In among the expected creepiness of Mike Huckabee visiting “Nashville’s most patriotic church” was this interesting piece of theology:
“I am mindful on this weekend, and I hope that we all are, that we have this great freedom because of those in the armed services,” former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told thousands over the Memorial Day weekend at Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tenn.
“We owe to them for our citizenship what we owe to Jesus for our salvation,” he said. “Jesus told us to remember him. It’s the least we can do to remember those who made our citizenship possible as well.”
Never let it be said that Huckabee doesn’t know how to give his audiences the red meat they crave. The former Baptist minister and broadcaster has got the message down cold.
I’ve actually heard Huckabee’s concept before, in a rural Pennsylvania congregation I served around the start of the Iraq war. Some people get hold of the idea of Jesus’ sacrifice by comparing it to that of soldiers or firefighters. (I’ve never heard the comparison made to cops who die in the line of duty, but it probably does get made.) The framework seems to work particularly well for American “folk Christians,” who believe that God blesses the United States with particular virtue.
In my experience at least those same people tend to the authoritarian, though some more than others. But I’ve always thought this folk theology was a highly underrated support for our entry into Iraq. It made the jump from 9/11 to attacking Saddam easy because in many people’s minds questioning the president was tantamount to disrespecting the troops, which was practically spitting on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It sounds crazy seven years later, but then the nation did go a bit bonkers there for a while.
And if you don’t think folk Christianity still supports partisan causes, you’re kidding yourself. Another speaker at the same Huckabee event had this say:
“Jesus Christ said to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and in a republic, that is participation,” said [Retired Lt. Col. Courtney] Rodgers, who served 28 years in the Air Force and the Air National Guard.
“So you have a Christian and a civic duty to make your Christian voice heard in the ballot box, by your legislators and in the public square where you would address freely any constitutional wrongs or moral wrongs by your representative government. We fight and we die for you to be able to do these things freely without fear of persecution.
