I anti-heart Huckabee
Oh, man. I caught a campaign ad for Huckabee yesterday that really burned me up.
All wholesome-like, he smiled at the camera and said it’s time to put politics aside and remember the true meaning of the season, the birth of Jesus Christ.
Hold up. What? Did he really say those two things in the same sentence?
I am not naive enough to truly believe that there’s separation of church and state in our nation. Sure, it’s in the constitution and whatnot, but I think it’s very telling that our nation has a woman and a black man as serious presidential candidates, but zero non-Christians. Still, it’s downright insulting for Huckabee to stare out of a TV screen and strongly imply that Christianity is a given and apolitical.
There are a lot of smart, thoughtful Christians out there who should (and probably do) feel outraged by this man using their religion to further his political goals. Speak up. Iowans, caucus. Also, if you see an 8-month pregnant woman (or an elderly person, or a person with no feet whose armpits are getting chapped from the crutches) at your caucus site and chairs are in short supply, please be charitable. That’s the kind of Christian value I can get behind.
That reminds me: what do people with only one hand do when the toothpaste starts to run low? I was doing an experiment in multitasking this morning that required me to put toothpaste on my toothbrush with one hand, and it’s harder than you might think.
If you are at all interested, I found a great book on clearance recently. It’s called “What Lincoln Believed” by Michael Lind. A truly eye-opening account of life in the 1800’s.
I bring this up because there is a chapter in there that gave me an entirely new perspective on the doctrine of separation of church and state. It seems that most of our early Presidents (up to and including Lincoln) were what the author calls “deists”. To borrow a phrase commonly used by Jefferson, they believed in “Nature’s God”. But that is not a Christian god nor any personified god as we would know it today. In fact many of the early Presidents (especially Lincoln) had a very poor view of Christians.
I’m not advocating for or against any belief system, just recommending a very interesting and thought-provoking book.
It takes a particularly spectacular twink to make such a statement in a modern era where notions like these rank on the same level as, “A black family moved in next door, there goes the neighborhood.” I’m not against expressing the fact that YOU are going to celebrate Christmas, but don’t be exclusive just because your denomination insists on being dickish towards others.
True to my nature, I’m going to totally ignore the provocative intellectual content in your post and go straight for the amputee stuff. At our appt. at the hospital this morning, there was a cool sink in the radiology room that had those neat foot controls so doctors and nurses can turn on the water when their hands are clean. I expressed my admiration for the setup and told Leah it would be nice to have in our house. To which she replied, “What if you don’t have feet?” Talk about a better half….
+1 to the huckabee ad analysis. i also did a double-take when i saw that and had to deal with my apoplectic reaction.
Oh man do I hate Mike Huckabee. I hate him so much. Argh argh argh. Hate that guy. There was a point when I thought, “Man, do I hate Mitt Romney, he has to be the biggest jerk who’s running,” and then I learned more about Huckabee and thought, “Oh wait.”
Also, I just tried brushing my teeth with one hand, and I (1) put my toothbrush in my mouth handle-first, (2) picked up the toothpaste and unscrewed the cap with my thumb and index finger, (3) squeezed on the paste, (4) screwed the cap back on (set the cap on the counter screw-chamber up so you can put the thing back in the thing), (5) turned the brush around and got to brushing.
Also, excuse my use of the word “screw-chamber.”
Oh, and I found I could work the remaining toothpaste up the tube by rubbing it against the edge of the counter.
If you read Lincoln’s 2nd inaugural address, I don’t think you would argue that he wasn’t a serious believer in God.
Having seen him interviewed a few times, I really think Huckabee is a nut. Not a chance of being elected. Thank god.
Larry,
I have read both Lincoln’s first and second inaugural addresses. As defined in the broadest possible terms, every single President we’ve ever had has believed in “god”. (They, and I presume you as well, spell god with a capital “G”. My use of a lowercase “g” was deliberate.) As I noted, the god most of them believed in is not the personified Christian God most of us would know. In fact, the closest parallel I can draw is that they referred to Mother Nature as “God”.
For purposes of brevity and political expedience, the distinction was never emphasized publicly. This book analyzes the complexity of this belief, among many others, in considerable detail. It is over 300 pages long with over 30 pages of bibliographic references.
I am not going to hijack Aprille’s blog for a religious discussion so this is very likely the last I have to say on this matter. People will either read the book for themselves or not. Either way, my life is unaffected.