Elections 08

When I first heard of him, my first thought was something like this: "Okay, this may be really unfair, because he might be an excellent candidate, but do I really want someone with a name like 'Huckabee' to be the President of the United States of America?" That was a few months ago. Now, I don't care whether his name is Huckabee, Schwarzenegger, or Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo - I want this man to be our next president!

A word on how I was introduced to Mr. Huckabee. (Aside: For some reason, it I feel called to use the title "Mr." when speaking of Mike Huckabee, in a way that I don't with other candidates. I freely talk of "Mitt Romney" or just "Romney," "Hillary Clinton," and "Barack Obama." Here's why I think that is: I usually use the title when speaking of adults, but not of celebrities that I know only impersonally. Maybe I feel like I know Mr. Huckabee. End aside.) A few months ago, I was reading an editorial in WORLD Magazine where the author brought up Huckabee's name. At that time, he was not extremely well known. Well, I can't say whether that's entirely true - what I do know is that I had never heard of him. The author had some very positive things to say about Mr. Huckabee, and it sparked my interest in him.

Now, a few short months later, he is in a very different position, both in the public eye and in my personal view of him. He is no longer some obscure Republican candidate - he is the clear winner of the Iowa caucuses, and a serious contender for the Republican nomination. And in my view, he has gone from someone to consider, a candidate who has most of the qualifications except electability, to a good man and the best presidential candidate I've ever come across (which admittedly is not saying much since this will be my first time voting!). What follows are my reasons for supporting Mike Huckabee.

I am a conservative - you might call me an extreme conservative, if it didn't bother you too much to use oxymorons. I'm all for free trade, low taxes, limited government, the works. But absolute political conservatism is not my number one priority in looking for our nation's next leader. If it was, I would probably be pulling for Ron Paul, with whom I agree on most issues with the (not un-important) exception of the war. But like I said, it is not my highest requirement that a candidate openly support all of the positions I take. For one thing, such a candidate would probably never be elected in our left-leaning nation. I do not necessarily agree with every position Mr. Huckabee takes. There are many that I whole-heartedly stand behind: his immigration ideas, for instance, as well as his stand on abortion and homosexuality. But there are a couple that strike me as less than perfect - while his proposed tax reform addresses some of the issues, it's still a just bit more... socialist than I would like to see. But like I said, his politics, while very important and generally encouraging, are not what win me over to him.

Another of Mr. Huckabee's positive traits is his winning, down-to-earth, straightforward attitude. He is certainly one of the more charismatic candidates out there, and he seems like the sort of guy that you would like to meet and become friends with even if he wasn't running for President - even if no one else had ever heard of him. Almost everyone that talks about him talks about his ability to identify with the "average American" - his proof that the presidential election does not have to be elitist. If he were elected, or even came close, it would certainly go a long way toward restoring my faith in our political system. A system where only millionaires can come to power is clearly flawed, and Mr. Huckabee's success seems to indicate that this is not always the case. Still, this could be said of other presidents in our past (a man who is NOT my namesake comes to mind) who I would be less than likely to vote for again, so his "common man" status and his charisma are not his most important attributes either, to my mind.

In the end, I'm going to say what all the militant atheists, all the self-appointed Keepers of the Religious Neutrality of the Government, all those who cross themselves and utter the protective spell "Separation of Church and State" whenever a Christian runs for office, what all these claimed I was going to say. I will vote for Mr. Huckabee, not because I absolutely agree with all his politics, not because he is a talented and genuine speaker, but because he is a shining example of a Christian in government. With regards to his faith, I can literally not see a single area in which Mr. Huckabee has gone wrong. He walks a fine line - it would be both wrong and foolish to try to hide or downplay his faith, but if he overplays it, he risks incurring the wrath of those who would suppress Christianity in the name of tolerance. From what I have seen, he has stayed on this line with skill that would put a tightrope walker to shame. This is already an overlong post, else I would cite some examples of the masterful way he has spoken of his faith. I encourage anyone who reads this to read the relevant information on his website and to watch videos of him in action, which can be found in plenty on YouTube.

Well, there are my two cents on Mr. Huckabee. I'll be honest - I would love it if I have convinced you to support him. Despite his victory in Iowa, he is going to need every last vote he can get if he wants to beat better financed opponents like Mitt Romney, and perhaps more than that to defeat the Democratic candidate if he wins the nomination. But even if I haven't, I hope I've got you thinking about these issues, and I hope that you will make a more-informed choice because of it. To end this gargantuan post, I have just three words: I like Mike!

Who is blind?

It's noisy here, in the HUB, at lunchtime. But I'm in a relatively quiet corner, and so individual conversations stand out against the general hubbub in the background. One in particular. Is it just because the guy is speaking particularly loudly? Or partly because the topic is one that interests me - that keeps grabbing my attention, even though I'm not trying to eavesdrop?

I can't tell for sure, but it sounds like a couple of atheist guys are trying to convince their Christian friend (a girl) that the Bible couldn't possibly be the word of God. It's hard to sit idly by - what can she do when she is outnumbered so heavily, and out-volumed even more? I don't know if she knows how to answer the stupid arguments they are raising; certainly, she does not do so, except in a dogmatic, meek, "this-is-just-what-I-think" way.

Obviously, it would be rude to butt in on the conversation, but it's so hard to resist when the guy says stuff like "You do know that the Romans edited the Bible the way that they thought the common people should read it, right?" and "There are two versions of the Bible, the Catholic version and the Protestant, and both have been constantly changed throughout history." Honestly, if you want to make a historical argument, learn a little about history. Is faith blind, or are those who seek to destroy it?

I guess I'll just pray for her - pray that she believes more strongly than she's letting on (what would I do in her position?), pray that her faith is not shaken, pray that she's instrumental in opening the eyes of these guys. "Just pray for her," did I say? I am asking the God of all Creation to bring about a result that is not even outside of His ordinary providence, and He tells us that the faithful prayer of a righteous man avails much. Have a little faith yourself, Carter. I guess I'll pray for her.

My title

Not the most clear title, is it? It doesn't really tell you much about what I intend to write about. So here's what I'm banking on - it's intriguing enough that people will visit it just to see what it is all about, if they see the title. I hope it reveals just the right amount of information; enough to spark a little interest in it, but not enough to inform you too much. If you knew all about my blog from the title, what would be the point of visiting it? Especially if you realized that it wasn't a blog that especially interested you. Keep it mysterious - that's the best way, I think.

Maybe you've noticed that I still haven't told you what it means. I'm still leading you on, hoping that your curiosity will draw you further into this post. Enough leading. Let me clue you in on the title. In Our Mutual Friend, Charles Dickens describes one character as "lost in wanderings and vagaries." Specifically, the sentence is "How long lost in wanderings and vagaries?" I adapted this a little bit to better fit my purposes - my blog is called "Wonderings and Vagaries."
I decided to adopt this phrase as my title for a number of reasons. First, it stuck in my head because it is such a beautiful phrase. Second, I have a bit of a story that goes with it. Unfortunately, to understand the story, you would need a good deal of background information which is outside of the scope of this introductory post, so look for that story in a later post. Third, I think that all human philosophy can, in some sense, be described as being "lost in wonderings and vagaries."

This last is the most important, because it gives you at least some hint of my plans for this blog. I plan to focus on issues which can be at least loosely related to philosophy. If you follow this blog, you will see me deal with religion, politics, theology, actual philosophy, and a host of other similar topics. These are very important topics, so I think it's important for me to say where I'm coming from at the outset. Before I do, though, let me say that this is not only intended to appeal to those who agree with me at every point - or at any point! I would love it if my posts sparked discussion and debate in the comments.

I am a Christian - specifically a Reformed Baptist. I am a political conservative. (I will explain more what I mean by these in subsequent posts). I'm a freshman at the University of Washington, majoring in computer science. I constantly engage in book gluttony. I enjoy writing (obviously, or I wouldn't be blogging). I enjoy playing sports, despite my lack of any particular talent. I'm something of a computer geek - at this stage, I have the worst of both worlds, being a geek with comparatively little know-how.

I listed all these interests because I feel that the more you know about me, the better you can understand my blog. So even if I don't talk about technology, it may give you an important perspective on my philosophy to know that I am a computer science major. And there will be times when the two overlap, times when I talk of the philosophical aspects of technology or vice versa.

There's one more thing you should know about me. I like to think that I have a sense of humor, and I occasionally humor myself by allowing it to creep into my writing. Maybe more than occasionally. Take that as a warning, if you like!

Well, that is my quick introduction to this blog. Are you interested? Tell your friends about it. Now, let's get lost in wonderings and vagaries.