H
Harry Hope
Guest
From A Washington Post editorial, 12/21/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...7/12/20/AR2007122001941.html?nav=rss_opinions
'Christian Leader'
Finding the true meaning of Mike Huckabee's Christmas ad
Friday, December 21, 2007; Page A34
IS MIKE HUCKABEE running to be president of all Americans, or just the
Christian ones?
The former Arkansas governor, who has catapulted into the front ranks
of GOP presidential contenders, is broadcasting a television ad this
week that raises the question.
As a technical matter, the ad is a beauty.
"Silent Night" plays softly in the background.
The camera focuses on Mr. Huckabee, clad in a red sweater.
Behind him is a bookcase, its intersecting shelves lighted up in the
form of a glowing white cross.
"Are you about worn out of all the television commercials you're
seeing, mostly about politics? I don't blame you," Mr. Huckabee, a
Southern Baptist minister, says soothingly, as the camera pans to show
a Christmas tree.
"At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of
that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of
the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends. I hope
that you and your family will have a magnificent Christmas season."
"My faith is my life -- it defines me," Mr. Huckabee likes to say, and
we respect that conviction.
What gives us pause is a continuing theme in Mr. Huckabee's rhetoric
that does not seem to give equal respect to -- or, at times, even
acknowledge the existence of -- those of other faiths, or of no faith
at all.
As much as Mr. Huckabee would like to dismiss them as such, these
concerns have nothing to do with a politically correct "war on
Christmas."
We don't have any problem with candidates taking time to wish voters
"Merry Christmas," as several other candidates are doing in ads this
week.
But unlike Mr. Huckabee's, their ads do not send an explicitly and
exclusively Christian message -- and while Mr. Huckabee says people
who imagine a gleaming white cross are suffering from overactive
imaginations, we invite you to look at the ad and judge for yourself.
Telling voters -- in a political commercial -- that "what really
matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ" may speak to the
evangelical Christians Mr. Huckabee is counting on in Iowa;
it sends a different and exclusionary message to non-Christian
Americans.
In 1998, Mr. Huckabee spoke of the need to "take this nation back for
Christ," though he told Tim Russert this year, "I'd probably phrase it
a little differently today."
Would he?
An earlier Huckabee ad in Iowa opened with the words "Christian
leader" emblazoned on the screen.
It's disappointing that Mr. Huckabee has responded so dismissively to
the criticism the ad has generated.
"I mean, it's just beyond ridiculous," he told NBC's "Today" on
Wednesday.
"You can't even say 'Merry Christmas' without people getting all
sensitive about it."
And, "I totally am amazed that people are so sensitive these days."
_____________________________________________
Huckleberry's kinda insensitive, ain't he
Harry
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...7/12/20/AR2007122001941.html?nav=rss_opinions
'Christian Leader'
Finding the true meaning of Mike Huckabee's Christmas ad
Friday, December 21, 2007; Page A34
IS MIKE HUCKABEE running to be president of all Americans, or just the
Christian ones?
The former Arkansas governor, who has catapulted into the front ranks
of GOP presidential contenders, is broadcasting a television ad this
week that raises the question.
As a technical matter, the ad is a beauty.
"Silent Night" plays softly in the background.
The camera focuses on Mr. Huckabee, clad in a red sweater.
Behind him is a bookcase, its intersecting shelves lighted up in the
form of a glowing white cross.
"Are you about worn out of all the television commercials you're
seeing, mostly about politics? I don't blame you," Mr. Huckabee, a
Southern Baptist minister, says soothingly, as the camera pans to show
a Christmas tree.
"At this time of year, sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of
that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of
the birth of Christ and being with our family and our friends. I hope
that you and your family will have a magnificent Christmas season."
"My faith is my life -- it defines me," Mr. Huckabee likes to say, and
we respect that conviction.
What gives us pause is a continuing theme in Mr. Huckabee's rhetoric
that does not seem to give equal respect to -- or, at times, even
acknowledge the existence of -- those of other faiths, or of no faith
at all.
As much as Mr. Huckabee would like to dismiss them as such, these
concerns have nothing to do with a politically correct "war on
Christmas."
We don't have any problem with candidates taking time to wish voters
"Merry Christmas," as several other candidates are doing in ads this
week.
But unlike Mr. Huckabee's, their ads do not send an explicitly and
exclusively Christian message -- and while Mr. Huckabee says people
who imagine a gleaming white cross are suffering from overactive
imaginations, we invite you to look at the ad and judge for yourself.
Telling voters -- in a political commercial -- that "what really
matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ" may speak to the
evangelical Christians Mr. Huckabee is counting on in Iowa;
it sends a different and exclusionary message to non-Christian
Americans.
In 1998, Mr. Huckabee spoke of the need to "take this nation back for
Christ," though he told Tim Russert this year, "I'd probably phrase it
a little differently today."
Would he?
An earlier Huckabee ad in Iowa opened with the words "Christian
leader" emblazoned on the screen.
It's disappointing that Mr. Huckabee has responded so dismissively to
the criticism the ad has generated.
"I mean, it's just beyond ridiculous," he told NBC's "Today" on
Wednesday.
"You can't even say 'Merry Christmas' without people getting all
sensitive about it."
And, "I totally am amazed that people are so sensitive these days."
_____________________________________________
Huckleberry's kinda insensitive, ain't he
Harry