Being a Jesus Freak Does Not Always Translate to Good Politics
by Lee Enochs
Over the last few months many of my Evangelical friends have expressed to me that they have decided to vote for Mike Huckabee or Ben Carson for President and some have tried to get me on board with these two fine Christian gentleman as well. These friends of mine believe the time has come for a truly Christian leader to emerge upon the scene to return America “back to its Christian roots.” These faith-based voters want to see prayer returned back into public schools, gay marriage ended, abortion abolished and Jesus Christ as Lord of all.
Now, I understand their concerns, I really do. In fact, I come from a devout Evangelical Christian background and graduated from the same Southern Baptist school that Mike Huckabee attended back in the day. I also went to several other Evangelical schools and some of the most prominent Evangelical Churches in America. So, I know the Evangelical culture and concerns very, very well. In fact, I would still consider myself an Evangelical Christian. However, I am not the kind of Evangelical that frowns upon dancing, playing cards, going to the movies or other “worldly entertainments.”
Historically, among many other things, Evangelicals have believed in the authority and inspiration of the Bible alone, the centrality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the need to be a “witness for Christ” in our secular culture. Now, I am in full agreement with all those sentiments. Yet, I simply do not believe that being a strong Evangelical Christian necessarily translates to being a good political candidate. In fact, George W. Bush was one of the most vocal and alleged “Evangelicals” ever in the history of America. Yet, W’s policies were among the all time worst in American political history.
In fact, I believe a person could be the best Christian imaginable but a bad Presidential candidate. In the case of Mike Huckabee, he was anything but a small government conservative while governor of Arkansas and his record shows that he raised taxes and was very much into “big government.”
The Cato Institute says the following about Mike Huckabee:
“As governor of Arkansas, Huckabee dramatically increased state spending. During his two-term tenure, spending increased by more than 65 percent — at three times the rate of inflation.
The number of government workers increased by 20 percent, and the state’s debt services increased by nearly $1 billion. Huckabee financed his spending binge with higher taxes. Under his leadership, the average Arkansan’s tax burden increased 47 percent, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, including increases in the state’s gas, sales, income, and cigarette taxes. He raised taxes on everything from groceries to nursing home beds.
Huckabee answers these complaints by pointing out that he “cut taxes 94 times” while governor. True. But most of those tax cuts were tiny, like exempting residential lawn care from the sales tax. Some cuts reduced overall state revenues by as little as $15,000. On net, Huckabee increased state taxes by more than $500 million. In fact, Huckabee increased taxes in the state by more than Bill Clinton did.”
Please see: http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/huckabee-biggest-biggovernment-conservative
Again, don’t get me wrong, I personally like Mike Huckabee. I really do. I understand Mike Huckabee and his voting demographic more than you will ever know. I respect Mike’s faith in Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as well, I am just not sure that in the case of Mike Huckabee that one’s Christian faith and commitment is the sole criteria we should base our political decisions on.
The same goes with Ben Carson. I love the guy. I have no complaints against Ben Carson’s Christian character. The man is a saint and I would be the first person in line if Ben Carson was speaking on his work as a doctor at a Christian breakfast down at the First Baptist Church of Dallas. I just see very little actual political experience on Ben Carson’s vast resume.
The reality is, almost all the candidates running for President in the GOP are professing Christians. While we are at it, Rand Paul has devoted his spare time to do medical missions trips and both Scott Walker and Ted Cruz’s dad’s were Christian ministers. Heck, Jimmy Carter claims to be Baptist and Donald Trump a good Presbyterian, does that mean I should vote for either one of these guys?
So, in attempting to differentiate all these great Christians from each other, I think we need to look into their policies and records on the issues and not what they taught in Sunday school this past weekend. Because of my Evangelical background, you will not see any personal attacks on Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee from me, yet I am not voting for these guys because I have learned from experience that being a Jesus Freak does not always translate into good politics.
Rogue Reformation 