In the days leading up to the election, Catholic bishops and priests are warning their congregations that their souls could be in jeopardy if they vote for Democrats. And assisting the bishops in their religious voter suppression/intimidation effort is none other than Mike Huckabee who is doing the voice over for an ad which was produced by Catholic extremists and which was also featured in a Fr. Jonathan Morris Fox & Friends homily promoting the same "non-negotiables." Minister Huckabee is adding an ecumenical touch to the ad by warning folks that if they vote Democratic, that vote will be recorded in the celestial Doomsday book which means that you're in the fast lane on the highway to hell. But seriously, the Fox gang are always whining about those in the librul media who are "in the tank" for Democrats. Meanwhile Fox News' Huckabee is promoting spiritual extortion if you don't vote Republican. Talk about bias!

At the beginning of the video, Huckabee makes the claim that "the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect its sacred rights and duties" - a laughable claim given that the faithful who have "stood up" to protect the "Church" include those Christians who have murdered Jews in crusades and pogroms, accused innocent folks in Salem MA of being witches, used the bible to perpetrate the evil of Jim Crow, and use the bible to preach hatred of gays and those who support abortion rights.

As ominous music plays in the background, there are images of weapons being formed in fire, an interesting image given that the biblical Jesus is called the "prince of peace." Huckeabee informs us that "unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." (So we didn't build it after all!) He then defined what the Catholic bishops define as "non-negotiable" issues which must, under penalty of hell, be the basis for Catholic voting. Not surprisingly the "non-negotiables" are not part of the Democratic platform: "The right to life from conception to death" (Personhood for fetuses), "marriage should be reinforced not redefined" (no gay marriage).

Huckabee continues his voice-over with the claim that is straight from the playbook of the GOP, Fox New, and the US Conference of Catholic bishops with regard to the HHS birth control mandate: "It is an egregious violation of our cherished principal of religious liberty for the government to force the church to buy the kind of insurance that leads to the taking of innocent human life." This, of course, is the big lie, perpetrated by the Catholic Church and Fox News, that the birth control mandate includes abortion drugs. It doesn't. It includes emergency contraception which only the Catholic Church feels is an "abortifacient."

He claims that the vote "will be recorded in eternity" and asks if you will vote "values that withstand the "test of fire." He then identifies himself and invites viewers to "join him" on Election Day and "vote based on values that will stand the test of fire." (Values that don't include income inequality, poverty, and the environment).

When I saw the ad, I realized that it was the same ad, sans voice, that was promoted, on Fox & Friends, by Father Jonathan Morris who was using his Fox pulpit, as he has on several occasions, to instruct Catholics on how to vote. As with the bishops, Morris' comments and the video's statements are not an outright endorsement of candidates but Catholic teaching that clearly is opposed to Democratic Party positions. The group behind the ad is "Catholics Called to Witness" which consists of three Florida Catholics one of whom, Adriana Gonzalez is the head of a "parental rights" group dedicated to passing a "parental rights" amendment to the Constitution because, according to these wingnuts, Americans will eventually be forced to abide by the unholy UN "Agenda 21" which, they feel, will indoctrinate children and revoke all American parental rights unless this amendment is passed.

As the SNL "Church Lady" would say, "isn't that special!"