Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) called for Christian pastors to become more politically vocal as a new poll showed him garnering early support among Republican voters in Iowa.

“I would urge pastors to get in the pulpit and call people to Biblical truth as it relates to the issue of life and marriage, and even the issue of stewardship, and never be apologetic and say, ‘Vote the Bible in your own heart.'” Huckabee said in audio posted by Right Wing Watch on Friday. “I hear people say sometimes, ‘Vote your pocketbook.’ Well, if you vote the scripture you’ll ultimately benefit your pocketbook, because everything about the economy that’s wrong would be fixed if people had a Biblical understanding of the economy and a Biblical understanding of personal stewardship and responsibility.”

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says churches may engage in a “limited amount of lobbying.” But Huckabee complained that many churches had been “intimidated” by the IRS into staying silent politically.

“We have people who say ‘Well, the courts have ruled on abortion, we just have to live with it,’ or ‘The courts have ruled on same-sex marriage, we just have to live with it,'” he said. “And I would suggest, no we don’t. We shouldn’t just accept things that are ungodly and that will cause us to have to stand before God with bloody hands.”

CNN also reported on Friday that 21 percent of Iowa Republicans said in a survey taken earlier this week that they would vote for Huckabee if the state’s 2016 Republican primary, seen as a bellwether for presidential elections, were held that day. Huckabee came in ahead of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who scored the support of 12 perecent of GOP voters.

Among other potential GOP presidential candidates, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), scored 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was backed by 4 percent of likely voters.

Listen to Huckabee’s remarks, as posted by Right Wing Watch, below.

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[Image: by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr Creative Commons]