Rick Scarborough Endorses Mike Huckabee

I was concerned about a previous article by John Fund of the Wall Street Journal that tried to make Huckabee out as part of the liberal crowd in the Southern Baptist denomination. I was happy to see this somewhat explained by Scarborough:

Some have tried to diminish his conservative credentials because they say he was a "no-show" for the theological wars of the Southern Baptist Convention. While that charge is not completely accurate, his gentler approach certainly proved prudent in God's wider agenda of providing a leader for the whole state of Arkansas. And after three doses of Bill and Hillary Clinton, people of both sides of the theological wars in the SBC, as well as people of many faiths in Arkansas, voted for and elected a Baptist pastor, Mike Huckabee, to state-wide office three times.

It seems that the narrow view of some is that he would be a better candidate today had he stood up during the battle for a denomination. Had he done so, he would never have been the chief executive officer of the State of Arkansas for 10 years, and we would not even be discussing his presidential candidacy now. And we must not forget it was Solomon, the man of peace, whom God commissioned to build the temple in Jerusalem, not David, the warrior.

Also, this statement about social justice intrigues me. I can't say I know exactly what positions Scarborough is referring to here but I do know that our image as conservatives and Republicans is that we don't care about the poor and the disenfranchised, many times touting personal responsibility and capitalism in a very simplified black and white view of this world.

Some criticize his redefining values as social justice. My response is as Christians and values voters, we must include social justice. Can you imagine Jesus ignoring the plight of the disenfranchised and downtrodden while going after the abortionist? This is not an either/or policy question.

Don't get me wrong, I really believe in person responsibility and the power of citizens in America to rise above the conditions into which there were born and change their family tree. However, I am not so naive to believe that any solution is black and white. As Christians we cannot absolve ourselves from what Jesus teaches about the treatment of the poor, the hungry, the destitute. How much of that belongs in the government or in private faith based institutions (and more importantly in private individuals) is the real debate.