Dear Rick Santorum, America Elects Presidents Not Popes

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 04:18 pm

Moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong regardless of other circumstances such as their consequences or the intentions behind them. In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler’s moral absolutism produced the Holocaust, and in Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban based their oppressive regime on perverted Islamic moral absolutes. There is no room in a free society for a leader who seeks to enforce their moral absolutes on the population, but the field of Republican hopefuls are intent on making the upcoming general election about whether America remains a diverse representative democracy or a theocracy like Iran. Rick Santorum is the most vocal proponent of the bible’s moral absolutes on all Americans and his recent criticism of President Obama’s religious views portends an oppressive theocracy if he were to win the presidency, or in Santorum’s case; the papacy.

Santorum made an absolutist statement when he asserted that President Obama’s supports “a phony theology, not a theology based on the bible.” Since President Obama has not based his administration on his personal religious beliefs, it is impossible to make that kind of judgment call, and it is way above Santorum’s pay grade. That one statement defines Santorum’s ideology that he, America’s pope in waiting, is qualified to make pronouncements about the validity of any American’s theology, and since he is very vocal about his religious beliefs, it is simple to ascertain whether or not his theology is based on the bible.

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First, it is necessary to establish which part of the bible Santorum bases his theology on and it obviously has nothing to do with Christ. Santorum’s theology is based on a combination of Old Testament dogmata and Inquisition-era Catholicism, and between those extremes Santorum has acquired a severe god complex. That combination explains how he is able to categorically proclaim the President’s theology is not bible-based and should serve as a warning that Santorum is delusional if he believes he knows the inclinations, motivations, and deep-seated beliefs of President Obama. Santorum’s tendency to pass judgment certainly proves he is not a Christian because Jesus warned his followers that judgment belongs to god, not Rick Santorum.

Santorum’s comment that he does not “want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,” is problematic for a Christian. First, Jesus did not discriminate against any race or group of people, and he preached that his followers should sell all their possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. Now, it is not that Santorum, or any leader, is empowered to force any American to take care of the poor, but the sentiment he espouses is contrary to Christ’s teaching. In fact, Jesus said it was easier for a pauper to enter into heaven than a rich man, and Santorum’s tax plan will increase the wealthiest 1% of  Americans chances of going to Hell, not heaven. He also plans to immediately slash spending on many domestic programs, and freeze for five years spending for social programs such as Medicaid, housing subsidies, food stamps, education, and job training. Santorum’s theology is not based on the bible, but on Heritage Foundation and Grover Norquist ideology that government caters to the wealthy and deprives the poor and infirm of assistance to sustain life.

It is questionable if Rick Santorum is really a Christian because his promise to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities goes against Christ’s rebuke to Peter to “put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52). It is widely accepted by biblical scholars that Christ’s words are a proof verse for Christian pacifism. If Santorum truly believes that god protects his “chosen people” in Israel, then he would trust god and not assume god’s role for himself. Santorum follows a perverted evangelical extremist belief that America’s first duty is protecting spiritual Israel that will be the beginning of Armageddon, and the end of the world.

Mr. Santorum perverts Christianity as a matter-of-course, and his perversion is not limited to war-mongering, judging, and enriching the wealthy. It is well-publicized that Santorum’s religious moral absolutism caused him to bring his premature, dead son home for his other children to cuddle, and with his wife, slept with the deceased baby between them before returning the body to the morgue the following day. Whatever drives a man like Santorum to evangelical extremism is not for anyone to judge, but when he purports to impose his fanatical beliefs on the entire population, then he opens himself up to condemnation.

It is beyond the pale for Santorum to state, with false authority, that the President’s theology is not based on the bible when his own theology is closer to Sharia law. His proclivity to impose the Vatican’s ban on contraception reveals his tendency to reject the Constitution’s separation of church and state, and his outrageous opposition to same-sex marriage belies Christ’s teaching of tolerance. Santorum’s perverted beliefs drives him to believe that giving same-sex couples the right to marry jeopardizes his own marriage. He also said he is for income inequality and blames the economic recession on  America’s “huge moral failings” and not Bush-Republicans economic malfeasance. His religious perversion has become a delusion and America does  not need a deluded pope like Santorum.

It is likely Santorum truly believes he was called by god to become America’s pope and not the president. He supports moral absolutism as dictated by Rick Santorum and is barely suited to lead a mental ward prayer group much less the United States of America, and yet he is currying favor among evangelical extremists who support America becoming a theocracy. His god-complex may tell him he knows the basis of President Obama’s religious beliefs, but he is clueless to the majority of Americans’ belief that religion is private and not the purview of the USCCB or Rick Santorum. Americans are not looking for a  pope to issue edicts or commission a new Inquisition and Crusade, they want an honest, non-judgmental president that Santorum will never be.

Rmuse

Audio engineer and instructor for SAE. Writes op/ed commentary supporting Secular Humanist causes, and exposing suppression of women, the poor, and minorities. An advocate for freedom of religion and particularly, freedom of NO religion.

Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn’t look good.

Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.