Mike Huckabee: U.S. moving toward 'criminalization of Christianity'

The United States is moving toward “criminalization of Christianity” as a result of legalizing same-sex marriage, Mike Huckabee told a group of conservative pastors in a conference call organized by the Family Research Council.

“I think it’s fair to say that Christian convictions are under attack as never before,” Huckabee said Thursday, according to audio of the call obtained by Right Wing Watch, a project of the progressive advocacy group People for the American Way. “Not just in our lifetime, but ever before in the history of this great nation. We are moving rapidly toward the criminalization of Christianity.”

The former governor of Arkansas, who is expected to announce his presidential bid on May 5, said it is his “biblical duty” to pray for the members of the Supreme Court as they prepare to rule on same-sex marriage this summer.

In an apparent defense of gay conversion therapy, Huckabee also said that the government is telling chaplains that they cannot help people “seek assistance” for a “homosexual lifestyle” and to “put their Bibles away, no longer pray in Jesus’ name.”

Alan: There was a time -- and not long ago -- when conservative Christians would not have sought assistance from anyone other than God Himself. If conversion from a homosexual lifestyle can't be done with prayer and divine intervention, it surely won't be done with new-fangled psychological treatment.

Huckabee said that he cringes whenever he hears people call a court decision “the law of the land.”

“And I’m thinking, how many people passed 9th grade civics? This is not that complicated. There are three branches of government, not one,” he said, adding that when a court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, that does not mean that licenses should be issued the following day.

The likely presidential candidate told the pastors that opponents of gay marriage are “pariahs” among the “ruling class” and donors. He also noted that “supposedly conservative donors and conservative office holders are running away from the issue.”

“If the courts rule that people have a civil right not only to be a homosexual but a civil right to have a homosexual marriage, then a homosexual couple coming to a pastor who believes in biblical marriage who says ‘I can’t perform that wedding’ will now be breaking the law,” he said. “Let me make clear: It’s not just saying, ‘I’m sorry you have a preference.’ No, you will be breaking the law subject to civil, for sure, and possibly criminal penalties for violating the law, depending on how the law is written in communities, states and in the nation.”

Huckabee told the pastors that if they do follow their convictions according to the Bible, “your behavior will be criminal.”

“Once the courts have been allowed to run over us and nobody stands up for us in the other two branches of government, then God help us all,” he said.