Mike Huckabee, Are you KIDDING me?! Options

[blaarg]

Mother Fucker:

Huckabee Gaining Ground in Iowa

[Spectatrix]

The republican nomination is a crap shoot at this point.

[blaarg]

Some other tidbits that have just come to light concerning Huckabee and his run for Senate in the early 90's:

1) Wanted to isolate AIDS patients from the general public (even though at the time it was known that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact)
2) Opposed increased federal funding to find a cure suggesting that Hollywood celebrities who were advocating a cure pay for it out of their own pocket rather than federal health agencies
3) Thought that homosexuality would pose a "dangerous public health risk."

Granted he has changed his viewpoint on AIDS funding since being a Presidential nominee, but still...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071208/ap_on_...r/huckabee_aids

[blaarg]

Some other interesting points about Huckabee from another article
http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/afhuckabee08.asp

Highlights:

1) Thought that school shootings were driven by "the winds of spiritual change in a nation that has forgotten its God."
2) "I'm often asked why taxes are so high and government is so big. It's because the faith we have in local churches has become so small."
3) "I didn't get into politics because I thought government had a better answer. I got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers, that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives."
4) "In one of the first churches I was assigned to, I thought I was supposed to be the captain of a warship leading the congregation into a battle against spiritual darkness," he said.
5) "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ."

If you think this person is fit to enforce separation of church and state, you are fucking crazy...

[impala454]

Seriously I don't understand why you guys keep quoting separation of church and state. It doesn't mean people in government can't be religious. In fact, if it did mean that, it'd be unconstitutional.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

[blaarg]

There is a line between a candidate being religious personally and leading a crusade to make the US a Christian nation...

More so than the separation of church-state issue, I think the statements say a lot about his mental health...I mean blaming school shootings on the fact that the US has lost it's way in the belief of God sounds awfully familiar to the rhetoric spouted from Westboro Baptists....

[Jim]

Seriously I don't understand why you guys keep quoting separation of church and state. It doesn't mean people in government can't be religious. In fact, if it did mean that, it'd be unconstitutional.

Sure, they can be religious. But they can't be so uber religious that they start trying to force it on the nation (which Huckabee might want to do).

[pebkac]

Seriously I don't understand why you guys keep quoting separation of church and state. It doesn't mean people in government can't be religious. In fact, if it did mean that, it'd be unconstitutional.

I don't think that anyone is opposing Huckabee on religious grounds. But do we really want anyone in office whose religious beliefs drive his actions in office?

[woody]

so if he gets elected you think that just him being president will allow for the Christian crusade? i mean...no one has to vote on the initiatives it takes to get something like that rolling ....

[THECHICKEN]

I don't think that anyone is opposing Huckabee on religious grounds. But do we really want anyone in office whose religious beliefs drive his actions in office?

Sure, why not? Everything in society is fueled by beliefs in ....something. What does it matter that he finds motivation from faith in christianity?

[Jim]

so if he gets elected you think that just him being president will allow for the Christian crusade? i mean...no one has to vote on the initiatives it takes to get something like that rolling ....

It's just a hypothetical of what could happen. Zealous people tend to make other people just as zealous...

[Spectatrix]

so if he gets elected you think that just him being president will allow for the Christian crusade? i mean...no one has to vote on the initiatives it takes to get something like that rolling ....

No, we do have checks & balances, so I doubt that much of his MO would get accomplished. The same can be said of pretty much every candidate. But if I disagree with 99% of his ideology, why would I vote for him? I don't want to see another 4 or 8 years of a president pushing a Christianity-laced agenda and vetoing everything that doesn't match his world view.

Sure, why not? Everything in society is fueled by beliefs in ....something. What does it matter that he finds motivation from faith in christianity?

The key concern is over how he applies his Christian faith towards legislation. There are many things that are part of the Christian belief structure that I, as an atheist, will wholeheartedly agree with. But not all -- not by a long shot. When it comes to people's morals in their private lives, I have little problem with what they believe and how they act. But you must be cautious about how that gets applied in the public sphere.

I really like what Barack Obama had to say on the matter:

For my friends on the right, I think it would be helpful to remember the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy but also our religious practice. Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn't the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities, it was Baptists like John Leland who didn't want the established churches to impose their views on folks who were getting happy out in the fields and teaching the scripture to slaves.

It was the forbearers of Evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religious, because they didn't want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it. Given this fact, I think that the right might worry a bit more about the dangers of sectarianism.

Whatever we once were, we're no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of non-believers. We should acknowledge this and realize that when we're formulating policies from the state house to the Senate floor to the White House, we've got to work to translate our reasoning into values that are accessible to every one of our citizens, not just members of our own faith community.

This post has been edited by Spectatrix: Dec 10 2007, 12:29 PM

[impala454]

I think you guys are just taking his remarks a little too literal and/or over the top. Him saying we're a nation that needs to find God doesn't mean he's going to have government mandated bible study. It just means he feels that the moral center of the country has slipped, and honestly it has. We're slowly being desensitized to things that used to be very morally wrong.

[theIncredibleEdi...]

the war on Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Testm0nkey]

i am on the extreme side but i personally dont want a president who is religious in the least bit! i know that unfortunately cant happen because most people are totally stupid but hey. i want a president that is not guided by faith but by fact, intelligence, rationality and excellent information and personal resources. a person that can weigh two choices on an issue and decide on the greater good in the long run and for the whole not because one is more morally sound according to prophecy or God

people have been hating on bush for being too religious, seeking guidance in high up churchy dudes, spouting off god this and god that, claiming god is on americas side in the fight against terrorism... where are all these people (on both parties) now that Huckabee is sounding even more crazy?

thats a bit of evidence for impala that people just like to complain. but not EVERYONE is as easily swayed by loud crowds and poll numbers