Politics & Religion

Hi Forum,

No matter what we do, politics and religion meet in this Country. We do want to know the religious leanings of Candidates whether liberals weary of Catholic pro-lifers or conservatives worried about "secret Muslims" or Mormons. The deeper question is: Are we fair and consistent in this matter?

For example, a great deal was made of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons and the need to be able to get at them in order to draw conclusions about Obama. But what now about Mike Huckabee? Will we be able to draw conclusions based on his sermons and will they be available? Or has he learned from the Wright incident to hide them? This is an open question.

Here's a blog article that leans positive toward Huckabee. I think it raises good points about religion and pastors' preaching and its possible role or non-role in our considerations. Still, the question of fairness remains. Will we hold Huckabee to the same standard as Wright? And if not, why not?

Article:


Mike Huckabee Sermon Found!
December 17, 2007 | Posted by Ray Fowler
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Last week Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit posted IN SEARCH OF HUCKABEE’S SERMONS, linking to a Mother Jones article reporting on presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s announcement that he will not make his early sermons available to the media and the public. Reynolds joked: “He’s just taking Matthew 6:6 a little more seriously than most . . . .”

Actually, Huckabee recently preached at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Texas and made the whole sermon available to the media. Click here for video links and a full transcript of the message (preached on November 4, 2007).

As far as Huckabee’s earlier sermons from back when he was a pastor in the 1980′s, those messages may be more difficult to access. Many pastors preach from an outline rather than writing out a full manuscript, and many churches would not still have tapes of messages from 20-30 years ago. I started preaching in 1986, and I do not have copies of my earlier messages.

Also, although all preaching should be applicable to a wider audience, preaching is also directed to a specific congregation at a specific time, and so much of Huckabee’s sermons from the 1980′s may not be directly applicable to the media and public of the 21st century.

What do you think? If Huckabee’s earlier sermons are readily accessible, should they be made available to the media and the public? Or would that be akin to asking Mitt Romney to dig out his old Mormon Sunday School lessons?

(Note: The question about Romney is merely for comparative purposes. I do not know if Mitt Romney ever taught Sunday School, or whether Mormons even have Sunday School for that matter.) http://www.rayfowler.org/2007/12/17/mike-huckabee-sermon-found/