Posted by Damozel | Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee is taking the whole faith-in-politics thing in the opposite direction from Governor Romney. It seems that Huckabee is God's candidate. No wonder, then, that Mitt Romney is trying to distance himself from the whole issue.
Andrew Sullivan isn't all that surprised. "His surge in the polls is caused by the same forces that allowed Jesus to feed the five thousand. Well: what else is he going to believe?"
At Shakesville, Melissa McEwan finds his exact meaning hard to pin down.
"No. He's God. No. God wants him to be Jesus. No, wait. God wants him to be president. Hang on. Maybe it's Jesus who wants him to be president. I don't know. Whatever. It's a miracle, bitchez." (Huckabee is Jesus)
At The Reaction, Capt. Fogg is very unkind. If I were awarding prizes for most, erm, astringent title for a Huckabee-God-endorsement-claiming-related posting, he'd win hands down for this one: "A loaf, a fish, a crock." You almost don't need to read any further. But I did, of course. And Capt. Fogg says, he says:
There are millions of people out there praying that a little will turn into much, says the would-be preacher president Mike Huckabee. He's right. Very little would have to turn into much more than this shameless huckster could possibly have to offer by himself; for him to be even remotely what the world needs to put in the White House. It may be an effective way to latch on to the dreams of the witless, some of whom are convinced that invisible spirits have a secret plan of Glory for them too, but when half the candidates claim that god wants them as their co-pilots, it gets hard to deal with all the loaf and fish metaphorical bullshit. How long will it be before we see a shirtless Mike with bleeding stigmata or Mitt with his head in a white hat reading the secret golden tablets?....
Last week I had lunch with a couple of the country's premier geneticists. We discussed the recent progress in understanding neurodegenerative disease at the molecular level. Not long ago I read that an unspeakably huge hole in the visible universe may confirm the existence of parallel universes. Mankind might seem to some as emerging at long last into the full light and glory of truth. Somewhere in America, blue-suited idiots rave about the Bible like paleolithic shamans dancing around their fires in some cro-magnon night. (A loaf, a fish, a crock)
See, this is what happens to religion when it gets mixed up with politics. Only a secular state can protect religion from getting a bad name.
Naturally---as a religious person myself---I don't think science and religion (or my sort, anyway) are mutually exclusive. And I also don't think Huckabee is shameless or a huckster; I think he is entirely sincere. I grew up among people who think the way he does and he seems like a nice enough man. But that is precisely why seeing him go off like this is so worrying. He's a nice guy, based on what I've seen of him, but I'm afraid that as the election year wears on we are going to see his inner Baptist minister emerge more and more often. I don't want a theocracy. To be specific, I don't want to see other people's religious beliefs enacted into law. We've already seen what happens to scientific progress when you let the looney theocrats make policy.
Christopher Hitchens (yes, I know but I go on guiltily liking him a little bit anyway) said it best: "MR. JEFFERSON, BUILD UP THAT WALL." It's the best thing for religion and politics. It's the only thing that will keep religion safe from, say, Christopher Hitchens. It's also the only thing that will keep my religion safe from the people whose ideal president is a Baptist minister.
Just so you know, conservative bloggers aren't thrilled with the Huckabee effect. Jim Geraghty at National Review Online says: "Wow. Huckabee's been endorsed by both Chuck Norris AND Jesus Christ." And check out Betsy's Page ("The Huckabee cringe factor"). 
Dr. Steven Taylor's note at PoliBlog has the most deadpan title---Huckabee's Bold Claim---and the best exit line ever. In fact, I don't think it can be improved on.
Indeed, if God is actually choosing our Presidents, he has some ’splainin’ to do.
UPDATE. I've said several times I think Huckabee is a pretty nice guy. But then---via Unfogged---I found this piece from The Huffington Post (haven't been hanging out much at HuffPost so much lately). Disturbing stuff, if true.
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