Southern Baptist Convention - Important Things to Remember

With Mike Huckabee the GOP winner in Iowa, it is all the more important that people understand the background and history of his religious denomination. Remember - Huckabee is an ordained minister in this denomination. Richard Rothstein has a brief summary over at Proceed at Your Own Risk (http://rjr10036.typepad.com/proceed_at_your_own_risk/2008/01/iowa-the-south.html). Here is a partial quote:

For those of you not up on your American history, the Southern Baptist Convention was created in 1845 when the American Baptist Church split between Christians who believed that slavery--despite being endorsed by the Bible--was an abomination and Christians who believed--supported by that same Bible--that the dark skinned races were not human and should be kept as property by the white race. Today, the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the world and the driving force behind homophobia. Having lost on the slavery issue, they are now recycling the same exact language and arguments for their war on queers. And after testing the waters with George W. Bush, they now have officially come out of the white Christian fundamentalist sexually-repressed closet with Mike Huckabee. Some 143 years since the end of the Civil War, the South has scored it greatest victory and is closer to the White House than ever before.

Obama, a black man with a white mother and a black father, last night became the first black man in history to win a presidential primary. It's also worth noting that in some parts of this nation Obama's parents would not have been able to legally marry as recently at 1967. And as an interracial couple, they would have been arrested and possibly lynched in some of these United States.

And in what states were such laws in existence as late as 1967? The states where the Southern Baptists are the most numerous and politically powerful, including Virginia.

Thoughts on Obama's Win

Personally, I am happy about the Obama win because if nothing else it proves that the nation seriously wants (1) a change from politics as usually and (2) someone who will seek to unify rather than divide the country. Try as she might, Hillary will be hard put to convince many that she could/would usher in a new day politically. Yes, she'd be a change from the current disastrous regime, but overall, it would still be the old political games. Moreover, she sets off extreme negative reactions in many, including women that I know who generally would welcome a woman president. In addition, she will motivate the GOP base more than Obama to turn out voters at all costs. That said, if Obama is ultimately the Democrat nominee, expect all kinds of disgusting nastiness and underhanded moves by the GOP's water carriers. This comment of Pam Spaulding sums up some of what I believe can be expected (http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=C6A4136D9CFCC187A228DCB6D61BA91A?diaryId=4063):

As I said down in the comments, the lame Muslim smear tactics have been popping up for some time now (lately and sadly, by supporters of Clinton), and it will be only a matter of time before we see jigaboo flyers appearing in mailboxes of voters in Southern states, appealing to fears of the Black Buck chasing white women...oh, it's all so predictable. And, of course, none of it will be endorsed by the GOP, but it will all be out there polluting the process.

Of course, this kind of garbage is precisely what so many who want change wish to see put to an end. Thus, if the GOP does play this dirty game, maybe it will circle around and bite them in the ass.

Patti Davis to Candidates: Stop Invoking Reagan

It is interesting to see Patti Davis telling the GOP candidates to stop comparing themselves to her father, not that I blame her for doing so. While I am not going to go off on a discussion of Ronald Reagan, I will note that even when he took conservative positions, he never had the level of meanness and nastiness that has come to embody today's GOP where the party's base is dominated by the Christianists and hates and despises anyone not like themselves, be they black, Hispanic, gay or non-Christian. But I digress. Here are some highlights from Patti Davis's column (http://www.newsweek.com/id/82384):

On Friday's “Today Show”, Mitt Romney again brandished my father's name, and claimed that, just as Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, Romney can effectively govern and manage foreign policy in this horribly troubled world. This, of course, was preceded by Romney's televised speech about his religion and his personal faith—something my father would never have dreamed of doing because his faith was, well, personal.

To prove his virility, Huckabee has been photographed in those ridiculous hunting clothes holding a large rifle and several dead pheasants. Lest we forget about God, Huckabee's campaign offered up a special Christmas advertisement—complete with the now famous “floating cross” behind him—something Huckabee has said was simply a bookcase. Yes, with the books removed and lit with a golden glow that looked like the Star of Bethlehem had been summoned for duty in a political ad.

So, apparently, we are being told that a competent, trustworthy president is someone who brandishes his religion like a neon sign, loads a gun and goes out hunting for beautiful winged creatures, and tries to imitate a past president (who, by the way, never shot a bird or felt the need to imitate anybody.) I don't think I'm alone in my reaction to all of this when I say, "Do you think we're stupid?" If we want religious evangelism, we can turn on one of those cable channels. If we want leadership, we don't ask, "Now who has killed the most birds?" And most importantly, when we are thinking about trust and confidence, we don't look for someone who is trying to mimic anyone else.

Can't we just leave the ducks, the rabbits, the deer alone, and focus on a world that is aching with strife, that is weighed down by wars and conflicts, not to mention disease and hunger in vast stretches of Africa? Can't we go back to respecting the privacy of religious faith and stop using God as a campaign tool? And can't we please, please, please admit that imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery; it's just an indication that the imitator is going through a serious identity crisis.

'Christian Leader' or "Christianist Fuehrer"

Today's Washington Post editorial raises serious question about Mike Huckabee's campaign and whether or not he counts non-Christian Americans as worthy of his message (full citizenship?). I have clients of diverse faiths and all are hard working and assets to the larger community. As a result - putting aside Huckabee's rampant anti-gay mindset which is an issue in and of itself for a moment - I find it insulting, as no doubt do many Americans of Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, or other religious backgrounds. After seven years of a president who has fomented division and hate, we do NOT need another president of that type. Here are some column highlights (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/20/AR2007122001941.html?hpid=opinionsbox1):

IS MIKE HUCKABEE running to be president of all Americans, or just the Christian ones? The former Arkansas governor, who has catapulted into the front ranks of GOP presidential contenders, is broadcasting a television ad this week that raises the question. As a technical matter, the ad is a beauty. "Silent Night" plays softly in the background. The camera focuses on Mr. Huckabee, clad in a red sweater. Behind him is a bookcase, its intersecting shelves lighted up in the form of a glowing white cross.

"My faith is my life -- it defines me," Mr. Huckabee likes to say, and we respect that conviction. What gives us pause is a continuing theme in Mr. Huckabee's rhetoric that does not seem to give equal respect to -- or, at times, even acknowledge the existence of -- those of other faiths, or of no faith at all. As much as Mr. Huckabee would like to dismiss them as such, these concerns have nothing to do with a politically correct "war on Christmas."

We don't have any problem with candidates taking time to wish voters "Merry Christmas," as several other candidates are doing in ads this week. But unlike Mr. Huckabee's, their ads do not send an explicitly and exclusively Christian message -- and while Mr. Huckabee says people who imagine a gleaming white cross are suffering from overactive imaginations, we invite you to look at the ad and judge for yourself.

In 1998, Mr. Huckabee spoke of the need to "take this nation back for Christ," though he told Tim Russert this year, "I'd probably phrase it a little differently today." Would he?

Personally, I do not think he would. In my opinion, this man is trouble for anyone who is different and who believes in freedom of religion for all citizens. Here are some of the things Huckabee boasts about on his campaign website, starting with "Marriage":

I support and have consistently supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As Governor of Arkansas, I led the successful effort to pass a similar state constitutional amendment in 2002. As Governor of Arkansas, I led the successful effort to make our state only the third to adopt "covenant" marriage. I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life. What's the point of keeping the terrorists at bay in the Middle East if we can't keep decline and decadence at bay here at home?

On Immigration:

I will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver's licenses for illegals.

Son’s Past Deeds Come Back To Bite Huckabee

In what appears to be a growing pattern of improper intervention into matters, this Newsweek story shows (http://www.newsweek.com/id/78241) that Huckabee may have acted improperly (to help Huckabee's son, pictured at left) in retaliation against a State employee who refused to act improperly. More and more, Huckabee looks to be a corrupt character despite all his feined religious piety. I will admit I do not like the guy's religious views. I also dislike corruption from those who act sanctimoniously, condemn others for non-compliance with religious dogma, and then show themselves to be liars. Here are some story highlights:

One issue likely to get attention is his handling of a sensitive family matter: allegations that one of his sons was involved in the hanging of a stray dog at a Boy Scout camp in 1998. The incident led to the dismissal of David Huckabee, then 17, from his job as a counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Ark. It also prompted the local prosecuting attorney— bombarded with complaints generated by a national animal-rights group—to write a letter to the Arkansas state police seeking help investigating whether David and another teenager had violated state animal-cruelty laws. The state police never granted the request, and no charges were ever filed.

But John Bailey, then the director of Arkansas's state police, tells NEWSWEEK that Governor Huckabee's chief of staff and personal lawyer both leaned on him to write a letter officially denying the local prosecutor's request. Bailey, a career officer who had been appointed chief by Huckabee's Democratic predecessor, said he viewed the lawyer's intervention as improper and terminated the conversation. Seven months later, he was called into Huckabee's office and fired. "I've lost confidence in your ability to do your job," Bailey says Huckabee told him. One reason Huckabee cited was "I couldn't get you to help me with my son when I had that problem," according to Bailey. "Without question, [Huckabee] was making a conscious attempt to keep the state police from investigating his son," says I. C. Smith, the former FBI chief in Little Rock, who worked closely with Bailey and called him a "courageous" and "very solid" professional.

A local animal-rights activist, Joyce Hillard, later contacted the camp director. Notes of Hillard's report to the defense fund read, "Boys confessed & were fired. Dir. is making excuses, saying dog was sic & boys were putting him out of his misery." (The director told NEWSWEEK only that a stray dog was "put down" and that the counselors were fired for violating the Scout credo to be "kind.")