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In S.C. Church,
Huckabee Preaches Instead About Getting to Heaven

In S.C. Church,
Huckabee Preaches Instead About Getting to Heaven

Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven. Huckabee is vying for support from the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in South Carolina, which chooses a Republican presidential nominee on Saturday. A former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor, Huckabee is competing for their votes with fellow Southerner Fred Thompson.

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Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven.

Huckabee is vying for support from the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in South Carolina, which chooses a Republican presidential nominee on Saturday. A former Baptist minister and Arkansas governor, Huckabee is competing for their votes with fellow Southerner Fred Thompson.

As in Iowa, where he won the January 3 caucuses, Huckabee is rousing pastors to marshal their flocks for him. He pitches himself as someone who not only shares their views against abortion and gay marriage but who actually comes from their ranks.

On Sunday in South Carolina, Huckabee avoided politics entirely, instead preaching about humility and trusting in Jesus to open the gates of heaven.

''The criteria to get into heaven is you have to be not good, but perfect. That's the real challenge in it,'' he said at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a megachurch with 2,500 members.

''On that day, when I pull up, I'll be asked, 'Do you have what it takes to get in?''' Huckabee said. ''And if I ask, 'Well, what does it take to get in?' 'Gotta be perfect.'''

''Well, I'm afraid I don't have that, but you know what, I won't be there alone that day. Somebody is going to be with me. His name is Jesus, and he's promised that he would never leave me or forsake me,'' he said.

Asked by reporters later if he thinks only Christians will go to heaven, Huckabee refused to say. He often says that as a minister, he joked that he doesn't even believe all Baptists are going to heaven.

''I'm going to stick to the things that make it critical for me to be president of the United States,'' Huckabee said Sunday. ''I have deep convictions about who goes and who doesn't, but as far as who makes that decision, it isn't me, it's God. I'm going to leave that up to him.''

He argued that the Constitution forbids a political candidate from being subjected to a religious litmus test. And he claimed to be the only candidate who gets asked about specific tenets of his faith.

However, Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has also been asked about his Mormon faith. In fact, Romney got questions about his faith after Huckabee, in The New York Times, asked whether Mormons believe Jesus and the devil were brothers. Huckabee quickly apologized to Romney and said the quotes were taken out of context.

In South Carolina, Huckabee didn't ask for votes or discuss the campaign, but senior pastor Michael S. Hamlet encouraged the congregation to vote according to how they try to live their lives, by the principles of Bible scripture.

''I'm going to tell you something, when you go vote, you ought to follow those principles,'' Hamlet said.

But Huckabee did wade into politics Sunday evening in Michigan, telling members of the Apostolic Church of Auburn Hills about his opposition to abortion and gay marriage, and expressing his concern about job losses in the state. He played bass guitar in the praise band and, before he spoke, the organist played a few notes of ''Hail to the Chief.''

Huckabee's shoestring campaign has relied on pastors to encourage their flocks to vote.

''They can't mobilize for example, from the pulpit, get up and say to everybody, 'The bus leaves the church at 8 a.m. on Saturday.' It's a matter of urging them to use the influence they have to get their people out to vote, and I hope they will. Why wouldn't they?'' Huckabee said.

Huckabee also is hoping to win over the Christian conservatives who dominate the GOP in Michigan, which votes Tuesday. He emphasized his opposition to abortion during a meeting with about 100 pastors in Grand Rapids on Saturday, urging them to use their address books and e-mail lists to mobilize others.

Polls there have shown him running in third place, behind Romney and Arizona senator John McCain, winner of the New Hampshire primary last week.

In contrast to Huckabee, Thompson held no public events Sunday in South Carolina, where Huckabee has the edge following his Iowa caucus win. (Libby Quaid, AP)

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