Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has weighed in on the Supreme Court's decision to hear arguments related to whether or not states can ban same-sex marriages. He made his comments in front of a crowd of Hispanic evangelicals on Wednesday.
According to Ashley Killough of CNN, Huckabee made his speech at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, or NHCLC. He has argued that "our country's in trouble because we lost our landmarks of faith."
"I respect the courts, but the Supreme Court is only that -- the supreme of the courts. It is not the Supreme Being. It cannot overrule God," Huckabee said. "When it comes to prayer, when it comes to life, and when it comes to the sanctity of marriage, the court cannot change what God has created."
Killough reported that Huckabee could announce his run on Tuesday for the 2016 presidency in Hope, Ark. He previously won the Iowa caucuses during his presidential run in 2008 thanks to support from Christian conservatives.
"Somebody's got to be willing to take on the institutions that challenge and threaten our ability to believe as we believe, because when religious liberty is lost, all liberty is lost," Huckabee said.
Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the NHCLC, told CNN that Huckabee had a history of appealing to minority voters. When Huckabee won his first election as Arkansas governor back in 1998, he won 48 percent of the African-American vote in that state.
"He's not the perceived idea of a Republican political leader," Rodriguez said.
According to Killough, Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, shared his personal background with the NHCLC, which included growing up in a blue collar household under a father who didn't finish high school. He also turned the focus to various religious and social issues.
"I do not come to you tonight with the ability to speak Spanish," Huckabee said, drawing laughs from the audience. "But I do speak a common language: I speak Jesus."
According to a NHCLC press release posted on PRNewswire, Rodriguez thought of Huckabee as "a great friend."
"He understands with hard work and a good value system you can live the American dream," Rodriguez said. "He is a born-again Christian, who loves Jesus and he is a champion of many of our causes."
In his speech, Huckabee also contended that religious freedom in the United States should be protected, claiming that it was under attack.
"All of our ancestors came to this country hoping for something that we have been uniquely given and that is liberty-religious liberty. And it is under assault," Huckabee said.
Huckabee challenged NHCLC attendees to pray for the country every day.
"We owe it to our children and grandchildren to give them a world that is not falling apart but one that we are working to put back together," Huckabee said. "The one thing we need to do every night of our lives is get on our knees and thank God we live in a country where people are trying hard to get in and not trying to get out of."
Huckabee added that God has granted Christians "the opportunity to be the preservers of this Republic - not so we could selfishly take from it, but rather give to it."
