Former Bro. Gov. Mike Huckabee returns to Little Rock on Friday to serve as the keynote speaker at an evangelical conference at the Statehouse Convention Center. Pastors from Iowa and South Carolina plan to meet with Huckabee to talk about him running for president in 2016, according to USA Today.

The conference isn’t your run of the mill evangelical gathering. The Arkansas Renewal Project is a nutso extremist evangelical conference. It’s organised by anti-gay, Christian-Nation absolutist David Lane, who’s been described as “an evangelical kingmaker” and credited with helping tilt the 2008 Iowa caucus for Mike Huckabee and ousting three Iowa Supreme Court justices after the court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. His mission is simple. He wants a culture war:

Advertisement

Let’s decide if America is a Christian nation or a pagan nation – and get on with it; the sooner the better.

My intent is to put God, prayer and the Bible back into public schools as a principal component of education. Some experts say it would take 1) a constitutional amendment; others say 2) a simple 50 percent plus 1 vote in the House and Senate (U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 2).

Pick your poison – either approach is fine with me.

Can you picture what America would look like following a decade-long war – a knock-down drag-out – to return God, prayer and the Bible to the public schools? To regain our Christian heritage and re-establish a Christian culture?

There may be some casualties.

The message to our federal representatives and senators? Vote to restore the Bible and prayer in public schools or be sent home. Hanging political scalps on the wall is the only love language politicians can hear.

Also, on the bill:

Advertisement

Former Congressional candiate* Bill Federer, billed as a Christian historian. In recent years he’s issued warnings about the radical homosexual agenda (“there are just a couple steps before the military could be used in a persecution of those that are viewed as enemies of the new state belief system”) and the pre-election potential of President Obama putting Israel in position to go to war with Iran as pretext for Obama to seize control of radio, TV and internet. 

David Barton, who Huckabee has called “the single best historian in America today” and who’s said all kinds of nutty stuff, most as crazy as his opposition to immigration reform: “National boundaries are set by God…God’s the one who drew up the lines for the nations, so to say open borders is to say ‘God, you goofed it all up and when you had borders, you shouldn’t have done it.’”

Advertisement

And former Congressmen Bob McEwen and J.C. Watts, who seem to be less nutty than the rest of the line-up, but obviously should be considered suspect by association. 

*A previous version of this post incorrectly called Bill Federer a congressman. In fact, he’s run and lost three times.

Advertisement

50 years of fearless reporting and still going strong

Be a part of something bigger and join the fight for truth by subscribing or donating to the Arkansas Times. For 50 years, our progressive, alternative newspaper in Little Rock has been tackling powerful forces through our tough, determined, and feisty journalism. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 email subscribers, it's clear that our readers value our commitment to great journalism. But we need your help to do even more. By subscribing or donating – as little as $1 –, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be supporting our efforts to hire more writers and expand our coverage. Take a stand with the Arkansas Times and make a difference with your subscription or donation today.

Previous article State Police name Alabama fugitive who killed himself on I-40 after traffic stop Next article Monday line