December 10, 2007

How Would a President Huckabee Speak to Muslims?

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In David and my new piece on Huckabee and religion, we point out that the Huckabee campaign is denying access to sermons Huckabee delivered as a Baptist pastor in Arkansas from 1980-1992. That’s likely because men and women of the cloth often say things that make complete sense when said in a church in front of a congregation of believers, but look awkward when identified as the beliefs of a possible president.

One sermon I was able to find on YouTube illustrates this. Below are parts two and three of that sermon. I’ve transcribed a portion of the videos below.

First video: “The Bible says God has plans to prosper us… God plans for us to succeed, not to fail. Your remember what Ethel Waters used to say when she sang at the Billy Graham crusades years ago, I never will forget her statement, she said, “God don’t sponsor no flops.” God is not in the business of leading us to a disaster. It is not in His best interest to lead us to a point where you’re humiliated as a result of following Him. Now, there is no guarantee that following Jesus means we’re going to be wealthy. Neither is it his goal to make us poor. His goal is to make us like Jesus, and that is prosperity. To put in us the character of Christ so that whatever happens in our lives, we are able to reflect the personhood and the very life of the savior who is in us.”

Second video: “I think sometimes that we forget that to be a believer it means that we have some confidence of the outcome that nobody else can share. It’s not an arrogance confidence… it’s a confidence in the promise of God being true… The only thing in this world that really makes sense is to follow Him. If you lose everything, but you still have Jesus you have everything you need to finish at the finish line with success…. If you’re in Jesus Christ, we know how it turns out at the final buzzer. I’ve read the last chapter in the Book and we really do end up winning at the end. It’s really good news there in the end.“

Everyone is entitled to their faith. Many people across America may believe this way. But how would a man who speaks in such black and white terms operate as a president? How would he govern for non-Christian Americans? How would he treat allies and enemies in the Muslim world? Religion is not off-limits. These questions need to be answered.

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