« The Return of the Hobbit | Main | A Party Divided »
The Huckabee Tree
By Samuel Ashwood | January 15, 2008
Sinclair Lewis was once quoted as saying, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag carrying a cross.” Sad to say, many Christians in America gullibly accept a politician at face value when he pronounces himself a believer, and engages in religious rhetoric. The thought is, that we must have this Christian man over the anti-christs of the left wing. This shows a great degree of naivety on the part of the Christian Right, a naivety which I believe is extremely dangerous for the future of our country.It is my fearful contention that Mike Huckabee, perhaps now the leader in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, fits Sinclair Lewis’ description. Yes, Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and yes, he knows the lingo that appeals to his conservative Christian base. So far so good. But the Lord Jesus Christ said, “By their fruits shall ye know them.” This, not what a man says, should be our standard when examining any candidates’ qualifications for office.
Take Huckabee’s stance on illegal immigration. Huckabee is a zealous defendant of these law-breakers, under the guise of, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It does not take a theological doctorate to understand this rule was not laid down to excuse law-breaking. Huckabee, however, uses it as such. What it really looks like is that Huckabee is attempting to appeal to a growing Hispanic voter base that has trended towards supporting the Democrats. To support more open immigration policy, I do not necessarily quarrel with. To make statements indicating that illegal immigration is God giving America a chance to make up for racism in the past, is ludicrous in the extreme. Conservative Christians should not support lawlessness, unless those laws compel us to disobey Biblical commands—which our immigration laws do not. Daniel Larison summed Huckabee’s stance up this way in the American Conservative: “”Huckabee regards it as his Christian duty to help subvert and liberalize U.S. immigration laws. Together [with Sam Brownback], they embrace the notion that fidelity to the Gospel requires privileging the interests of non-citizens over those of fellow citizens.”
Nor is Mike Huckabee a friend of home schooling. As governor of Arkansas, he signed a bill making it more difficult for parents to homeschool their children, excusing himself as under pressure from Democratic bullies. But, rather than vetoing the law, Huckabee signed it. Furthermore, he earned the endorsement of the New Hampshire National Education Association chapter, a notoriously anti-homeschooling organization. Homeschoolers, beware. Your freedom will not be guaranteed under President Huckabee.
Perhaps most chilling of all is Huckabee’s fascist approach to foreign policy. Remember the fascist powers of the past? Benito Mussolini took it upon himself to restore the past glories of the Roman Empire by using the Italian military for aggression against foreign powers in the Mediterranean; all under the guise of what was good for Italy. Adolf Hitler used Germany’s greater power to attempt a Nazi empire in eastern Europe, all under the guise of what was good for Germans.
Mike Huckabee intends to use American power to attack and subdue foreign peoples, all under the guise of what is good for Americans. Huckabee neatly sums up his foreign policy this way: “We must first destroy existing terrorist groups and then attack the underlying conditions that breed them: the lack of basic sanitation, health care, education, jobs, a free press, fair courts – which all translates into a lack of opportunity and hope. The United States’ strategic interests as the world’s most powerful country coincide with its moral obligations as the richest.” In other words, we must launch preemptive war, the same thing for which we Americans have excoriated Imperial Japan for decades. More than that, American tax dollars must be wrung from the sweat of American workers to provide sanitation, health care, education, etc., for the good of foreign peoples. Is not taking money from those who earned it to give to those who have not earned it the rankest socialism? How, then, does Mike Huckabee come off as conservative? It is simple: for no other reason than religious rhetoric. Huckabee’s foreign policy is patently fascist. Mike Huckabee approaches foreign policy with missionary zeal; but the zeal of perfecting human nature through government programs, not the missionary zeal of transforming human nature through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That kind of zeal we can readily do without.
Neither is Huckabee any friend of individual liberty. He has come out in support of a ban on smoking. Prohibition, anyone? I certainly do not endorse smoking in any way, but when the government can come into our homes and tell us how to guard our health, what next? Will the Nanny State be dictating our diets next? With the spirit of Huckabee, it well could be.
Anyone who believes a Huckabee presidency will differ from recent presidencies needs only to consider this: Huckabee’s advisor on foreign policy is Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. For those who do not know, the CFR has been dubbed by David Halberstam as “the Establishment’s unofficial club.” Little wonder. With fewer than 3,000 members, CFR members have stacked the cabinet of every president since Franklin Roosevelt. Not surprisingly, American foreign policy can usually be predicted from what is published in the organization’s magazine Foreign Affairs. Huckabee has already shown, by his selection of Haas as his foreign policy advisor, that there will be no significant changes in our government. And lest you think Huckabee is a friend of American independence, this same Haas who is so integral a figure in his campaign, has urged state sovereignty to be sacrificed on the altar of globalization: “…states must be prepared to cede some sovereignty to world bodies if the international system is to function.” It is no stretch to assume that Huckabee has little quarrel with the idea. A Huckabee presidency could well lead American sovereignty that much closer to destruction.
Do not be fooled by Mike Huckabee’s religious rhetoric and missionary zeal. I do not question his zeal. But misguided zeal is worse than indolence. Mike Huckabee, like the rest of us, should be judged by his fruits, not by his words. Christ said, “Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:22). To support and defend the Constitution of the United States, which means defending our laws and our people, is the fruit we should see in an honest Christian. The Mike Huckabee tree is utterly barren.
Sources:
1.NewsWithViews.com
2.Council on Foreign Relations
3.Chuck Baldwin Live
Topics: Political Commentary, Volume 3, Issue 1 |
January 17th, 2008 at 1:34 am
[...] Yikes. Mr. Aswhood is certainly not a Huckabee fan. I had to share, given the origins of the e-zine (emphasis mine): Civilized Revolt is an online magazine that offers a variety of conservative commentary on political, social and cultural issues of our day. It began in September 2006 as a sister publication of Virtue Magazine, which was started in December 2004 by students in Dr. Michael Farris’ online Constitutional Law course. [...]