God’s Constitution January 15, 2008

You knew it was going to happen eventually: That Southern Baptist preacher boy running for president has claimed he wants the Constitution to be Christian:

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution,” [Republican Presidential candidate Mike] Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. “But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view.”

The beauty of smaller information websites (i.e. just me with no staff) is that I have an opportunity for speed that some other sites do not have. I am, in this example, beating the Huffington Post to what will almost certainly be their predictable “See, we told you the Christians want theocracy!!” article. Let me leave no uncertainty: I am a Christian whose theology is probably remarkably similar to that of the former Governor. There is no theo-mongering or theophobia here. I would like to ask a serious question.

My question is this: Is it more unsettling that Huckabee talks about making a Christian constitution, or that he is obviously talking about something he won’t do? Think about it: What Congress can you conceive that would allow (and rightly so) President Huckabee to enforce sodomy laws, adultery laws, witchcraft laws, etc etc? The answer: None. Furthermore, Huckabee is discussing something which only those completely unaware of the existence of the Supreme Court could possibly believe. “Conservative” judges need to be conservative in the sense that their interpretation of said Constitution is tight and strict. I think our present court has that; it certainly is not the kind of court to enact Biblical changes within American law code.

So we have it. Mike Huckabee is not, in any conceivable circumstance, going to get his Biblical constitution. Why is he telling these things to a volatile and oftentimes politically ignorant (I say this with the love only a fellow evangelical could give) conservative Christian crowd? Answer: To win votes. Huckabee is telling constituents what they want to hear. It’s politics.

The reservations I have pertain to politicking with God. Huckabee is clearly invoking Christianity and an isssue many Christians feel strongly about in order to promote his campaign, and what he says is empty. Is this reverance? Is this what God’s standard really is for America? To banally recite talking points, peppered with spiritual vocabulary, in order to gain power?

I don’t think so.