And the Huckery jus' keeps on a' comin'

The Huck: Y'all are gonna live by God's law when I'm President - my version of it, anyway (and women will be required to stand two paces behind) - but, hey, I've got a great laxative joke for you

It seems to be Huck Friday at Salon today. Joe Conason weighs in with Holy Constitution! 01/18/08. He recounts the Huck's declaration that he wanted to change the Constitution to conform to "the word of the living God" as Huck hears those words when it comes to abortion and gay marriage. Conason continues:

He later denied that he meant to suggest that God wants him in the White House. But his deliberate reference this week to conforming the law to "God's standards" sounds uncomfortably like the ideology sometimes known as "Christian dominionism" or "Christian reconstructionism," which declares that America, indeed every nation on earth, is meant to be governed by biblical law.

The looniest dominionists publicly insist that a pious government would inflict Old Testament punishments, including death, on blasphemers, pornographers, homosexuals, adulterers and even disobedient children. They constantly talk about their duty to institute biblical rule in the United States.

As a Southern Baptist preacher, does Huckabee accept that bizarre interpretation of Christian ethics? The answer is that he probably doesn't (or is too shrewd to say so if he does). But the clues to Huckabee's affinity for religious extremism have been lying in plain sight for a long time.

He cites some examples from Kids Who Kill (1998), the Huck's book co-authored with the hardline Christian Reconstructionist George Grant. And also describes the Huck's affinity for Christian dominionist Bill Gothard:

As governor, he also promoted the faith-based programs of a reconstructionist minister named Bill Gothard -- and even boasted that he had gone through Gothard's "basic program" himself. More reputable evangelicals consider Gothard to be a cultish fringe character, but he has built an enormous empire, which depends on funding from local and state governments to bring his authoritarian version of the Gospel to prisoners, police officers and welfare recipients, among others. He experienced a moment of unwelcome notoriety recently, when the Denver Post revealed that Matthew Murray, the 24-year-old gunman who killed four people at two Christian centers in Colorado in December, had been subjected as a teenager to Gothard's superstrict "home-schooling" programs. (my emphasis)

And the Huck's supporter Dr. Steven Hotze may be even scarier!

Years before he became a Republican Party activist, Hotze played a role in the Coalition on Revival, one of the early organizations promoting reconstructionist thought among evangelicals. The coalition's 1986 "manifesto for the Christian church" urged believers to accept the Bible as "the final measurement and depository of certain fundamental facts of reality and basic principles that God wants all mankind to know in the sphere of law, government, economics, business, education, arts and communication, medicine, psychology, and science. All theories and practices of these spheres of life are only true, right, and realistic to the degree that they agree with the Bible."

He doesn't just confine himself to saving souls and eliminating freedom of religion. According to this report, he promotes fraudulent medicine, as well: Doctor Nice by Craig Malisow Houston Press 07/21/05. Another fine Christian white man who can help rid our country of the plague of science. If the Huck becomes President, maybe he could appoint Hotze to be the Surgeon General, or to head the National Institutes of Health.

Also at Salon, Alex Koppelman and Vincent Rossmeier also take a look at Huckabee's radical religious friends 01/18/08. The also discuss George Grant and Steven Hotze, as well as Huck associates Michael Farris, Janet Folger, James Kennedy (died 2007), James Robison, Rick Scarborough, and Don Wildmon. Boy, hidy, if you think the neocons are bad, wait until the Huck's theocrats start running foreign and domestic policy!

Folger organized the Values Voter Presidential Debate in 2007, which memorably featured (with her encouragement), a choir singing, "Why Should God Bless America?"



And there's Mike Huckabee hearts Israel by Mike Madden 01/18/08 on how the Huck aligns with the "Christian Zionists" who want the most belligerent policies by the US and Israel to hurry up the end of the world when they expect most of the Jews in the world will be slaughtered and the rest will convert to Christianity, i.e., stop being Jews. Madden writes, "Huckabee's posturing on foreign policy boils down to two things: Get tough on terrorists, and stand strong with Israel."

Then there's the Huck's nativism, ethical challenges and support for plutocracy (despite the "populist" rhetoric and Gomer Pyle style): The real Mike Huckabee stands up by Max Brantley, Arkansas Blog 01/17/08.

Tags: authoritarianism, bill gothard, christian dominionism, christian fundamentalism, christian right, christian zionism, christianism, george grant, joe conason, mike huckabee, steven hotze

Christian dominionism and the Huck

Several close observers of the Christianist scene have been keeping an eye on the Huck's ties to hardline Christianists, like Jim Burroway of the Box Turtle Bulletin blog in these posts:

Mike Huckabee and the Christian Reconstructionists 12/20/07

Huckabee’s Christian Reconstructionist Ties Run Deep 01/06/08

Burroway notes the Huck's close ties to Christian Dominionists like George Grant:

These are core beliefs among several leading figures in Huckabee’s circle. One such prominent figure is George Grant, a well-known Reconstructionist who appeared with [R.J.] Rushdoony [founder of Christian Reconstructionism/Dominionism] in the video, God’s Law and Society. Grant was the co-author for Huckabee’s 1998 book, Kids Who Kill: Confronting Our Culture of Violence. That was the book where Huckabee and Grant lumped homosexuality with pedophilia, sadomasochism and necrophilia as “institutionally supported aberrations.” (my emphasis)

Then there's Huck associate Bill Gothard, who among other things is the author of a Christian home schooling curriculum:

Gothard teaches that all of life’s problems can be traced to poor “character choices.” Those choices result in a large number of societal “ills,” including homosexuality, divorce, contraception, crime — even mental illness. In one video, Gothard claims that there is no such thing as mental illnesses, and everything that we call “mental illness” — including schizophrenia — are the direct result of making poor character choices. Among the many unaccredited “training institutes” that Gothard runs is something called “The Medical Training Institute of America,” which emphasizes “the Biblical mandate to call for the elders of the church for prayer before receiving medical treatment for a serious illness.” He describes the “power of crying out” to cure brain tumors, cancer and infertility.

Gothard insists that families and communities must organize themselves on a strict interpretation of Christian Reconstructionist principles. In addition to Cabbage Patch Dolls, he also forbids dancing, dating, rock music (even Christian rock) and “wrong clothes.” Wives must submit to their husbands, adults must submit to their patriarch (the husband’s father), and couples must discard all forms of birth control. Families should limit their contact with those who are not “saved,” they should lock their misbehaving children into “prayer closets,” and they should home-school their children. (my emphasis)

Tags: authoritarianism, bill gothard, christian dominionism, christian fundamentalism, christian right, christianism, george grant, mike huckabee