Huckabee: Society is losing respect for sanctity of life
- Aug 28, 2008 - comment
LAKE OZARK, Mo. – “It’s important to take God seriously and not take yourself too seriously,” said Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas and recent candidate for president, when asked how his faith affects his politics.
“Most people don’t include the Lord in their life. All the world was in business before I showed up and will still be functioning long after I’m gone.”
He continued, “I think it makes it easier. I don’t have to wake up every morning and wonder what I’m going to believe today. It releases you from tension and struggle.”
Huckabee’s answer was in response to a series of interviews with reporters prior to his speaking at a fund-raiser for the Vitae Caring Foundation at Lake Ozark Aug. 14.
Vitae is a non-profit organization that uses mass media advertising to bring about a reduction in abortions and to encourage a greater respect for human life.
In his speech to the Vitae supporters, he began by saying that “the most important issue facing America is how we treat each other and our respect for the sanctity of life.”
He pointed out that the Founding Fathers were unique in their thinking when they included the phrase that “all men are created equal” in the U.S. Constitution.
Huckabee noted that persons were not all considered equal in 1776. Some were deemed to be worth more than others, based on where they were born, their blood lines, their skin color, and other factors.
“It took women 150 years to get the right to vote. It took people of color 200 years to come to a place of acceptance,” Huckabee said.
“I am convinced with all my heart that God Almighty gave us this land and capacity to survive because we had elevated human life. What a magnificent elevation and celebration of the human spirit.
“Every human life has instrinsic worth and value.”
The United States is a culture of life, Huckabee reminded. “We believe in ‘no soldier left behind.’ We risk able-bodied men and thousands of dollars of equipment to rescue a wounded soldier. His value is not in his function but in his person.”
Over the years, the concept was forgotten, he said. He noted that Roe vs. Wade made it all right for a biological mother to end the life of her child and sacrifice her child for her own convenience.
The answer [to the abortion problem], Huckabee said, is to recondition the minds of the public by helping them to think through it themselves.
He told of how public attitudes had changed over the years regarding matters such as littering, the wearing of seat belts, smoking and drunk driving.
Huckabee referred to Vitae’s advertising campaigns, which use billboards, bus benches, internet videos, and other methods with its pro-life messages.
“It’s not causing people to be angry. It’s causing people to think. It is this type of approach that is reducing the number of abortions in cities where Vitae is advertising,” he said. “It is saving human life. It is elevating human life.”
In the press conference prior to the dinner, Huckabee referred to Vitae as one of the most innovative approaches to bring the life message to America. He conjectured, “If you believe that your own life has value, how can you devalue another person?”
Huckabee also answered a few questions posed by reporters regarding his own political aspirations.
“I’m going to keep all the options open,” he said. “I won’t rule out making another race sometime. Right now, I’m focusing on helping Senator [John] McCain get elected.”
Asked what he thought of speculation that Sen. Joe Lieberman might be Senator McCain’s running mate, Huckabee said, “I don’t think Senator Lieberman would be a good choice. Republicans want a Republican. I don’t know that he would be a good fit to be vice president.” Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s name received a more favorable response from Huckabee.
“It’s got to be somebody he’s comfortable with, somebody to help him get his message out. He’s pro-life. He does support traditional marriage and the sanctity of human life. His opponent does not.”
With reference to his own unsuccessful campaign for president, Huckabee said he had experienced two surprises. The first, he said, was “how wonderful people are. I came away encouraged by what I saw in people.”
Secondly, he said, “Running for president wasn’t nearly as brutal or savage as anything I ran for in Arkansas.” In Arkansas, he likened politics to “a full contact sport, played without pads.”
”You run an election to win,” he said, “but not if it comes at the expense of your own soul.”
This article is reprinted from the August 26, 2008, issue of The Pathway, the newspaper of the Missouri Baptist Convention.