Back in June, I wrote about the idea that the church should be the moral compass of America, and it should not abdicate that position to the government.  However, between then and Election Day, I became increasingly alarmed at the incivility and the rumor mongering of the rank and file of the conservative Christian movement.  This is the largely the responsibility of the leaders of this movement even if they weren’t specifically part of the rumors about Barack Obama’s religion and birthplace.  The rank and file were simply trying to do whatever they could to defeat the people they were told would ruin the country.

Since the rise of the Christian Right starting with the Moral Majority in the 1970s through the domination of the Dobson-Robertson crowd of the 2000s, the conservative Christian movement has invested heavily in the Republican party.  That investment has not just been a monetary one.  It has also been an investment of its time and, more importantly, the majority of its votes.  This has had numerous negative effects, with relatively few positives.

Huckabee is a socially conservative former Southern Baptist preacher, but he has slightly more liberal views on education, health care, and the environment than Pat Robertson, James Dobson, and the other major organs of the Christian Right. Because of this or not, they have not endorsed him. They have endorsed different candidates based on specific issues, some on which Huckabee has essentially identical views (e.g., National Right to Life–Fred Thompson, Robertson himself–Rudy Giuliani).

I believe this is good for the Christian community. For too long, Christians have stopped thinking for themselves. They vote for so-and-so because Pat Robertson said to. Finally, at least in Iowa, they took a stand and voted for someone they believed reflected their own values. I don’t personally endorse him. I support Fred Thompson for his intelligence and exposure to opposing views in Hollywood.

P.S.