Cross in Huckabee's new TV ad?
This is a screengrab from Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's new Christmas TV ad. Did he and his team purposely frame the shot so the shape of a cross (actually part of a bookcase) is visible in the background? The "Christian Leader" says no.Link
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Doesn't it seem a little bit silly to go hunting for a Christian subtext in an ad where the text is explicitly Christian? In all seriousness, what possible difference does it make whether the commercial director saw the bookcase cross and included it deliberately in the frame or didn't?
Nailed it in one post.
I can say, based on what I know of this dude, that it's 100% on purpose. But his camp will probably deny it. Huckabee is, after all, one of the few candidates who openly states that he does not believe in evolution...why not include a cross in his ad? I doubt very seriously that he would want votes from non-Christians at all anyway. And if he keeps up with stuff like this, perhaps he'll get his wish.
either way, there's no bad PR. not for the candidate or the cable chanels web-site.
Nothing sickens or tires me more than these pseudo-Christian zealots and their relentless pursuit to throw away the Constitution and transform America into some sort of perverted theocracy.
In light of that, I think this is obviously set-up to send a message to the gesticulating hordes of Evangelical loonies out there. I think Bush did much the same with his dropping of little keywords here and there. They're a lot like teenage boys watching scrambled soft-core porn on late-night Cinemax, and they get quite excited and relieved when a little blur is deciphered.
Ah well... Perhaps someday presidential candidates won't be required to undergo a religious test so as to become leader. Maybe we should have that sort of thing written into our Constitution.
If ethical impairments were cancerous, Huckabee would be terminally ill.
Huckabee's sicening lack of ethics is very well documented. In his most unconscionable action in Arkansas, he heavily lobbied the state parole board to let serial rapist Wayne Dumond free because Dumond was (presumably) a born again Christian and one of his victims was a distant relative of Clinton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Dumond - see especially the section "Arkansas parole controversy."
And, no duh, OF COURSE he is invoking a cross in his ad. Nothing in a political ad appears by chance, especially for a far right fundamentalist ideologue like Huckabee. This guy is Jerry Falwell's dream Presidential candidate through and through (in fact Falwell and Huckabee were very close friends and political allies).
The very fact that this guy is a serious candidate for President goes to show how badly America has regressed over the last 25 years.
Not only is there a cross in the background, close examination shows signs of a "decorated tree" as well. As you may know, many Christians use these to celebrate so-called "Christmas" as part of their cult. Clearly, there's something afoot.
I love what Ron Paul has to say when he's asked about this ad..."As Sinclair Lewis once said 'When Fascism comes to this country, it'll be wrapped in the flag carrying the cross..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrkltetQ0x4&eurl=http://www.dailypaul.com/
If there were a god, he would hop off the cross and teabag this clown.
God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs.
@Matt Sanderson:
How high is that horse? I bet you'd need a ladder to get down from there.
Of course it's a cross. There are no accidents in high-stakes advertising like this.
Why are Christians so obsessed with this horrible torture device anyway? Do they really think Jesus is going to be happy seeing all these crosses if he comes back?
Culture of life, my ass.
>>>God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs.
Greetings
Luckily everybody who umm 'matters' in our country shares Huckabee's reverence for the crucifiction symbology. ;)
Sadly Huckabee and his evengelical ilk keep reading the wrong gospels. I'm pretty sure Jesus was NOT a fan of waterboarding!
Wine, YES...
Enjoy the journey
WarLord
His "bookcase" has no books. He only needs one book: the Bible. And he keeps it on his nightstand.
"In all seriousness, what possible difference does it make whether the commercial director saw the bookcase cross and included it deliberately in the frame or didn't?"
The theory behind the secret cross message is this - Evangalicals use a plain, undecorated cross in their death worship cult. On the other hand, Mormons do not display or wear crosses at all, while Catholics prefer their crosses with a bloodied hippie nailed to it.
By displaying a plain cross in the ad, Huckabee is sending he message to Evangalicals that he is really one of them, while Romney and Giuliani are members of false religions, and probably eat babies when they are not busy worshipping satan or the Pope.
Is that what he is doing with the cross? Is the cros really even there? I could not say, since I am not a member of any of these wacky modern day Mithras cults.
"God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs."
Personally i think god forbidding something like religious beliefs would be counter productive to his allegedly stated goals.
"#11 posted by Matt Sanderson , December 19, 2007 10:13 AM
God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs."
Yeah, the problem is not him merely having religious beliefs. If you're not terrified of someone like him leading our country, you're not paying attention.
I'm a Christian and I usually disagree with the way we're represented by ridiculous public figures. Maybe Mike Huckabee is one of those. I don't know. He does seem to have a sense of humor about it all that you don't find in the self-aware (phony) earnestness of our current leadership. In an interview with MSNBC about this spot, Huckabee said that while everyone was focusing on the cross he was blinking codes to all the evangelicals out there, and that if you play the spot backwards it says 'Paul is dead.' Pretty funny for a politician. OR OMINOUSLY TRUUUUUUUUEEEE......
"God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs."
A few corrections for you:
"[The Constitution] forbid[s] that someone in government [attempt in any way to make policy out of their] religious beliefs."
Personally, though, I long for a day when someone who still holds onto millennia-old superstitions stands no chance of holding public office anywhere in the world. If he filmed this ad in front of a big painting of The Wild Hunt, asking us to put the Thor back in Thursday, we'd laugh him off the airwaves.
yeah BWA-ha...oh wait a minute...is that the holy trinity represented by three ornaments tucked into the cross? i seem to recall a very fancy schmantzy podium at the republican convention...hmmm...this is clever stuff...i feel like encyclopedia brown!
"put the Thor back in Thursday"
Whatever. Put the Odin back in wednesday (wodensday)!
@Matt Sanderson
Take it easy there. You've got it all backwards. Despite the critical commentary generally found on this site, ALL presidents and presidential candidates have religious beliefs. It's a de facto prerequisite for candidacy. It would be far more apropos to suggest:
"God forbid someone in the government be an atheist." (or agnostic, or humanist, or Unitarian, etc.)
"God forbid someone in the government be an atheist."
Now thats something god (provided he existed) would forbid.
"American Taliban" isn't just rhetoric.
Huckabee:
It would be interesting to know exactly which government programs Mike Huckabee believes support necrophilia.
Huckabee does not have a theology degree. He only spent a year in seminary.
Huckabee suspiciously ordered the destruction of computer hard drives in 83 desktop and four server systems in the Governor's office. Huckabee exhausted $13,000 from an emergency fund to destroy the systems, the replacement of which then cost Arkansas taxpayers $335,000.
Huckabee now faces an ethics complaint and possible criminal probes over the felony destruction of state records.
In 2006 Huckabee resorted to using wedding gift registries set up by friends to furnish the couple's new $525,000 home in North Little Rock. Feel free to wish them belated congratulations on their nuptuals: Mike and Janet Huckabee were married in 1974.)
In 2004 Huckabee took the unusual step of offering clemency to Eugene Fields, a four-time DWI offender. Apparently, $10,000 in contributions to the Republican Party of Arkansas and additional gifts to the Salvation Army and a Baptist church charity were sufficient to get Fields a get-out-of-jail free card from Governor Huckabee
In 1998, then 17 year old David Huckabee was dismissed from his job as a Boy Scout counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Arkansas for hanging a stray dog. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee then personally intervened to protect his son from legal jeopardy.
"God forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs."
Heh, I would love the day when the religious majority stop acting like they are persecuted in the U.S. Of course, isn't that a classic Republican tactic?
I'm pretty sure I saw the FSW in a Dennis Kucinich ad.
Dang, that would have been much funnier if I didn't have a brain fart and would have written FSM like I meant.
Subliminal messages have never worked on me... hey have you heard the Good News..?
Freedom of religion.
Unless you're Christian...
You're missing the forest for the crosses -- the real subliminal message here is the balls on the bookcase. Either the symbol of St. Nicholas (patron saint of pawnbrokers, among other things) OR a not too subtle hint that he has more of them than Romney. (Who has two, but very small.)
@Haldor-
You have GOT to be kidding.
Freedom of religion DOES NOT mean freedom from criticism. If you want to make the connection, and argue that Christians are persecuted in America because they are criticized by their fellow citizens, you had better be ready to shut down every Christian who goes on TV and makes atheists out to be amoral and arrogant.
this as at least better than romney, who when asked if he would appoint a muslim to his staff, said there wasn't enough muslims in america to justify that sort of positioning.
he momentarily forgot theres not exactly a shit-ton of mormons compared to other religions either, and also the fact that you shouldn't even be considering someones religion either as a qualifying or disqualifying trait for public office.
I can help but think that making a big deal out of this intersection of shelves in a bookcase is like Falwell's "Tinky-Winky is gay," or the priest in the Little Mermaid gets a boner.
"[The Constitution] forbid[s] that someone in government [attempt in any way to make policy out of their] religious beliefs."
I'm no fan of Huckabee, but that's a pretty warped and inaccurate reading of the establishment clause . . . there's nothing in the Constitution that prevents government officials from enacting legislation that aligns with or is even based on their religious beliefs.
Please. Every time something purely coincidental like this happens, somebody cries conspiracy.
Remember the old "RATS" scandal in the 2000 presidential election?
Just another "issue" for people to whine about. Get a life.
"there's nothing in the Constitution that prevents government officials from enacting legislation that aligns with or is even based on their religious beliefs."
Right, but my point was that they are forbidden from making policy OF their beliefs, which prevents them from turning a particular religious belief into policy- like passing legislation that affirms Christmas to be about the birth of Christ the Messiah.
Obviously, much policy is based on religious doctrine, but it needs to be proven to have a purely secular value, otherwise it is making policy of religion.
Come on naysayers. Thsi is a no duh...Huckabee's mug is off center from the camera (to the right...ha ha) with the big ass cross behind him.
Someone posted this which I had not heard yet:
"In 1998, then 17 year old David Huckabee was dismissed from his job as a Boy Scout counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Arkansas for hanging a stray dog. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee then personally intervened to protect his son from legal jeopardy."
WTF!! Hey Huckabee, I thought Jesus did away with animal sacrifices! Nice parenting skills! Did you or your faithful, obedient and bitchy wife Janet teach him how to make a noose?
He fought to free a serial rapist who raped and murdered again, his own kid murdered a dog in cold blood, he has a pile of ethical violations longer than your arm, oh, but he buhleeeeves in Jeeeeesus, so fellow fundamentalist cult members are gonna vote for him!
With his past catching up to him, I have to agree the TV ad is genius...he's basically saying to the fellow Christian nutters: "Don't pay any attention to all that, our faith in Jeeeeesus is ALL THAT MATTERS."
And a huge swath of the American public immersed in this funademtalist lunacy will buy that. Now THAT is what I call mental illness.
#1: All the commentary this post needed.
#16: I never saw anything more than a few similarities between the Mithras story and the Jesus story, even with the old-theory-new-format YouTube videos going around. Lincoln and Kennedy - now THERE'S some similarities.
@G.Park -
Nope. I'm not kidding and I don't recall stating anything about Christians being persecuted in America because they are criticized.
It's too bad his belief in Christianity is used as a criteria to determine his, and his supporter's, character or mental fitness.
One last thought...sure, it's a bookcase behind him, but Huckabee's head and shoulder block the lines perfectly to leave a very clear impression of a cross behind him with the remaining visible lines.
So, no, Huckabee isn't EXACTLY "lying" when he says that's not a cross behind him...which goes to show the kind of truth parsing this ethically impaired scheister is capable of.
Boing Boing commenters forbid that someone in government have religious beliefs.
"In 1998, then 17 year old David Huckabee was dismissed from his job as a Boy Scout counselor at Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Arkansas for hanging a stray dog. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee then personally intervened to protect his son from legal jeopardy."
David Huckabee, Michael Vick.
Michael Vick, David Huckabee.
#41 Haldor: So as to deny Falwellian Christians the opportunity to wrap themselves in the cloak of victimhood ("Waah, waah, you're saying all Christians are mentally ill, waah!") -- Let's do away with that pile of shittake mushrooms right now as follows:
Replace the phrase "mental illness" in my post (#39) with "moral perversion" in its stead.
Actually, this phrase is much more on target.
Fighting to let a serial rapist free, especialy under the specific circumstances of the Dumond case, is a morally perverted act.
Looking the other way from ethical violations and in particular to wilfully ignore Huckabee's actions to free rapist Dumond (and the cabal of religious right supporteres who urged him to do so), including ignoring letters from Dumond's victims begging Huckabee to keep Dumond behind bars, is most certainly an act of premeditated, unconscionable, unforgivable moral perversion.
This alone should disqualify Huckabee from serious consideration for ANY political post, much less President of the United States.
As I said, the fact Huckabee is still under serious consideration for the White House belies how very badly America has regressed in a relatively short period of time.
@40 Keneke
Sic semper tyrannis?
The problem isn't with the leadership as much as it is the millions of people who empower such leadership. Tyrannicide changes very little in the grand scheme of things; there's always a replacement in waiting.
@Haldor-
Then why do you say that American Christians don't have freedom of religion?
It's too bad his belief in Christianity is used as a criteria to determine his, and his supporter's, character or mental fitness.
The problem here with your formulation is that it's not his "Christianity" that people are having negative reactions to ... Christianity is a big-tent religion covering billions of people who hold a wide range of differing beliefs. It's his particular version of Christianity, which by his own statements includes things like a literal belief in an inerrant Bible and the demonization of homosexuality, and that's what makes people nervous.
As long as he's allowed to say that the Bible and his faith will guide his decisions and actions after he's elected, then I and others are allowed to say that the fact he has these plans is a sufficient reason for not voting for him.
@Crunchbird-
Fair enough and I appreciate your comments. I agree that if you don't like his views then you should take your vote elsewhere.
@G.Park
A common thread on these boards is that our liberties are being eroded by various laws, corporate behaviors, etc. Are Christians really free to practice their religion when it is ok to refer to their beliefs as "millennia-old superstitions" or would it be ok if this particular liberty just went away?
@ Haldor
Are Christians really free to practice their religion when it is ok to refer to their beliefs as "millennia-old superstitions" or would it be ok if this particular liberty just went away?
Let's look at this from another angle. Fans of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and any number of other sub-cultures of fandom, are often ridiculed for their likes of them. Yet they continue to enjoy them, and accept the ridicule they might receive outside their fan circles. So yeah, while you're free to believe in your religion, you should understand and accept that there's an increasingly large portion of the world that thinks it's crap and are going to rag on you about it every time you share your beliefs outside of your faith community. My suggestion would be to develop a thicker skin, or just keep your beliefs to your self.
@Haldor
As long as they're free to call me and other liberals and/or queers the kind of things I've seen on other message boards.
And when they cry about being mistreated? I have to giggle a little - and then get really mad. What, exactly, do you call oppression?
@ #20
That sounds a bit too clever. Maybe he was told to say that by some hip spindoctor... :)
The only way that cross wasn't intentional was if that was a really stoned, first year film student. Really, if you make a living shooting video, or producing advertising, YOU'RE GONNA KNOW HOW TO FRAME A F***ING SHOT. It's not really up for debate. If Huckabee is seriously saying anything else, he is accusing the advertising firm he hired of being complete idiots. Which makes him a complete idiot, or a f***ing liar.
But I do have to say I'm impressed, I would actually chose Romney over him if those were my only two choices. You have to sink pretty low in my book to be a less acceptable presidential candidate then someone who wears magic underwear.
Fundamentalists always cry foul whenever anyone tries to constrain their behavior. To them, freedom of religion means "I have the right to do as I please". That is the kind of 'freedom' they mean. It is in short "Christian Exceptionalism" and it acknowledges no limit what so ever on their rights.
An example is prayer in school. Many fundamentalists and Evangelicals believe that they have not just the right to pray, but the right to conduct school wide prayers that trample on the rights of all other religions. In parts of this country they have had their way for many years. Much to the shock and dismay of non Christians, such as Jews, who move into those communities.
One arm of this "cross" is three times as long as the other and the horizontal line is centered on the vertical rather than being closer to the top?
It sure doesn't look like any other Christian cross I've seen.
Jesus wasn't a midget amputee.
Looks more to me like a white laser entering his head just in front of his left ear, and exiting through his right ear...
Or, is that just his balls on a shelf...
Smart aleck Mormon-bashing talking points aside, Huckabee seems like a nice guy. His comment revealed somewhat of a lack of professionalism but should appeal to southern Baptists (and member of other religions) used to hearing such comments from the pulpit.
And the floating cross? Whether intentional or unintentional, the first poster had it right: the man is Christian and probably trying to make the point that he's the RIGHT kind of Christian (i.e. HIS sect goldarnit). I didn't even notice the cross the first time but in retrospect it's so obvious that I can't believe they didn't intend it.
@Haldor -
Please refer to my original comment, detailing how the 1st Amendment protects your religion from gov't interference, but not from criticism by your fellow citizens.
Your rights as a Christian exist ONLY inasmuch as they do not interfere with the rights of other Americans. If your religion gave you the right to supplant the rights of others, it would be an example of the American gov't preferring Christianity over other religions, or those of us who think it's all hokum.
Furthermore, if you don't like this situation, and if we were to make it illegal to criticize the religion (or lack thereof) of others, then we'd have to do away with your 1st Commandment, which says that JHVH is the ONLY god, and all others are false. And this is one of hundreds of criticisms (if not outright denials) of other faiths found throughout Christian holy texts.
Allowing private citizens to criticize religions is a PROTECTION of freedom of religion, not a strike against it.
"our liberties are being eroded by various laws, corporate behaviors, etc"
Which laws? The ones about Nativity scenes on public land? See Amendment 1. Or the ones about school-led prayer? Also, Amendment 1. Or do you mean the ones that allow people do things that Christians don't agree with? Sadly, the government doesn't exist to make sure that all Americans live up to the standards of Abraham's sky-god.
Corporate behaviors? There's a big difference between government action against religious sensitivities (protected by that 1st Amendment) and corporate actions that offend religious people (protected by nothing). Corporations have no compulsion to adhere to Christian sensitivities other than their desire to make money, and this is the way it should be- because (again) if the gov't stepped in, we'd be back to that "playing favorites" problem.
I still don't see how any standing US laws prevent Christians from practicing their religion, unless you feel that your fellow citizens' freedom of speech is an impediment to worship. To me, it doesn't seem like Christians are victims of discrimination (when Flying While Muslim can subject one to detention and interrogation), rather than they are victims of their own hypersensitivity. Or, more cynically, they have found that the best way to receive preferential treatment from the gov't is to play victim, hoping to circumvent the 1st Amendment rights of non-Christian Americans to better establish Christianity as the Official Church of the United States.
@G.Park-
When I stated "our liberties" I meant everyone's liberties (Patriot Act, Security Checkpoints, DRM, etc.)
Regardless, you are splitting hairs and reading way to much into my comments. In a nutshell when it becomes ok to devalue someone because of their faith, whether Muslim, Christian, Wiccan or Pastafarian, than we are on a slippery slope to losing our liberties. If it is ok to devalue followers of one faith than it becomes increasingly easy to devalue those of other faiths. This sort of thing has happened too often in history and nothing good comes of it.
@Haldor -
Who's devaluing people? If I criticized another commenter's beliefs about politics, or art, or sports, or philosophy, would I be devaluing them? Why can't we discuss the merits of each other's assumptions about the supernatural?
I'm still trying to follow your logic- are you arguing that Christians don't have freedom of religion in America (though every non-Christian does) because of the Patriot Act and DRM?
You may feel like I'm dogging you or "splitting hairs," but I think it's ludicrous when the most dominant and influential religion in every aspect of American society tries to play victim.