OPINION

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Faith votes

Seems we don't hear much from our former long-serving governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee since he and wife Janet moved to Florida.

However, I happened across a fundraising message the popular governor posted via social media the other day that resonated with me, as I suspect it would with most Arkansans distressed by the rioting, carnage and violence of late on the streets of several Democratic-controlled cities.

He said the ugly culture war we've been watching build arrived in full force in this presidential election year. And, like it or not, this widening divide in society has solidified "those who believe we're an imperfect but great nation built upon virtuous principles and those who look at Mount Rushmore and see slave-owning colonizers worthy of our scorn."

Huckabee continued: "It's between those who believe in free and open debate and the Orwellian thought police who demand absolute loyalty under the threat of public humiliation and personal ruin.

"It's between those who believe that all American lives matter--regardless of color--and those who disingenuously use race as a political weapon to intimidate and establish socialism. It's between those who respect the sanctity of life, and those who encourage women to 'shout your abortion' as a positive good while dismantling any and all protections for the unborn."

During his time in politics following his ministerial years in the Baptist Church, there was usually an honest effort to seek and find common ground, he said. "My, how times have changed. I don't know exactly how we got to this moment in America, but I know we must win. To do so, men and women of faith who believe we must recenter this nation around biblical values must be informed, engaged and relentless."

Huckabee's words are for My Faith Votes, a nonprofit, nonpartisan movement rooted in an appeal to mobilize all Christians across the nation to become active in this crucial political election. "If you're wondering if getting involved in this way really matters, let me tell you this. For all there is to be angry about, remember that in the last few years we've confirmed a whole new generation of conservative jurists who believe in protecting life and religious liberty."

He went on to say, "If My Faith Votes had not recruited and driven millions of Christians to the polls in 2016, this may not have happened. And 2020 is even more crucial."

In preparation for the November election, Huckabee said the organization is busy activating a million new Christian voters in 11 swing states, equipping youth on 300 Christian college and university campuses and deploying an online voter guide for all 100,000 elections across the country "because not everything that matters happens in Washington, D.C."

He openly asked Christians if they agree the soul of the country is at stake and there are no guarantees how the 2020 election will go. If they concur with that assessment, he continued, then Christians must organize and participate on an unprecedented scale. "We are up against a very loud and angry mob, powerful corporations who've surrendered their boardrooms to 'woke' identity politics, and propaganda-driven media that does everything but tell the truth."

On the faith-based side, Huckabee concludes, are the "free citizens who believe in this country and live by the Judeo-Christian values it was built upon."

Sad we are at this point, valued readers. Yet true nonetheless.

Nation's best theme park

Lots of Arkansans undoubtedly smiled when they learned USA Today readers have honored Silver Dollar City (in our state's backyard near Branson) as the No. 1 amusement park in the country. Many Arkansans join the crowds at Silver Dollar City each season along with thousands from across America's heartland.

To cap this significant honor, the ranking coincides with the park's 60th Diamond Jubilee, and Silver Dollar City received two other national amusement-related awards. One went to the Guinness World-Record holding Outlaw Run, a popular wooden roller coaster that finished 10th in the top roller coasters poll, and Buckshot Annie's with its skillet meals finishing fifth for best park restaurants.

News of the 2020 rankings comes as the park this summer opened Rivertown, an entirely new section of the park, and its Mystic River Falls, considered an engineering marvel within the global attractions industry and which I wrote about recently.

Its rotating four-platform, eight-story lift and four-story waterfall drop claims to be "The Tallest Drop on a Water Raft Ride in the Western Hemisphere."

At my last visit, I plopped down at Buckshot Annie's for a satisfying meal. I believe it was the original succotash recipe from a longtime park employee whose grandmother taught her how to throw together a garden of vegetables and more. It was all prepared in a six-foot skillet on the grill as I watched.

Then, I couldn't resist wolfing down a foot-long corndog with lotsa mustard.

Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.

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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.

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