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GOP frontrunner Rick Santorum is on the stump in the Midwest making inflammatory statements that are designed to grab headlines. Yesterday, for example, he asserted that Pres. Obama believes in “some phony theology. Not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology.”
In reality, the president is a mainstream Protestant, just like every president before him except one, John F. Kennedy, who was a Catholic. Santorum, an ultra-conservative Catholic who is best-known for his anti-gay rhetoric, did not identify the president’s “phony” religion by name, but since he was speaking to a tea party crowd, he was obviously insinuating that the president was not a Christian at all.
Last month, Santorum infamously stood mute at a campaign event when one of his racist supporters described the president as an “avowed Muslim.”
Santorum is engaging in the most outrageous faith-baiting since former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called Mitt Romney’s Mormon religion a “Satanic cult” during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Over the weekend, Chris Hayes, an editor of the Nation who hosts “Up with Chris Hayes,” a weekend morning political chat show on MSNBC, published the contents of a speech Santorum made at Ave Maria College, a right-wing Catholic school with ties to Domino’s Pizza, in which he excoriated American Protestantism:
RICK SANTORUM: We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic but the Judeo-Christian ethic was a Protestant Judeo-Christian ethic, sure the Catholics had some influence, but this was a Protestant country and the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it. [...]
Whether its sensuality or vanity of the famous in America, they are peacocks on display and they have taken their poor behavior and made it fashionable. The corruption of culture, the corruption of manners, the corruption of decency is now on display whether it’s the NBA or whether it’s a rock concert or whether it’s on a movie set.
As Santorum has taken the lead over Mitt Romney in most polls, many of his long-held, out-of-the-mainstream views have come to light, including his opposition to contraception and women working outside the home. While it has long been impossible for a pro-choice Republican to get elected to national office, there is virtually no chance that a candidate with these extreme views can win the presidency.
But in opening up a new Catholic-versus-Protestant front in the culture wars, Santorum really is treading on dangerous ground, especially since 51 percent of Americans are Protestants, compared with 24 percent who are Catholic.
As a non-Christian Democrat, I want to thank Rick Santorum for advancing Democratic ideals by his mean-spirited attacks on other religions, other other cultures, and especially, other genders. Hopefully his religion will give him solace after his future loss, but I feel sorry for his wife, daughters, aunts, nieces, cousins, etc., who have to listen to this repressed and backward man up close and personal. At least I can simply turn him off, use the mute button, read Pensito Review and listen to NPR.
“…there is virtually no chance that a candidate with these extreme views can win the presidency.”
Assuming that Santorum becomes the GOP nominee, there is no logical reason why the voters of this nation would opt for a man of his caliber to lead the most powerful nation on earth. Of course, we had G.W. Bush get appointed to the presidency by the SCOTUS in 2000, so stranger things have happened in the past.
I wonder how he plans to hold on to Protestants. Although Protestant fundamentalists might be pleased with Santorum’s ultraconservative social views, I don’t think they want to be told they are… Protestant.
How it seems many that claim to be “faithful to Jesus”, including zealot, Rick Santorum, conveniently forget the appearance of Article 6, at the end of the third clause of our Constitution:…but No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. This statement is simple and straight-forward, and applies to all offices in the entire United States, both state and federal. The clause simply means that no public position can be required to be held by any one of any religious denomination.