if they miss their intended target? Or if my sweet baby girl is over at their house, and she happens to find their concealed "toy"? I think about what I'd tell her if she asked me why some people have handguns in their house. "Well, honey, so-and-so believes that the solution to the 'bad people' having guns, is making sure that all the 'good people' also have guns. That way, hopefully the 'good people' will shoot all the 'bad people' and the world will go back to being perfect."

2) And this one is THE kicker. Even more terrifying than concealed weapons. These are words that have come from the mouth of Mr. Huckabee, who, remember, wants to be the President of the United States:

"I fear we will turn and hit the snooze button one more time and lose this great republic of ours.... I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

(From CNN, who I consider to be a credible source.)

Oh, friends. And, ESPECIALLY, American friends who have the power to vote. Think about what that statement means. Think about what it means to you as Christians. Think about what it means to the reputation of the United States in the global community.

First of all, to "take this nation back for Christ" means that there was a time when the US was "for Christ". A time when the United States was a Christian nation. I turn to one of my favorite authors, Gregory Boyd, pastor of an evangelical Christian church in St. Paul, Minnesota, to help make my point:

"Were these God-glorifying years before, during, or after Europeans ‘discovered’ America and carried out the doctrine of ‘manifest destiny’—the belief that God had destined white Christians to conquer the native inhabitants and steal their land? Were the God-glorifying years the ones in which whites massacred these natives by the millions, broke just about every covenant they ever made with them, and then forced survivors onto isolated reservations? Was the golden age before, during, or after white Christians loaded five to six million Africans onto cargo ships to bring them to their newfound country, enslaving the three million or so who actually survived the brutal trip? Was it during the two centuries when Americans acquired remarkable wealth by the sweat and blood of their slaves? Was this the time when we were truly ‘one nation under God,’ the blessed time that so many evangelicals seem to want to take our nation back to?"
The Myth of a Christian Nation, page 98-99. (A fabulous read, by the way!)

The United States is no more 'Christian' than Canada or Iraq or Ethiopia. God doesn't love Americans, most notably, American Christians, any more than Iranian Muslims or Indian Hindus. The United States has never been God's Kingdom. Jesus is no more present in America than in Greenland.

As a Christian, Huckabee's words are disturbing to my faith, to my security, and to my government. If this country is supposed to be Christ-like, then no wonder there are so many people in the world who want to annihilate Americans. There are so many UN-Christ-like things happening in this country and by our countrymen. I don't want my faith to be associated with them. I don't want people thinking that since America is a Christian nation, then abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib, leaving homeless African Americans to die on the streets of flooded New Orleans to die, or distributing child porn over the internet is Jesus-like. I don't want American politics to internationally define my faith.

There's nothing Christ-like about the politics of the United States....OR ANY OTHER NATION. Jesus wasn't about politics.

"Jesus refused to accept conventional wisdom…His model of kingship, and his vision of the kingdom of God, was not to ‘make the world safe for democracy’ by the exercise of sheer force, was not to effect a ‘balance of power’ through the threat of nuclear holocaust, was not to ‘rid the world of evil’ through a never-ending crusade of ‘war against terror’. He would not rule by sword, but by a towel."
Lee Camp

Mike Huckabee is not Jesus. And it scares the crap outta me to think that he wants to bring my precious Savior into politics like that; that he wants to represent Jesus to the rest of the world. Because, after all, if he wants to bring this nation "back to Christ", then he's gotta be the most Christ-like of all of us. And, last time I checked, Jesus didn't have a concealed handgun tucked away in his shepherd's staff.

Just PLEASE think about what this could mean for America. I just hope that if enough of you are afraid, the vote will be influenced and a president who believes in a healthy separation of church and state will prevail. And that we will be judged by our individual actions as followers of Jesus. Because it's CHRYSTIE who's the Christian, not America.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

he made the "take America back for Christ" statement a while back, like 1998 when he was addressing the Southern Baptist Convention, not a political rally. He is an ordained minister and was speaking to the gathering of pastors as one himself. It was not made recently at a political rally. He was challenging the church to rise up, not the government to mandate a religion.

here's the article, see original

http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/1998/jun/08/huckabee-us-gave-religion/

Anonymous said...

http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/1998/jun/08/
huckabee-us-gave-religion/

Chrystie said...

See, but the geographical or historical context of the comments is irrelevant, in my opinion. For him to say that this nation needs to be taken back to Christ, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THESE REMARKS WERE SPOKEN, AND UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES, means that Mr. Huckabee believes that the nation was once "for Christ". When we talk about "this nation", and all the un-Christ-like things that have occurred under (and by) the "Christian" leadership, I think the LAST thing we want to do is go BACK there.

And, FWIW, Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas when he gave this speech, so he was very much in the political arena.

PS: I find it INCREDIBLY ironic that, in this article, it talks about how Mr. "I'm the first governor to have a concealed handgun license" Huckabee is so saddened by school SHOOTINGS in Arkansas. Maybe if every Tom, Dick and Mike weren't allowed to have hidden guns, the problem wouldn't be as severe....

Chrystie said...

See, but the geographical or historical context of the comments is irrelevant, in my opinion. For him to say that this nation needs to be taken back to Christ, REGARDLESS OF WHERE THESE REMARKS WERE SPOKEN, AND UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES, means that Mr. Huckabee believes that the nation was once "for Christ". When we talk about "this nation", and all the un-Christ-like things that have occurred under (and by) the "Christian" leadership, I think the LAST thing we want to do is go BACK there.

And, FWIW, Huckabee was the governor of Arkansas when he gave this speech, so he was very much in the political arena.

PS: I find it INCREDIBLY ironic that, in this article, it talks about how Mr. "I'm the first governor to have a concealed handgun license" Huckabee is so saddened by school SHOOTINGS in Arkansas. Maybe if every Tom, Dick and Mike weren't allowed to have hidden guns, the problem wouldn't be as severe....

Monica said...

Hi, I clicked my way over to your blog from somewhere else.

I'm a Canadian, so unfortunately can't vote. But I wanted to post a comment anyway. Mostly to say that I have rarely heard of an American Christian with a political view like yours. I'm not sure whether that speaks to the way American Christians are portrayed in the media or the TV/blogs/Newspapers I choose to watch/read. But I'm so incredibly happy and relieved and hopeful to read your perspective and Chrystie's and I'm sure there are more ...

Just wanted to say that and that I'm glad you're speaking up against what Bush (and his admin and his supporters) has made Christianity out to be.

Monica said...

Opps ... you're Chrystie aren't you??? :) Well, then here's to any one else with the courage to speak out ....

Chrystie said...

I love comments from "strangers"! You made my day (and, of course, it helps that you're on my 'side' ;-))!!!

Anonymous said...

Amen, Sister Chrystie! I am with you on 100% of this post. Missm, there are lots of Christian Americans who feel the way Chrystie does. I am one of them. :)