And Chickadee, those were the kinds of things that turned me off from him from the start. He has an entirely different philosophy of government from me.

i like huckabee also, but many of his ideas limit freedoms (you mentioned the smoking ban, that too) like when he lost weight and wanted the schools to measure the bmi of students. i think that’s reaching too far into the realm of personal choice.

Ditto. I haven’t a clue yet whom I’ll vote for. I’m not happy with the choices. I’m happy that Huckabee is a homeschooler and a Christian - but frankly his record leaves me concerned. And I’m still not sure - the more I hear from all the candidates who will get my vote.

I’m not a liberal (I don’t know what I am and hate labels anyway). I try to follow Christ’s Way. I think the points that Dana made in her post are relevant, important and worth a discussion to find a better way.
There are many campaigns based at the pulpit. From the NY Daily News about Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church:”The couple packed the famed church, a venue long considered a can’t-miss stop for pols hoping to win black support.”

Guess which couple.

Senator Obama has also campaigned from the Abyssinian Baptist Church pulpit.

From USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-10-07-4125943569_x.htm
“In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Obama was asked about walking the line where politics and the pulpit meet.
“There are no set guidelines or play book. When I go to church, I go there to worship. I am perfectly content to sit and listen to the music and pray and listen to the sermon,” Obama said after last weekend’s church services.
Other times — such as this Sunday — Obama takes to the pulpit.
In those instances, he said, “my job is to try to draw a connection between the values that I express to the church and the challenges and issues that we face in politics. … I don’t think there’s anything wrong with expressing faith in the public square and I think there’s nothing wrong public servants expressing religiously rooted values.”

As was pointed out, the only problem with that is it compromises a church’s non-profit status. But that law is apparently not enforced in particular circumstances. Unfortunately, there is no accountability to the law (or Constitution) anymore than with the circumstances of HSLDA supporting Governor Huckabee. Definitely a slippery slope.

Another good read is in the Chicago Sun Times Feb 20, 2007 by Mary Mitchell:
Obama’s better off not playing pulpit politics with S.C. pastor

I didn’t want to list all that for a tit for tat. I think our country has been compromised by the high price (financially and in loss of integrity) with the current state of politics. Using one’s faith for politics isn’t sitting right with me.

Sorry to be SO long. Btw Dana, I got a big kick out of the Chuck Norris ads too.

They have all taken their nonprofit status seriously…to the point that some won’t mention politics at all which leads me to other concerns.

It was a church in CA, I think, that got in trouble with the IRS for its criticism of Iraq. Under the same rules Doc is talking about.

I don’t want their advice and endorsements. Ditto for Oprah and every other celebrity/talk show host/media outlet.

GOP or DEM—-I don’t care which side they’re on. There is a difference in “educating” us about a candidate and endorsing a candidate. Endorsement crosses the line when it comes to agencies like HSLDA.

That is probably an important distinction…it is actually HSLDA PAC making the endorsement. HSLDA operates under the same nonprofit status as the League of Conservation Voters which does allow for political education but not direct endorsement.

Campaigning from the pulpit is a separate issue, and I can’t say I haven’t seen liberals do it. Jesse Jackson has made his views known in churches as have other Democratic candidates in elections past.