Taking America for Jesus

I remember back to my teen years, back when I was a bit more conservative, and my pastor often talked about taking Klamath Falls for Jesus. In part that was a call to evangelism, and yet I also remember a political tone to the message as well. This was the mid-70s, bicentennial years, when Campus Crusade was doing its "I Found it" campaign and the popular Christian cantata was "If My People."

Thirty years hence, my attitudes have changed some. I just caught the tail end of Tim Russert's interview with Republican Presidential hopeful -- Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. Huckabee had said in the past that Christians need to take America back for Christ. I expect that he meant that in two ways -- evangelistically and politically. He told Russert that he wouldn't say it the same way today, but he affirmed that his faith influences his politics.

Ethics Daily provides an interesting account of Huckabee's views. The former governor, who like a former President, also hails from Hope, Arkansas, is a Southern Baptist minister, supporter of creationism, and takes a hard line on gay rights and abortion. Though he is far back in the polls now, he does have the right credentials to take the Religious Right vote, which would make him a player in primaries. I doubt he could win a general election, but his views seem to be much farther to the right than the current President.

Huckabee's public positions serve as a reminder of the difficulty of bringing faith into the public square. Right now we have several candidates, Romney, Obama, Brownback, and Hillary, who have all spoken of the importance of faith. Each is trying to find the proper mode of expression. It's not easy, and as the voting public we have a right to raise important questions. At the end of the day, though, there are no religious tests for office!

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