The Huckabee Doctrine...A Theocratic Constitution

Former Governor Mike Huckabee spoke to a sympathetic group in South Carolina and informed them he had no problem in changing the Constitution if it was in line with God´s law. This is what we hear in Islamic countries that want their constitution to be subservient to Islamic law and their translation of God meaning Allah. For an American to not understand this comparison and the importance of the separation of church and state is inexcusable. For a politician to try to turn this ugly proposition into reality is detestable. There was only a small group there encouraging this stance but were the audience larger and the applause louder, this could create some real mob mayhem.

Bill O´Reilly talks of his culture warriors as traditionalists fighting the secular progressives who are questioning the traditionalist´s traditions. What he doesn´t recognize is the fanatic traditionalists are also on the move for change and invariably this change must lead us back to a more restricted past based on the honoring of traditions that can no longer be defended by any other means than , "we´ve always done it that way". And when an injustice occurs under those traditions, like back alley abortions, and the law reviews the issue and finds that individuals that are pregnant have individual rights and they act to protect those rights, the traditionalists scream that individual rights be damned because they believe a life only needs to be conceived. Where they got that idea and why they cling to it is another matter. People who would prefer to point to a book to define their stance instead of reviewing, analyzing and thinking about the ramifications and consequences of their stance revert to the sanction of faith as sufficient to enforce their dictates. MIke Huckabee is the Elmer Gantry of today that is blatantly moving in the direction of theocratic rule and only honestly proclaims it in front of sympathetic audiences. Otherwise he is the good old boy from Arkansas that is foremost a government executive that builds roads and bridges so as to appeal to those willing to overlook his hidden outbursts of his fundamental direction.

The good thing is the country is not over run with fundamentalists seeking a wide eyed preacher to sit in the Oval Office. For America to have room for all views the view must prevail that censorship must be forbidden. For when restrictions begin to stifle individuals in the name of belief backed by demands for faith then tradition becomes the impediment to progress. O´Reilly wants his traditionalists to triumph over the progressives? He adds the modifier "secular" as if the meaning of non-secular can be ignored. In reality non-seculars are the religionists. If a religionist seeks to insert religion into politics then he ultimately will try to subvert the Constitution to his brand of belief. And woe be to those who believe differently.

A country cannot be as free as the United States of America without protecting minority rights. For without protection there will be persecution of minorities. And the way to subvert minority rights ( i.e. those who do not agree with the majority ) is to position yourself as a spokesperson for the majority and claim to enforce the will of the people. The people who do not agree then suddenly become non-persons, enemies of the state, political prisoners, etc. This is the road that begins with a political zealot who seeks power to spread his brand of "religion" on enough people to fancy he has a mandate to transform the country into his "God´s" purpose.

Fortunately America has a healthy respect for the doctrine of separation of church and state. But the emergence of a Mike Huckabee is proof that liberty cannot survive with an apathetic passive citizenry. The good old boy approach is used by politicians to assure the voters that there is no zealotry to be feared. But a politician in today´s world that isn´t seeking power to impose his vision doesn´t exist. Just a sentry must always be on the alert for a foreign invader so to we must be on our guard against the saboteur of American fundamentals centered on the protection of individual rights. And even these rights are susceptible to distortion via the framer of the Declaration of Independence who placed the phrase, " endowed by their creator´ in the document. This assertion that rights are endowed by a creator has the flaw that the religious zealot can point to to justify his proposed modification. Individual rights are not endowed by anyone. They are the conditions in reality that men in a social setting must accept and enforce for individual assurances of security and protection from the initiation of force. Reality trumps the supernatural and this fact protects us from the would be zealot who would mesmerize us with down home guitar pickin, good old boy humor and a hidden desire to make the Constitution into a relic. As a former resident of Arkansas I´ve heard the saying , " Keep the preaching in the pulpit". Evidently there are some governors of that state who can´t resist a temptation.