Fightin’ Joe Knippenberg at No Left Turns has some thoughts on the subject. I take his point on the diversity of the Christian right. But he concludes with this thought:

Second, Jonah excerpts an email wondering whether some Christians are drifting toward Christian Democracy and away from “American constitutionalism.” If “American constitutionalism” is short-hand for a small national government with limited responsibilities and a heavy emphasis on federalism, it seems to me that Christian conservatives are not the only ones drifting.

Me: I think it’s worth pointing out that this is not in fact a defense or a rebuttal, it’s tantamount to saying “Well, everybody’s doing it.”

In other words, I agree with the observation, but I don’t think it offers an absolution. If Timmy embraces creeping Leviathanism, that’s no good reason for Tommy to either.

Moreover, it misses what’s disturbing about the potential rebirth of Social Gospelism on the right, particularly in the form of Mike Huckabee’s compassionate conservatism with better bible quotes. If the Christian right — diverse though it may be — starts to become more sympathetic to using activist government as a instrument to impose God’s teachings — or one interpretation of them — then the largest and most reliable voting bloc in the Republican Party will become merely rightwing progressives, using government at all levels to do what they think is good, regardless of whether it’s constitutional or federalist or liberal in the classical sense. Huckabee’s support for a national federal ban on workplace and/or public smoking should be very scary to believers in limited government. Huckabee’s economic populism, likewise, is not a good omen. And the fact that Huckabee is popular in this “everybody’s doing it” climate is not reassuring in the least.