Mike Huckabee: Gay Marriage Is Not a Political Issue, It's a Biblical Issue
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's expected to run for president in 2016, says gay marriage isn't a political issue, but a biblical issue.
"This is not a political issue," Huckabee said on CNN's "State of the Union." "It is a biblical issue. And as a biblical issue — unless I get a new version of the Scriptures, it's really not my place to say, OK, I'm just going to evolve. It's like asking someone who's Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli. We don't want to do that — I mean, we're not going to do that. Or like asking a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him, or to have dogs in his backyard. We're so sensitive to make sure we don't offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can't have the convictions that they've had for 2,000 years."
Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, is considering a 2016 presidential run within the Republican party, which could see a number of candidates vying for the Republican nomination. He's been outspoken on several topics but has always linked his comments to his personal faith and Christianity as a whole.
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He previously told The Christian Post that heterosexual Christians bear some responsibility for the acceptance of gay marriage and divorce.
"The devaluing of marriage has also happened because many traditional, evangelical Christian people have downplayed the significance of traditional, biblical, heterosexual marriage. And in doing so, once marriage becomes anything less than God's ideal, it becomes easier and easier for us to treat it as if it's not important, that new versions of it are much more acceptable.
He continued: "If heterosexual Christians think marriage is like a revolving door you can go in and out, that the commitment isn't that significant, that denigrates the biblical picture of marriage. And once we have devalued it, it becomes easier and easier to say that, 'Well, any other form of it should also be OK.' Again, I'm not saying that that's the cause, because it isn't, but it just contributes to the overall devaluing and denigrating of marriage."
Huckabee also told CNN that while he might not agree with everyone's lifestyle choices, it doesn't keep him from developing friendships with people.
The former Fox News host said he's accepting of "a lot of people as friends whose lifestyle I don't necessarily adhere to, agree with or practice — doesn't mean that I can't have a good relationship with anyone or lead them or govern them. I don't chuck people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view. I don't drink alcohol, but, gosh, a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don't use profanity, but, believe me, I have got a lot of friends who do."
