Religious freedom over Huckabee's religious importance
Of the many people frustrated by the prolonged piece of performance art that has been Trump 2016, perennial Republican candidate Mike Huckabee must be one of the angriest. A candidate just as toxic and hateful has flown largely under the radar simply because he’s got a shred of tact and a human haircut. Sometime last month, Huckabee must have been in the middle of another sleepless night, looking in the mirror thinking, “how do I get everyone to pay attention to me?” He may have knelt by his bed and looked to the skies; asked God to send him an angel. In the morning, his prayers were answered. A video was released of Rowan County clerk Kim Davis refusing to issue a marriage license to two men, and Huckabee had his moment of clarity. He realized that while Trump was serving as a general in the war on immigrants, he and Davis would be foot soldiers in the battle to save Christianity and religious freedom in America.
What Huckabee and Davis did not realize is that we are all granted the right of religious freedom, not religious importance. Nobody cares what Mike Huckabee and Kim Davis believe. The Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize gay marriage wasn’t made in opposition to Christianity; it was made regardless of it.
Huckabee fired the first shots of the Battle of Kim Davis on twitter, announcing his allegiance to her and his respect for her cause right off the bat. Quickly, he became more organized. He started to feature #ImWithKim in his tweets; every great 21st century underdog has a hashtag (or at least that’s what his grandkids tell him). He tweeted #ReligiousLiberty at one point, because his grandkids are busy, and do not have time to fully explain to him what hashtags are for. Kim Davis was put in jail because she was breaking the law. The court ordered her to issue the marriage license and she refused; all pretty straightforward stuff.
Huckabee started posting the link FreeKimDavisNow.com, which lead to a website featuring a petition in her favor. In a true example of transparency that every political candidate should aspire to, the link now redirects to Huckabee’s campaign site. Another link popped up, FightForReligiousLiberty.com, which also brings you to MikeHuckabee.com; the smallest of hints as to what the fight is really for.
Huckabee’s rhetoric about religious liberty is not only disingenuous, but incorrect. First off, if there were a War on Christianity, it would be a losing battle. Given that a large majority of religious people in America are Christian, the matchup wouldn’t be fair. Also, every president in the history of our nation has either been Christian or didn’t identify their religion. Christians have run this nation, and still do, so their troops would probably be way more organized.
It is easy to realize Huckabee is talking more of a philosophical war, but that does not make it less silly. There are wars, philosophical and physical, being fought against multiple groups in this country. Innocent people are being murdered because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation; Huckabee doesn’t care about that though. He cares about the group that he thinks he belongs to; the marginalized. He thinks Christians’ voices are being erased; that their say in the direction of the country is being reduced. In that sense, he may just be right. The voice of the American Christian is being turned down ever so slightly, but to suggest it is the result of a “War on Christianity” is foolish.
No, this shift in power is not happening in opposition to Christianity, it is happening regardless of it. The people who have been marginalized since the birth of America, not just since earlier this year, are starting to claim their rightful airspace. The only reason Christians are losing some of theirs is because they are the ones who have been holding it all.