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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
DEAR MARGO: I find myself in a predicament that I never in a million years would have predicted. I am a 25-year-old man who is married to a beautiful, committed wife. Recently, I was chatting online and met a guy. He was funny and quick-witted. After a while we exchanged numbers and have talked for more than two hours every night since. Margo, I hate talking on the phone! Last night we were talking and laughing together, and after a moment of silence, I said, "God, I love you." I immediately apologized, but he said, "Don't." He said he has been fighting saying it, too.
Margo, we are both straight, and we both believe homosexuality is a sin. Neither of us knows what is going on. I haven't had any desire to spend time with my wife since this person came into my life. I only want to talk with "Matt." What is going on?
--- DAZED AND CONFUSED
DEAR DAZE: Let us recap: You "met" a guy online. You've been talking with him on the phone for two hours a night -- and you hate phone conversations. You told him you loved him; he said he's been having the same thought. The two of you believe homosexuality to be a sin. Since you and cyber-friend "met," you have had zero interest in your wife.
These things would not, could not happen to a straight man. You are gay, my friend, though heavily repressed because ... it would be sinful. I believe you and this other chap are so closeted that you've been hiding from yourselves. Because of your religious convictions, I am pretty sure there's an element of self-loathing, if only at the subconscious level.
I would suggest you seek professional help and guidance. Get the national number for GLBT counseling referrals. And perhaps take a break from "Matt" until your identity question is settled, one way or the other.
Is former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee a closeted stoner? This is the question that many people are asking, while the mainstream media has looked the other way.
Of course, what I am talking about has nothing to do with drugs, but is potentially more dangerous. Unfortunately, one needs a headline that includes drugs, sex or Britney Spears to get anyone to pay attention. Simply being a leading presidential candidate with ties to religious extremists that would stone homosexuals, adulterers and people who lie about their virginity is not newsworthy, I suppose.
It is scary to imagine, but the jovial Huckabee is linked to leaders of the Reconstructionist movement, which is so far to the right it makes Pat Robertson look like Ted Kennedy. The late RJ Rushdoony, a prolific writer that sought to replace the Constitution with the Old Testament, founded this school of religious thought. In essence, they want a Christian version of Iranian or Saudi Arabian sharia law in the United States. The Bible would govern every action, whether religious, personal or civil.
These fanatics believe that in order for Jesus to return, we have to create their view of the Kingdom of God on earth. I know this may be surprising, but their plan doesn't include gay people and Hillary Clinton would be in the kitchen fixing trail mix instead of mixing it up on the campaign trail.
Let's be clear, it is likely that Mike Huckabee does not share these nutty views. However, America has a right to know why he has cavorted with several extremists and why he scrubbed the record of his preaching days.
"On the campaign trail, it is the Lost Decade of his life. No one can find, or get access to, texts or video of his sermons," writes Howard Fineman in Newsweek Magazine.
It seems that Huckabee has shed his prayer papers faster than he shed those much-ballyhooed pounds that first put him on the national radar. What is he hiding? Many of us fear the happy-go-lucky preacher is whitewashing a controversial past that includes views that would disqualify him in the minds of many people for higher office.
The first hint that Huckabee was on the fringe was during a Republican debate when he raised his hand signaling that he did not believe in evolution. The next red flag appeared after a 1992 Associated Press questionnaire was found where Huckabee called for the quarantine of AIDS patients and referred to homosexuality as "an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle" that could "pose a dangerous public health risk."
Next, the Cato Institute's blog revealed that Huckabee held a fundraiser at the Houston home of Dr. Steven Hotze. As columnist Bob Novak notes, Hotze is "a leader in the highly conservative Christian Reconstruction movement." In 1986, Hotze signed onto a Coalition on Revival manifesto that said, "All theories and practices...are only true, right, and realistic to the degree that they agree with the Bible." This included the spheres of government, medicine and science.
Two weeks ago, I revealed that in 1998, Huckabee co-wrote the book, "Kids Who Kill" with Reconstructionist author George Grant. In his 1987 book, "The Changing of the Guard," Grant says Christians have a mandate to take "dominion" over all aspects of life and to "bring the land into subjugation to his Lordship."
"But it is dominion that we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after," wrote Grant. "Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish."
There are also ties to controversial evangelist Bill Gothard, a strict preacher who believes Cabbage Patch Dolls were a threat to families, because the contract signed to own one was a form of idolatry.
It is critically important that the media ask Huckabee tough questions because he has based his entire campaign on being a "Christian Leader." He whizzed to victory in Iowa by galvanizing social conservatives on the phony issue of Christmas being under attack.
More worrisome, is that Huckabee is a gifted candidate - a political natural who has an outside shot for the White House. He is genuinely funny, likable and has become a media darling. But, who is he, really?
Huckabee presents himself as the fun loving fundamentalist who "isn't mad at anyone." This is good, because the more we learn about his shady friends, the less he seems like someone we'd want to anger. If we end up with a religious zealot as President and the cabinet stacked with kooks, the media can't say they did not have ample warning.
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In a stunning upset, Hillary Clinton defeated a surging Barack Obama in New Hampshire. Driven to to the verge of tears the day before, Clinton left the Obama and Edwards camps with plenty to weep about. While her husband saved his 1992 campaign in New Hampshire and became the "Comeback Kid" (he only got second place), Hillary should be called Wonder Woman for her spectacular win. Down in the polls, she swooped in, as if she were in an invisible airplane and snatched victory. What an amazing political season!! No matter who wins, the Democrats have some great candidates and the fight for the nomination is a joy to watch.
On the Republican side, McCain regained much of what he had lost over the previous two years. He had squandered his independent appeal by kissing up to Bush and Rev. Jerry Falwell. But, persistence paid off and his leadership qualities were in stark contrast to those of that sort-of-human Ken Doll Mitt Romney. Full of Mitt must win in Michigan - but he was given a break by McCain's sub par and stumbling victory speech.
The Granite State was also like a stone wall for Rev. Mike Huckster-Bible. I guess he forgot to put up the tents he promised us for a giant revival. No doubt, the yahoos in the Republican South Carolina primary will give him another shot in the arm.
All I can say is, what a night!!! Ms. Clinton is far from over the hill.
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