If Huckabee was sincere in his desire to spread Christianity via the presidency, he would have used real, Christian candy canes instead of these pagan ones on his campaign Christmas pamphlets. (Note the lack of just three small, red stripes)

If a candidate is going to shill his faith to get the votes he/she needs to get it right completely. This just proves how insincere he and his followers really are.

Full disclosure: I'm a Christian who wants a moral, sane, intelligent person in the White House (haven't had one of those since 1^st term - and only the 1^st term - Reagan). I do not care what the personal religion of a candidate might be since I certainly do not want them using the way they interpret the principles of their faith as their sole means of governing.

The odds are good that we will have a Muslim or outspoken atheist (that's a religion even though they won't admit it) as president some day. Just taking what we've seen as to how seriously bad the Koran can be interpreted by followers, there's no way I want to set a precedent now.

(Photo brought to you by Yahoo! News/Reuters)

A recent BBC story provides two lessons for us:

Police say that [a] self-styled 'Godman' - who lives in a village near the city of Tirupati - was approached a few days ago by two strangers who came to seek his advice over a medical problem.

Holy men are revered throughout much of India
They say that the pair returned to the old man on Tuesday ostensibly to thank him for his help.

"As the old man had the weakness of drinking, he accepted their invitation to have drinks with them," said local police Sub-Inspector Pendakanti Dastgiri.

"They took him to a deserted spot in the outskirts of the village.

"After the old man had passed out under the influence of liquor, they cut off his right leg from the knee," he said.

Police say the reason for the attack could be because Mr Kondaiah told too many people of the alleged magical powers of his right leg.

Lesson #1: Some Hindu followers (I suspect many) are not exactly the sharpest tacks in the wall.

Lesson #2: You never know when someone is going to take you seriously when you say "I'd give my right leg to ..."

Lesson #3: If you're going to claim that bits of yourself have healing powers, try to pick one that is not likely to be removed by others.

I came across a great article by Charles C. Haynes, First Amendment Center senior scholar, on the upcoming public school "holiday" battles that we are all about to start reading about as the Christmas season approaches. He makes quite a bit of sense, especially when you consider how militant some of us Christians get (often in response to how militant the anti-Christian community behaves) at this time of year. His solution to the whole problem is very sensible:

The constitutional bottom line is stunningly simple: The school’s approach to religious holidays must be academic, not devotional. The job of public schools is to educate students about religious holidays — not just in December, but throughout the year. That means schools should plan assembly programs that teach kids about a variety of religions and cultures, without making anyone feel like an outsider in his or her own school.

Done right, the First Amendment solution should satisfy most people. Christians will appreciate that students are learning something about what Christians actually believe. And people of other faiths and of no faith can support an academic approach to study about religions, including Christianity, as long as it is done in ways that are educationally sound and respectful of their own beliefs.

As I keep reminding folks, the "Christian majority" in America is fading fast, and most of the folks in that majority are nominal Christians at best. Their mores, values and cultural beliefs/actions usually conflict directly with what the Bible teaches. Couple that with the ever-increasing influx of [legal] immigrants that have different religious backgrounds & beliefs and I would not be pressing for American institutions to reflect what the majority believes, since I would not want my children reading the Koran in school right before kneeling at the appropriate times & directions to pray to Allah (which is a potential reality in some states over the next two decades).