Kudos to Mike Huckabee

This election season has created a lot of cross-currents among Democrats, Republicans and Independents, maybe rip tides would be a more accurate statement. We've seen independents torn between supporting contradictory candidates such as Barack Obama and John McCain, whose positions are almost at opposite ends of the spectrum.

But this week, I want to focus on the populist positions of Governor Mike Huckabee, a candidate who was initially condemned by many on the religious right, until they realized they were going to get stuck with John McCain instead.

Mike Huckabee, like Barack Obama in many respects, represents a new generation of leadership. The old stalwarts of the religious right, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, focused almost exclusively on abortion and gay marriage as litmus tests for Republican candidates. But then here comes Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, who says that life does not stop after the womb. Yes, abortion is murder, but so is condemning people to a life of poverty. Yes, gay marriage is a sin, but so is social injustice. And, to add my personal belief, capital punishment represents the snuffing out of a human life just as much as abortion does.

Access to decent health care represents affirmation of life as well. And so does withdrawal from a needless and costly war where the true treasures of our nation, our young people, have been dying in droves.

So, even though I'm a Hillary Clinton supporter, this entry says, "Kudos to Mike Huckabee." Thank you for having the courage to show us what true Christianity is all about.