Mike Huckabee and the distinction between State and country

Last updated on: November 21, 2007 at 3:57 pm by Policraticus

Mike Huckabee and the distinction between State and country 2007-11-21T15:57:47-05:00 Policraticus

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Long before the burgeoning hype around presidential candidate Mike Huckabee among Catholic bloggers, I expressed early, provisional support for his candidacy. Friendly on immigration, supportive of the right to bear arms, staunchly apposed to abortion, in favor of government aid for prescription drugs for the elderly, experience in a centralized political position. However, in light of the more recent months during which he has remained ambivalent on torture, defensive of the Iraq War both in its commencement and in its current state, and strongly supportive of the use of the death penalty in America, I have since withdrawn my support for Huckabee. If Romney or Giuliani were to win the Republican nomination, I would not be surprised if Huckabee were tapped to be a running mate in order to balance out the ticket and maintain support from the base.

At a recent Republican candidate debate, Huckabee made a curious statement, which he directed at fellow candidate Ron Paul, that I think is indicative of the sort of confused thinking that occurs in certain American circles when criticism of political moves and officials is translated into anti-Americanism. I saw this sort of thing from Catholic bloggers and journalists with regard to Cardinal Martino’s criticism of political policy in the United States, and I find several contributors of Vox Nova unfairly singled out as being “anti-American” when they have been critical of U.S. foreign or domestic policy. I say this sort of thinking is confused, yes, but it is also reductionistic, for it reduces “America” to public policy and political expression. Huckabee proffered us a symptom of this confusion and reductionism:

“Congressman, whether or not we should have gone to Iraq is a discussion for historians, but we’re there. We bought it because we broke it,” he said. “We’ve got a responsibility to the honor of this country and the honor of every man and woman who has served in Iraq and our military to not leave them with anything less than the honor they deserve.”

Amid loud cheers, Paul responded, “The American people didn’t go in. A few people advising this administration, a small number of people called the neoconservatives, hijacked our foreign policy. They are responsible, not the American people.”

Huckabee quickly fired back: “Congressman, we are one nation. We can’t be divided. We have to be one nation under God. That means if we make a mistake, we make it as a single country.”

Notwithstanding that Huckabee inexplicably passes off historians as the moral and political arbiters of our future age, he seems to adhere to a common conflation made between public policy and country. This vital distinction between the State and country is not lost on those who really ponder and consider what constitutes the entity of country. Public life in America, or in any country for that matter, is not primarily political.

Political life–and the policy that it shapes–operates at a secondary level in social reality. The guiding principles of thought and social organization precede both chronologically and logically our political expression: biology, historical consciousness, ethics, logic, religion and family. Politics is a natural feature of social organization, and its instantiations occur–and here I refer to the contemporary United States–from the gravitation of a simple majority of the masses toward a transiently preferred option of governance. More often than not, unfortunately, this gravitation is not informed by those guiding principles which precede political features, which leads to a likely absurdity and a certain inconsistency in the superficial action that is supposed to be grounded first in the guiding principles. It is little wonder, then, that “conservatives” and “liberals,” whose perspectives are tainted by appeal to the masses, tend to have far more in common than they admit, operating in an uncritically accepted political matrix that rarely considers from whence it has arisen.

We must understand that while the political make-up of the United States is always related in some measure to the guiding principles of its people, the political expression is not in itself the underlying fabric of the country. This is why one can love the United States, as I do, but recoil at many of its political actions. Indeed, to criticise the ever-fluctuating political expression is not anti-American, which is why I am always puzzled when such an accusation of anti-Americanism is tossed around when I or anyone else may criticise certain laws and policies of the United States. The “love it or leave it” motto may have some remotely romantic appeal to it, especially to the sort of people who think as murkily as Huckabee does, but I find it to be the victim of misapplication and unsightly nationalism.

I like to point to Pope John Paul II as a sort of exemplar in patriotism or love of country. Pope John Paul II understood the distinction between the State and the country, between polis and patria. He loved Poland–its people, its history, its landscapes, its language, its literature, its culture. He despised its political face from the 1940’s to the 1990’s, which ran the sickening political gauntlets of Nazism and Soviet Communism. Was he confused? If he was criticising Polish laws, Polish politics and Polish military moves, wasn’t he being anti-Polish? So it would seem according to the “love it or leave it” crowd. But Pope John Paul II always recognized that the guiding principles of the people of Poland were not political. Indeed, the ebb and flow of politics by its very nature cannot be a lasting, consistent and buttressing identity of a people. Rather, the culture, history, language and landscapes of Poland were the object of the Pope’s affections. And, parenthetically, such a recognition always prevents a robust patriotism from deteriorating and rotting into a rabid nationalism.

Consider the late Pope’s perspective:

Patriotism is a love for everything to do with our native land: its history, its traditions, its language, its natural features. It is a love which extends also to the works of our compatriots and the fruits of their genius. Every danger that threatens the overall good of our native land becomes an occasion to demonstrate this love…I belive that the same could be said of every country and every nation in Europe and throughout the world. (Memory and Identity, 65-66)

The cultural and historical identity of any society is preserved and nourished by all that is contained within this concept of nation. Clearly, one thing must be avoided at all costs: the risk of allowing the essential function of the nation to lead to an unhealthy nationalism. (Memory and Identity, 67)

This distinction (but not divorce!) ought to be born in mind among those of us who are citizens of the United States. I love my country, my patria. And the patrimony of my patria consists of the language, religion (Christianity), art, literature, philosophy (pragmatism) and many other elements. The politics–the State–is a secondary reality, a surface reality that floats, as it were, above the guiding principles of the American identity. I am sharply critical of many of the laws and public policy of my State, especially when I see these political expressions as detached from the guiding principles of American life. I am patriotic. But I am not a slave to the State.

And so returning to Huckabee’s assertion that the war in Iraq is the war of the entire country amounts to confused and turbid idea of country. No, the war is not a feature of “one nation under God.” The war was the decision of a sharp minority of American politicians. It was not born and bred from the cultural womb of our country. I am an American, but this is not my war. The war is the State’s war, not the country’s. Ron Paul’s got it right.

Previous Post

November 21, 2007

Interpreting Texts

Next Post

November 21, 2007 Possible return of chant

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: God appeared to Moses in a burning bush on Mount Sinai.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE