Former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee railed against Islam Monday as the United States had been forced to close 21 embassies as the religion’s holy month Ramadan winds down.
Huckabee, now a Cumulus syndicated talk show host, explained on his radio program that his observations would not be perceived as being politically correct.
“I know we’re not supposed to say anything unkind about Islam,” Huckabee said. “I mean, it’s politically incorrect. I get that. But can someone explain to me why it is that we tiptoe around a religion that promotes the most murderous mayhem on the planet in their so-called ‘holiest days.’ You know, if you’ve kept up with the Middle East, you know that the most likely time to have an uprising of rock throwing and rioting comes on the day of prayer on Friday. So the Muslims will go to the mosque, and they will have their day of prayer, and they come out of there like uncorked animals — throwing rocks and burning cars. You know, I’m just pointing out that for all of the demands that we’re supposed to be so very polite, and I’m not saying all Muslims are radical and I am not saying that all Muslims are violent. I’m not. But we as a government recognize that the most likely times for them to erupt in some type of terrorist activity, violent storming of an embassy, is on their holy days.”
Huckabee went on to make the comparison of Muslims after their holy holiday to Christians after their holy holidays of Christmas and Easter, noting that the violence isn’t encouraged by Christianity.
“Now, my point is — I mean do you ever say ‘Oh boy, it’s Christmas! Oh my gosh, these Christians are going to come out of that Christmas Eve service and they are going to Wal-Mart, and they are going to so rip that place apart, because you know what happens when they go in there and pray about Jesus. And they get out of there and they go straight to the mall, and they just, I mean they set fire to the place.’ I mean, when Christians get out of their Christmas services, about the worst thing they do is commit the sin of gluttony when they go to some Christmas dinner, be it at a restaurant or someone’s home. I mean, for most of us, the holiest days that come in the Christian world, particularly Christmas and Easter, I don’t really recall that the government has to issue a warning and say ‘Look Out! It’s Easter! Those Christians are coming. They’ll be throwing eggs all over town.'”
“That’s just not what we do. It never occurs to us that on the days in which we are supposed to be humbled by the presence of God that somehow we would rise up and kill innocent people including children,” he continued. “It just doesn’t seem to fit. And I know I’m likely to just get hammered for what I’ve just said. So be it. I bring it up because it just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Huckabee referenced one particular example in American culture which the government had to tiptoe around a radical element with the 2009 Ft. Hood shooting in which Major Nidal Malik Hasan had to stand trial 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.
“We’ve got this yahoo down in Fort Hood, Texas, Nadal Hassan, who’s going on trial this week,” Huckabee said. “And we’re so careful to protect him. And we’ll talk about that later today because — here’s another one that doesn’t make sense. This guy was saying all kinds of radical stuff, and we knew he was trouble. The military had clear indication that this guy was off his rocker and that the cheese wasn’t on the cracker anymore when it comes to this guy. But we didn’t do anything because it would have been politically incorrect. And yet we tell Christian chaplains in the military ‘Take that Bible off your desk because that might offend somebody.’ Well I’m on record now. I am offended. I am officially offended that we are so picky. And we’re so afraid to tell it like it is.”