If it were me I would have loved the opportunity to give a list of reasons why people are choosing me over other candidates.
By saying there’s no explanation except Divine Intervention, he in effect is saying “No, I’m not ‘better’ than other candidates in any way that would make people intentionally choose me over them”. Which is hardly a reason for ‘rationally minded’ people to vote for him.
Which leads me to agree with you Joe, that he’s not the smartest guy out there…
“Until they [the experts] look at it [his surge in the polls] from a experience that’s just beyond human, they’ll never figure it out. And that’s probably just as well.”
I wonder what political scientists (are there “political anthropologists” or “political sociologists”?) would find, or are finding, as they ask people why they’ve become interested in Huckabee.
Which do you suspect they’d be more likely to hear?
(1) “I don’t know anything about him, and I never vote, but I had a revelation yesterday that I should tell the pollsters that I’m going to vote for him.” or,
(2) “He seems like the candidate whose position is closest to mine on important issues such as abortion and values. And, he’s not a Mormon, like that other guy.”
But this is good news for him. It means that he doesn’t have to campaign, right?
Thanks for your comments, everyone. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has concerns about Huckbabee’s answer.
Eliza, perhaps this is what Huckabee means. When pollsters asked people “Who are you going to vote for?”, they opened their mouths and the word “Huckabee” came out, even though they had a different name in their minds and on the tip of their tongue.
As he indicated, it’s inexplicable, apart from divine intervention :-).
Every “surge” has the down side of the wave. When his numbers take a dip he won’t be attributing that to God, but to the evil machinations of his very human opponents.
These god demagogues switch so artfully from “Gods will” when it’s something they like to “the bad guys” when it’s something they don’t like.
Every “surge” has the down side of the wave. When his numbers take a dip he won’t be attributing that to God, but to the evil machinations of his very human opponents.
These god demagogues switch so artfully from “Gods will” when it’s something they like to “the bad guys” when it’s something they don’t like.
Richard,
Wow, you really nailed something here. This is one of the things that drives me crazy in churches. Church going christians are generally perfectly happy to give god credit for all the good stuff. But they’re never interested in blaming him for the bad stuff. The bad stuff is our fault, and the good stuff is god’s credit. It leaves us in the rotten position of having to work for “the glory of god” by, rather than promoting the good stuff and then getting some of the credit, we must fight the bad stuff to get some of the credit.
You know that whole thing from Jesus about how why should we expect kudos when we’ve only done what was expected of us?
and then there’s also that underlying thing which christians are *supposed* to be against: namely, “glorifying people”, and yet they do it just as much as anybody else.
Actually, I respect him for saying publicly what he believes privately. When you pray about something, and for a long time no one believes that what you’re praying about will come to pass, you develop a closeness with God. Then, when it comes to pass, why wouldn’t a guy give God the credit?
Richard,
I agree that he will probably not blame God if he has a downturn in the polls, but his reason makes sense from a Christian’s point of view. I would nearly guarantee you that right now, Huckabee is enjoying the ride. If his numbers turn down, he will still be grateful to God for what he has experienced to this point, and will trust that his fifteen minutes of fame were what God had intended for him.
As if it’s important, I’m probably not voting for Huckabee this election … so my words here are not because I defend him as a canidate. The comments on this thread went beyond disagreeing with the content of his words to personally attacking him from post #1 on … hence, my posting. I don’t think his words make him idiotic, unintelligent, or scary.
Keith, thanks for your comment. I disagree that this answer has no bearing on his intelligence or whether we would have reason to fear him having the control a President has.
There are always reasons why poll results change. I think he’s simply wrong to say there’s no explanation apart from Divine Intervention. People said yes when asked if they were going to vote for him and there are reasons they said yes. It would be reassuring to know that Huckabee realizes this and has some idea of what he’s doing which is causing people to like him better than other candidates.
It’s scary because I’d like a President who always has a reason for what he does, whether he believes in God or not.
The comments on this thread went beyond disagreeing with the content of his words to personally attacking him from post #1 on … hence, my posting. I don’t think his words make him idiotic, unintelligent, or scary
It would be difficult to disagree with his words as we have no way of knowing if there is any truth to them, ie. God being the reason his poll results are up.
What makes him idiotic, unintelligent and scary, as well as darn right revolting imo, is that he is speaking for God.
I always feel that way when any Christian does that, and they all seem to do that at some point or another. When they do that they are being revolting as far as I am concerned and that is a large reason I will never be a Christian.
It doesn’t matter to me how nice what a Christian has to say is, if they are speaking for God as far as I’m concerned they don’t know what they are talking about.
I agree that he will probably not blame God if he has a downturn in the polls, but his reason makes sense from a Christian’s point of view.
So if Huckabee thinks what is favorable for him and unfavorable for other candidates is God’s doing, but what is unfavorable for him and favorable for other candidates is not God’s doing, are you saying the only way I could make sense of that is by being a Christian? I guess so, because it doesn’t make any sense to me now.
Can you see how a guy who second-naturedly assumes that God is always and only on his side and never on anybody else’s side is a really, really scary prospect for President of the United States?
Another question I’d like to ask any Christian:
If God is causing Huckabee’s surge in voter’s opinion, how does he do that? Does he change the neuro patterns in their brains to cause them to have thoughts favorable to Huckabee? Does he insert thoughts into their heads? I thought Christians believed we have free will, and that’s why we originally sinned and so many choose to reject God. “Oh, that’s because He gave us free will, so our choices are our responsibility,” I’m often hearing.
Well, which is it? Are these free voters or God’s puppets?
It’s great to hear y’all’s comments. I remember back when I was a born again nut case, I used to regularly preface sentences with “*GOD* says ….”. Like “God says that homosexuality is wrong” or “God says that murderers should be executed” It was synonymous with “The Bible says” and what it meant was that I had ultimate supernatural power/intelligence backing up my opinions/ideas, so I couldn’t possibly be wrong.
What I didn’t realize back then was that the Bible pretty much also says the opposite of everything that it says, and that there are as many “Gods” as there are people to conceive of her, so there wasn’t really much point at all in prefacing my sentences like that–not to mention it’s pretty offputting to most people.
If I had my post to do over again, I would eliminate the word “scary.” I don’t think what Huckabee said makes him unintelligent or idiotic, but I can understand why his words would be scary … especially if he becomes President.
I do think all Mr. Huckabee was doing was giving credit to the God from whom He had asked help. If someone asks God for help in accomplishing x, then shouldn’t they give him some credit when x is accomplished. If God exists, how would that not make sense? Isn’t crediting those who gave you help the proper thing to do?
Richard,
You said:
Can you see how a guy who second-naturedly assumes that God is always and only on his side and never on anybody else’s side is a really, really scary prospect for President of the United States?
Yeah, I agree. I’m not sure that’s what Huckabee said here, but I do agree that such a perspective is a scary thought.
So if Huckabee thinks what is favorable for him and unfavorable for other candidates is God’s doing, but what is unfavorable for him and favorable for other candidates is not God’s doing, are you saying the only way I could make sense of that is by being a Christian? I guess so, because it doesn’t make any sense to me now.
Richard, I don’t mean that you have to be a Christian to understand it, but understanding how a Christian thinks will help a guy understand Huckabee. Prayer does not necessarily result in certainty … so you pray and interact with God, and along the way you see what He has for you. If Huckabee doesn’t win the nomination, he will probably think that he accomplished what God had for him in this election within his few minutes of popularity.
Another question I’d like to ask any Christian:
If God is causing Huckabee’s surge in voter’s opinion, how does he do that? Does he change the neuro patterns in their brains to cause them to have thoughts favorable to Huckabee? Does he insert thoughts into their heads? I thought Christians believed we have free will, and that’s why we originally sinned and so many choose to reject God. “Oh, that’s because He gave us free will, so our choices are our responsibility,” I’m often hearing.
Well, which is it? Are these free voters or God’s puppets?
You ask a great question, Richard. I believe that God designed a world where certain characteristics don’t go out of style. I believe that my life works best when I’m living in the spirit of altruism, mercy, confidenc, hope, etc. My trust in God is that those characteristics will win the day in the end, even if at times life seems to not be going well. So, it is in the sense that God has created a world in which a small good overcomes obstacles thought insurmountable, that one will say, “God caused this.”
I don’t know if that’s Huckabee’s perspective, but it’s because of that perspective that what he said doesn’t sound crazy to me.
And you can see the connection to your previous question. If Huckabee (in his opinion, of course) strikes a blow for altruism, hope, etc. that he may have accomplished the purpose God has for him regardless of the election’s outcome. It might be for this reason that a guy like Huckabee won’t consider an election loss a spiritual failure, in the same way he sees the gaining of a platform a spiritual success.
Let me know if that made any more sense, Richard … thanks for the patient listening …
Benjamin,
I agree with your post, but I’m not sure that Huckabee said any of the stuff you accurately refute.
Keith, thanks for coming back and responding to comments which were in response to you.
I do think all Mr. Huckabee was doing was giving credit to the God from whom He had asked help. If someone asks God for help in accomplishing x, then shouldn’t they give him some credit when x is accomplished. If God exists, how would that not make sense? Isn’t crediting those who gave you help the proper thing to do?
The part I have a problem with is him saying the only explanation is God – there is no human explanation.
It doesn’t bother me if people thank God or give credit to God when they believe that’s appropriate. But I wouldn’t understand or agree if they said there’s no human explanation for something caused by humans like poll results going up.
Keith, thank you for your patient and thoughtful answers. I think I can understand this from a Christian’s viewpoint a little better now, except for that free will/God’s doing conundrum. You seem far more able to see the nuances of an idea than Huckabee. He comes up with punchy, pithy soundbites that play well but don’t really make that much sense. Similarly to what Doreen says about athletes crediting God for winning their game, I have great trepidation about anyone even coming close to saying “God’s on my side” when he wants to have his finger on the nuclear button. My ditto to your and Helen’s problem with Huckabee disregarding any possible human explanation for his sudden rise. Those who buy into his explanation might as well stay home from the polls because apparently humans are not really needed in this election.
I wanted to respond to another thing you shared,
I believe that my life works best when I’m living in the spirit of altruism, mercy, confidence, hope, etc. My trust in God is that those characteristics will win the day in the end, even if at times life seems to not be going well.
That is exactly how I too live my life, moment by moment practicing honesty, compassion, fairness and respect. In my case I do it because I can’t not do it. It’s the way I am. The results may go well or poorly but I’m stuck with doing things that way because it is apparently in my nature.
I’m always encouraged when I meet a Christian such as yourself.
Similarly to what Doreen says about athletes crediting God for winning their game, I have great trepidation about anyone even coming close to saying “God’s on my side” when he wants to have his finger on the nuclear button.
That makes sense.
That is exactly how I too live my life, moment by moment practicing honesty, compassion, fairness and respect. In my case I do it because I can’t not do it. It’s the way I am. The results may go well or poorly but I’m stuck with doing things that way because it is apparently in my nature.
I’m always encouraged when I meet a Christian such as yourself.
I identify with that sense of “can’t not do it” more than I admit sometimes. The sense of encouragment is mutual. Your honesty, compassion, fairness, and respect (and wit) have been a greatly appreciated by myself and others. Thanks, Richard … and Helen, thank you as well.
Comment by: joe
1What an idiot.
Comment by: Helen
2If it were me I would have loved the opportunity to give a list of reasons why people are choosing me over other candidates.
By saying there’s no explanation except Divine Intervention, he in effect is saying “No, I’m not ‘better’ than other candidates in any way that would make people intentionally choose me over them”. Which is hardly a reason for ‘rationally minded’ people to vote for him.
Which leads me to agree with you Joe, that he’s not the smartest guy out there…
Comment by: Laura M.
3That’s revolting. He should be ashamed.
Though come to think of it, he probably actually believes that. He sounds very sincere.
Comment by: Benjamin ady
4It’s actually terrifying. How easy is it to move from “God is making/made me win” to “God told me to invade ….. (Iran, for instance)”?
Comment by: Eliza
5“Until they [the experts] look at it [his surge in the polls] from a experience that’s just beyond human, they’ll never figure it out. And that’s probably just as well.”
I wonder what political scientists (are there “political anthropologists” or “political sociologists”?) would find, or are finding, as they ask people why they’ve become interested in Huckabee.
Which do you suspect they’d be more likely to hear?
(1) “I don’t know anything about him, and I never vote, but I had a revelation yesterday that I should tell the pollsters that I’m going to vote for him.” or,
(2) “He seems like the candidate whose position is closest to mine on important issues such as abortion and values. And, he’s not a Mormon, like that other guy.”
But this is good news for him. It means that he doesn’t have to campaign, right?
Comment by: Karen
6Hoo, boy. Just what we need, another “pastor in chief.”
Yikes.
Comment by: Helen
7Thanks for your comments, everyone. I’m glad I’m not the only one who has concerns about Huckbabee’s answer.
Eliza, perhaps this is what Huckabee means. When pollsters asked people “Who are you going to vote for?”, they opened their mouths and the word “Huckabee” came out, even though they had a different name in their minds and on the tip of their tongue.
As he indicated, it’s inexplicable, apart from divine intervention :-).
Comment by: Elaine
8Does this mean God doesn’t like his opponents? He likes me (Huckebee) best? I have God’s endorsement?
here we go again…
Comment by: Richard Wade
9Every “surge” has the down side of the wave. When his numbers take a dip he won’t be attributing that to God, but to the evil machinations of his very human opponents.
These god demagogues switch so artfully from “Gods will” when it’s something they like to “the bad guys” when it’s something they don’t like.
Comment by: Helen
10Richard, I’m sure you’re right – Huckabee wouldn’t be ascribing a downturn in the polls to Divine Intervention.
Comment by: benjamin ady
11Richard,
Wow, you really nailed something here. This is one of the things that drives me crazy in churches. Church going christians are generally perfectly happy to give god credit for all the good stuff. But they’re never interested in blaming him for the bad stuff. The bad stuff is our fault, and the good stuff is god’s credit. It leaves us in the rotten position of having to work for “the glory of god” by, rather than promoting the good stuff and then getting some of the credit, we must fight the bad stuff to get some of the credit.
You know that whole thing from Jesus about how why should we expect kudos when we’ve only done what was expected of us?
and then there’s also that underlying thing which christians are *supposed* to be against: namely, “glorifying people”, and yet they do it just as much as anybody else.
Sorry if I’m ranting a little.
Comment by: Doreen A Mannion
12eek! yikes! He is very scary….As if God doesn’t have better things to do then make his poll numbers go up…..
Comment by: Keith
13Actually, I respect him for saying publicly what he believes privately. When you pray about something, and for a long time no one believes that what you’re praying about will come to pass, you develop a closeness with God. Then, when it comes to pass, why wouldn’t a guy give God the credit?
Richard,
I agree that he will probably not blame God if he has a downturn in the polls, but his reason makes sense from a Christian’s point of view. I would nearly guarantee you that right now, Huckabee is enjoying the ride. If his numbers turn down, he will still be grateful to God for what he has experienced to this point, and will trust that his fifteen minutes of fame were what God had intended for him.
As if it’s important, I’m probably not voting for Huckabee this election … so my words here are not because I defend him as a canidate. The comments on this thread went beyond disagreeing with the content of his words to personally attacking him from post #1 on … hence, my posting. I don’t think his words make him idiotic, unintelligent, or scary.
Thanks guys.
Comment by: Helen
14Keith, thanks for your comment. I disagree that this answer has no bearing on his intelligence or whether we would have reason to fear him having the control a President has.
There are always reasons why poll results change. I think he’s simply wrong to say there’s no explanation apart from Divine Intervention. People said yes when asked if they were going to vote for him and there are reasons they said yes. It would be reassuring to know that Huckabee realizes this and has some idea of what he’s doing which is causing people to like him better than other candidates.
It’s scary because I’d like a President who always has a reason for what he does, whether he believes in God or not.
Comment by: Laura M.
15It would be difficult to disagree with his words as we have no way of knowing if there is any truth to them, ie. God being the reason his poll results are up.
What makes him idiotic, unintelligent and scary, as well as darn right revolting imo, is that he is speaking for God.
I always feel that way when any Christian does that, and they all seem to do that at some point or another. When they do that they are being revolting as far as I am concerned and that is a large reason I will never be a Christian.
It doesn’t matter to me how nice what a Christian has to say is, if they are speaking for God as far as I’m concerned they don’t know what they are talking about.
Comment by: Richard Wade
16Keith, you said:
So if Huckabee thinks what is favorable for him and unfavorable for other candidates is God’s doing, but what is unfavorable for him and favorable for other candidates is not God’s doing, are you saying the only way I could make sense of that is by being a Christian? I guess so, because it doesn’t make any sense to me now.
Can you see how a guy who second-naturedly assumes that God is always and only on his side and never on anybody else’s side is a really, really scary prospect for President of the United States?
Another question I’d like to ask any Christian:
If God is causing Huckabee’s surge in voter’s opinion, how does he do that? Does he change the neuro patterns in their brains to cause them to have thoughts favorable to Huckabee? Does he insert thoughts into their heads? I thought Christians believed we have free will, and that’s why we originally sinned and so many choose to reject God. “Oh, that’s because He gave us free will, so our choices are our responsibility,” I’m often hearing.
Well, which is it? Are these free voters or God’s puppets?
Comment by: Doreen
17I’m a Christian, and his words do not make sense from this Christian’s point of view.
One can never speak for God.
His statements bother me as much as pro athletes who credit God with their team winning.
Comment by: benjamin ady
18It’s great to hear y’all’s comments. I remember back when I was a born again nut case, I used to regularly preface sentences with “*GOD* says ….”. Like “God says that homosexuality is wrong” or “God says that murderers should be executed” It was synonymous with “The Bible says” and what it meant was that I had ultimate supernatural power/intelligence backing up my opinions/ideas, so I couldn’t possibly be wrong.
What I didn’t realize back then was that the Bible pretty much also says the opposite of everything that it says, and that there are as many “Gods” as there are people to conceive of her, so there wasn’t really much point at all in prefacing my sentences like that–not to mention it’s pretty offputting to most people.
Comment by: Keith
19If I had my post to do over again, I would eliminate the word “scary.” I don’t think what Huckabee said makes him unintelligent or idiotic, but I can understand why his words would be scary … especially if he becomes President.
I do think all Mr. Huckabee was doing was giving credit to the God from whom He had asked help. If someone asks God for help in accomplishing x, then shouldn’t they give him some credit when x is accomplished. If God exists, how would that not make sense? Isn’t crediting those who gave you help the proper thing to do?
Richard,
You said:
Yeah, I agree. I’m not sure that’s what Huckabee said here, but I do agree that such a perspective is a scary thought.
Richard, I don’t mean that you have to be a Christian to understand it, but understanding how a Christian thinks will help a guy understand Huckabee. Prayer does not necessarily result in certainty … so you pray and interact with God, and along the way you see what He has for you. If Huckabee doesn’t win the nomination, he will probably think that he accomplished what God had for him in this election within his few minutes of popularity.
You ask a great question, Richard. I believe that God designed a world where certain characteristics don’t go out of style. I believe that my life works best when I’m living in the spirit of altruism, mercy, confidenc, hope, etc. My trust in God is that those characteristics will win the day in the end, even if at times life seems to not be going well. So, it is in the sense that God has created a world in which a small good overcomes obstacles thought insurmountable, that one will say, “God caused this.”
I don’t know if that’s Huckabee’s perspective, but it’s because of that perspective that what he said doesn’t sound crazy to me.
And you can see the connection to your previous question. If Huckabee (in his opinion, of course) strikes a blow for altruism, hope, etc. that he may have accomplished the purpose God has for him regardless of the election’s outcome. It might be for this reason that a guy like Huckabee won’t consider an election loss a spiritual failure, in the same way he sees the gaining of a platform a spiritual success.
Let me know if that made any more sense, Richard … thanks for the patient listening …
Benjamin,
I agree with your post, but I’m not sure that Huckabee said any of the stuff you accurately refute.
Thanks for everything, guys
Comment by: Helen
20Keith, thanks for coming back and responding to comments which were in response to you.
The part I have a problem with is him saying the only explanation is God – there is no human explanation.
It doesn’t bother me if people thank God or give credit to God when they believe that’s appropriate. But I wouldn’t understand or agree if they said there’s no human explanation for something caused by humans like poll results going up.
Comment by: Keith
21Helen,
Good point. I agree with that.
Comment by: Helen
22Thanks Keith.
Comment by: Richard Wade
23Keith, thank you for your patient and thoughtful answers. I think I can understand this from a Christian’s viewpoint a little better now, except for that free will/God’s doing conundrum. You seem far more able to see the nuances of an idea than Huckabee. He comes up with punchy, pithy soundbites that play well but don’t really make that much sense. Similarly to what Doreen says about athletes crediting God for winning their game, I have great trepidation about anyone even coming close to saying “God’s on my side” when he wants to have his finger on the nuclear button. My ditto to your and Helen’s problem with Huckabee disregarding any possible human explanation for his sudden rise. Those who buy into his explanation might as well stay home from the polls because apparently humans are not really needed in this election.
I wanted to respond to another thing you shared,
That is exactly how I too live my life, moment by moment practicing honesty, compassion, fairness and respect. In my case I do it because I can’t not do it. It’s the way I am. The results may go well or poorly but I’m stuck with doing things that way because it is apparently in my nature.
I’m always encouraged when I meet a Christian such as yourself.
Comment by: Keith
24Richard, thank you
That makes sense.
I identify with that sense of “can’t not do it” more than I admit sometimes. The sense of encouragment is mutual. Your honesty, compassion, fairness, and respect (and wit) have been a greatly appreciated by myself and others. Thanks, Richard … and Helen, thank you as well.
Comment by: Helen
25You’re welcome, Keith.
Richard, thanks for your comments.