By Douglas V. Gibbs
Rick Santorum is genuinely a man of moral convictions. He is honest, a family man, loves God, and believes this nation's future depends upon how its moral compass is pointing - all of the things the hard liberal left despises. To make matter's worse, as far as the liberal democrats view it, Santorum's call for faith to play an important role in public policy is a call for a theocracy, which really sends the liberal left into a tail-spin. . . until they realized the potential for attacks.
A theocracy would be a government in which God Himself would be the divine leader, and all policies would be based on the leadership's interpretation of what God wants. The only people allowed to hold office would be members of the religious group claiming divine guidance, in the education system all non-religious lessons would be banned, medicine would only allow procedures ordained by the religion, preferential treatment would be given to those that support the church in charge while those opposing the religious ruling class would be branded as seditious, and even terrorists.
Santorum is calling for no such thing.
This nation was founded on liberty. The principles of freedom for the people, and the limitations of government authority, are the bedrock of the foundation of our political system. The First Amendment disallows for the establishment of a religion as an official governmental mandate because the Founding Fathers had had their fill of the Church of England, and other oppressive religious mandates in Europe.
However, the Founding Fathers also recognized the importance of faith in the public square, so in the First Amendment they also indicated that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. During the early years of this country, the politicians prayed, and the pastors preached on the issues. The Church did not control the government, and the government did not control the churches. The clergy were clearly political in their messages, and the government leaders were not afraid to reveal they were men of God, but the relationship was symbiotic, unlike the unhealthy systems that plagued Europe where the Kings proclaimed they were divinely appointed, and the churches demanded by penalty of law the full loyalty of the citizens.
In line with the Founding Fathers, Rick Santorum believes faith should play a wider role in public policy. The government has no business telling the church what to do, he claimed at an engagement at the Livonia and Farmington chambers of commerce breakfast, in Michigan. As a strict conservative he believes he should be asking for guidance from The Lord, while faulting the liberal democrats under Obama's direction for marginalizing religion.
"Freedom to worship is not just what you do in the sanctuary, it's how you practice your faith outside of the sanctuary," Santorum said.
"All the reporters in the back will go, `Oh, there's Santorum talking about social issues,'" he added. "No, I'm talking about freedom! This is an election about freedom."
These comments came shortly after his rebuke of John F. Kennedy's 1960 speech about his Catholic faith. In the speech, Kennedy famously said: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute."
Santorum said Sunday he "almost threw up" when he read Kennedy's famous speech.
Separation of Church and State isn't even in the Constitution. The modern concept as interpreted by the liberal left is based on a single sentence in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists of Connecticut that was taken completely out of context. The Danbury Baptists, happy to see Jefferson win the presidency because of his involvement in bringing religious freedom to the State of Virginia with the Virginia Religious Freedom Act of 1785, sent Jefferson a letter asking him for his help because in Connecticut the Puritans were enforcing a very strict theocracy. The Danbury Baptists were being treated as second-class citizens, and were not allowed any involvement in the local system of governance. Jefferson responded to their letter in a letter that contained the phrase, "wall of separation between church and state." This sentence has been taken to the far reaches of insanity by those that oppose faith, being twisted into its own secular meaning. What it meant was, This is a State matter, and the federal government can't get involved. This is between you and those running the State of Connecticut.
As a Conservative, Santorum doesn't believe the government should ban birth control, despite his moral convictions that promoting contraceptives influences society in a negative manner, actually encouraging sexual behavior before the wedding bells ring. This is why republicans are against Obama's mandate that pregnancy prevention be covered by insurance. It has nothing to do with whether or not birth control methods should be available to the public, and everything to do with the unconstitutional demand by democrats that government dictate to insurance companies how to run their business. Being against the mandate does not make someone in favor of a theocracy, or show that anybody wants to shove religion down anybody's throat. Simply put, it is the conservative angle that government does not have the authority to go around pushing its own morality, like telling individuals they will have to pay for someone else's sexual impropriety, or that a church must go against its moral beliefs and offer contraceptives and abortion-in-a-pill (morning after pill) whether they like it or not.
If you read the First Amendment carefully, the part about Congress not being able to prohibit the free exercise of religion is all about telling the government that it can't control The Church.
From the liberal point of view, the very mention of God by a politician is a violation of their version of the separation of church and state. The liberal left democrats desire that government be set up on a purely secular platform, where all policies are based on their interpretation of what secularism dictates. It has even been suggested by some of these people that only atheists, or the "non-religious", should be allowed to hold office, because only these people would "do the right thing." The leftists continue to work on banning all non-secular lessons in the education system, banning prayer, and even the mention of anything religious by the school staff. Of course peace signs, and anti-religious icons and lessons are fully acceptable. Evolution has become the sole scientific theory that is allowed to be taught in the public schools, and the very mention of Creationism is met with indignation and law suits. Medicine is now being twisted to force church facilities to offer contraceptives, abortion is being taught as perfectly normal, and pregnancy is being treated by the liberals like it is some kind of disease. Through Obamacare the government will complete its control over medicine, only allowing procedures the secularists in government see as necessary. Obama's policies have also instituted a system where preferential treatment is being given to those businesses and organizations that support the liberals in charge, while those opposing their secular rule are being branded as racist, seditious, and even potential domestic terrorists.
Hmmm. After thinking about how the secular liberal democrats are doing things, it makes you wonder, who really is trying to establish a theocracy?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Santorum Touts Wider Role for Faith in Public Life - GOPUSA
Rick Santorum is Campaigning for a Theocracy - Yahoo News
Robert M. Prowler: Rick Santorum's Theocracy - South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Rick's Religious Fanaticism - New York Times
Enough of Rick Santorum's Sermons - The Washington Post
Only Atheists Should Hold Public Office - Yahoo News
Sebelius: Decrease in Human Beings Will Cover Cost of Contraception Mandate - CNS News
Obama's War on Religion - Political Pistachio
The Virginia Act For Establishing Religious Freedom, Thomas Jefferson, 1786
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