For GOP presidential hopeful Carson, ‘God is in charge’

CEDAR RAPIDS - Mixing his politics with Christian testimony, Ben Carson encouraged members of a faith-based political group to stand up for their beliefs and values.

'There is a concentrated effort to give away all of our beliefs and values all for the sake of political correctness,” Carson told about 100 people at a house party Thursday evening. 'The only thing that can stop that is us.”

If social conservatives don't stand up for their values, progressives will 'drive the train where they want it to go.”

And they don't care if Christian agree with them, he said.

'As long as you sit down, be quiet, you can believe anything you want, but once you challenge them, they want your head,” he said at a forum at the home of Bob and Patty Klaus sponsored by the Iowa Faith & Freedom. The group champions 'integrity in government, high moral values, constitutional authority and Christian principles.”

Carson spoke at length about accepting God into his life and the change that made in a life that has taken him from poverty to a career as a pediatric neurosurgeon.

'The way I look at it, God is in charge,” he said to applause.

Carson, now retired, gained the attention of the Christian right after a he took on President Barack Obama at a National Prayer Breakfast in 2013. People began encouraging him to run for president even though he has no experience in elected office.

He doesn't see that as a problem and neither did Kelli Klaus. In her introduction of Carson, she said that 'from a millennial point of view, the fact you're not a politician is inspirational.”

In an interview later, Carson said he comes from a background where all he ever heard was 'no one has done this, no one can do this.”

Carson believes American voters recognize that if they continue politics as usual with politicians as usual 'we are going to end up in a place where none of us want to be.”

The next place he wants to be is in the presidential debates. The challenge is making the cut established by the network - being in the top 10 in the Republican field of 15 and growing.

Carson believes some candidates will begin to realize they aren't gaining traction and drop out of the race making it easier for voters to concentrate on those candidates 'who have real solutions for the problems that are going on in our nation.”

Saturday he will take his message to the Family Leadership Summit, a gathering of about 2,500 social conservatives who historically have been active participants in the Iowa caucus process.

'I'm not sure not sure I would call it a breakout moment, but I'm always happy when I'm in front of people of like belief,” he said.