Team Santorum: America is with Rick on belief in the existence of the devil

Washington Examiner ^ | 02/22/2012 | Byron York

[SeekAndFind]

MESA, Ariz. -- Some of Rick Santorum's advisers are frustrated and angry that reporters are focusing more on their candidate's statements about Satan than on his positions on the issues. Here in Arizona Tuesday, Santorum faced repeated questioning about portions of a 2008 speech at a Catholic university in Florida in which he said, "Satan is attacking the great institutions of America."

"I don't know what's newsmaking that Rick Santorum believes in right and wrong, good and evil, God and the devil," says one campaign aide. "I really don't know how that's out of the mainstream."

It's not. In 2007, the Gallup polling organization asked Americans whether they believe in God, in heaven, in hell, and in the devil. The results: 86 percent of those questioned said they believed in God, 81 percent in heaven, 70 percent in the devil, and 69 percent in hell.

Just 21 percent of those questioned said they do not believe in the devil, giving Satan a healthy 70-21 believe/disbelieve ratio. (Eight percent said they weren't sure.)

Santorum's aides believe it is unfair that reporters are asking questions about aspects of Santorum's faith and not asking similar questions about Mitt Romney's. Of course, Santorum has spoken more publicly about the details of his religious beliefs than Romney has, and that is why some of the questions are popping up now. On the other hand, some in the Santorum camp are pointing to a 2007 interview Romney did with Iowa radio talk show host Jan Mickelson in which Mickelson essentially goaded Romney into discussing, off-air but on-camera, a few details of Mormon beliefs. ("The Church says that Christ appears and splits the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem," Romney told Mickelson. "That’s what the Church says. And then, over a thousand years of the millennium, that the world is reigned in two places, Jerusalem and Missouri. . . . The law will come from Missouri, and the other will be from Jerusalem.")

But specifically religious questioning of Romney is as rare as specific Romney statements about Mormon beliefs. Given the current grilling of Santorum, that is a source of growing frustration to Santorum's advisers. "Why is Mormonism off limits?" asks one. "I'm not saying it's a seminal issue in the campaign, but we're having to spend days answering questions about Rick's faith, which he has been open about. Romney will turn on a dime when you talk about religion. We're getting asked about specific tenets of Rick's faith, and when Romney says, 'I want to focus on the economy,' they say, OK, we'll focus on the economy."

UPDATE: After this was posted, the Santorum adviser called back to stress that his "off limits" point was not specifically about Mormonism but rather that Santorum alone is being questioned about religion. He asked why Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, in addition to Romney, have not faced the level of questioning abour religion that Santorum has. In our original conversation, the adviser said, "If you're going to ask us, you need to ask everybody."

[bray]

Don’t let the door hit you newbie. How is the temp at Romney HQ?

Pray for America

[KansasGirl]

[ Santorum’s aides believe it is unfair that reporters are asking questions about aspects of Santorum’s faith and not asking similar questions about Mitt Romney’s ]

Let’s talk about Obama’s Black Liberation Theology. Americans will be shocked at what the media hid from them in 2008. I bet they’ll choose the mainstream Catholic over the America-hating, racist Marxist any day of the week.

[Yaelle]

It is up to Santo tonight to quickly mock the media for their inappropriate religious focus, and simultaneously get the topic back to serious campaign issues.

HOW WELL SANTO DOES THIS DETERMINES HIS SUCCESS.

Luckily, he is doing this brilliantly and with dignity and not anger so far.

[struggle]

What’s so revolutionary about believing in Obama?

[Mariner]

""Satan is attacking the great institutions of America."

CNN would be negligent if they do not raise this as an issue in tonights' debate: Senator Santorum, do you believe America is under attack by a supernatural being named Satan? What evidence to you have to support your assertion?

You have also said that some mainline Protestant denominations have essentially fallen to that attack. Would you please tell us which ones?

You have also said that many Christians believe Mormonism is a cult, is that what you believe?

How can ANYONE think this should be off limits? The man is running for President of the United States and has publicly espoused these beliefs. The people who are called to cast their vote are entitled to hear the answer...on nationwide TV.

Better now than on the stage with Obama.

[tjd1454]

I will probably leave the republican party. I didn’t sign up for this extreme platform. Solutions are needed. Not this going overboard.

If you read the article, 70% of Americans - across all political divides - believe in the existence of the devil. If you think that is "extreme" and "going overboard," where does that put you? In the atheist camp? If so, you probably won't feel very comfortable around FR people, most of whom probably believe in the existence of objective evil, i.e., the devil.

BTW, good luck regarding your quest for "solutions" that denies that there is something very wrong abroad in our world, something which people of faith recognize as an evil spiritual influence. Radical liberals have long scoffed at the existence of the devil, attributing so-called "evil" to poor education and a lack of social programs - and Republicans in general - which causes people to do bad things.

[Revolting cat!]

Full boilerplate quote, spoken a million times by all kinds of politicians including Obama. If you take it seriously, you’re on the way to understanding the appeal of Obama’s empty talk.

[xzins]

Don’t let the door.....

[Yorlik803]

Too bad the media doesnt go after Obamas speeches with such gusto. Maybe Obama would have been vetted better.
There is a devil. There is evil in the world. To ignore it is the same as condoning it.

[GourmetDan]

"I don't know what's newsmaking that Rick Santorum believes in right and wrong, good and evil, God and the devil," says one campaign aide. "I really don't know how that's out of the mainstream."

None of the media personalities, editors, producers or owners know anyone who believes in right and wrong, good and evil, God and the devil.

"How can it not be 'out of the mainstream' when nobody I know believes in it?" Doh!

[rogue yam]

I didn’t sign up for this extreme platform.

I am amazed by how many people consider belief in God and the Bible normal but who also consider belief in the devil extreme.

Why is belief in a supernatural force for good (God) so much more ordinary than is belief in a supernatural force for evil (Satan)?

[Mangia E Statti Zitto]

from the interview:

“One of the things I will talk about that no president has talked about before is, I think, the dangers of contraception in this country,” Santorum told interviewer Shane Vander Hart. “It’s not OK. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Now you and I may fully agree with this statement, but Santorum should not be surprised that the media and non-religious in the country find it extreme. Mocking the media is not going to be enough for him to get it behind him.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

MESA, Ariz. -- Some of Rick Santorum's advisers are frustrated and angry that reporters are focusing more on their candidate's statements about Satan than on his positions on the issues. Here in Arizona Tuesday, Santorum faced repeated questioning about portions of a 2008 speech at a Catholic university in Florida

We should be talking about Obama and his destructive agenda not the devil. I will probably leave the republican party. I didn’t sign up for this extreme platform. Solutions are needed. Not this going overboard. Rick's supporters are making the rest of us a laughing stock.

Rick Santorum made a speech four years ago at a conservative Catholic institution, in which he expressed conventional Catholic - indeed, conventional Christian generally - beliefs. You knew he was a Catholic, and so did the “objective” reporters who are “shocked, shocked” to learn that there have been Catholic beliefs expressed by a Catholic (who not only was not speaking for the government but who was not even in political office at the time). If you are embarrassed that former senator Rick Santorum expressed Catholic beliefs at a Catholic institution, what must you think of President Ronald Reagan’s March 8, 1983 speech to a meeting of the National Association of Evangelicals!

I urge you to speak out against those who would place the United States in a position of military and moral inferiority. You know, I've always believed that old Screwtape reserved his best efforts for those of you in the church. So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride -- the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.

So, because reporters who are in cahoots with the Obama Administration refuse to talk about anything but Catholic doctrine, you are offended at Rick Santorum! I am impressed with that logic.

On your way out, I ask you to consider one question: do you believe that anyone, journalist or not, has the right to expect you to take their objectivity for granted? If you do, you are IMHO just one more example of Adam Smith’s dictum that “The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing.” Anyone who boasts of their own objectivity is an exemplar of subjectivity, not its reverse.

[alstewartfan]

Why is anyone a laughingstock? What do YOU believe about Christianity, heaven and hell? Oh, there are 8.5 months to pound away at the Punk. BTW, I’m proud of Santorum. Anyone who laughs at faith in times of such peril is a fool. Bob

[Eleutheria5]

Da debil made me buy dis dress.

[OldNavyVet]

What’s so revolutionary about believing in Obama?

Beliefs belong in church.

[spokeshave]

I am an American Soldier...defender of freedom against tyranny

and when I enter the valley of death

and the angel of Satan appears at my shoulder

I will be resolute and fear no evil

And my Lord in heaven will guide my sword.

[Leep]

If Satan were President his main objective would to tempt people. Perhaps with “free” stuff.
He would tell people repeated lies, with a smile on his face, in order to confuse them.
He would have to lie because if he told the trugh he wouldn’t be able to fool hardly anyone.
He would do his best to devide people by race and income. Persauding people that good is bad and bad is good.
Men marrying men is equal to men marrying women.
That all abortion is good and infact it is healthy.
That euthenizing the elderly is compassionate.

[frogjerk]

I didn’t sign up for this extreme platform.

Please leave the party you RINO.

[SeekAndFind]

THIS IS FROM GALLUP 4 YEARS AGO ( I SEE NO REASON WHY THIS STAT WOULD CHANGE TODAY ):

---

PRINCETON, NJ -- Roughly 9 in 10 Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, while fewer than 10% are firm in their belief that there is no God. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe in heaven. At the same time, 7 in 10 profess belief in the Devil and in hell. These updates of Americans' beliefs were measured in a May 10-13, 2007, Gallup poll survey.

The survey contained two different questions about God, each asked of a random half of the survey's respondents.

The first split-sample was asked a straightforward question about belief in God as part of a question that asked about five different religious or spiritual entities:

For each of the following items I am going to read you, please tell me whether it is something you believe in, something you're not sure about, or something you don't believe in. First, ... Next, ... [RANDOM ORDER]?

2007 May 10-13 (sorted by "believe in")	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in
God	86%	8	6

The other half of the sample was asked this question:

Which of the following statements comes closest to your belief about God -- you believe in God, you don't believe in God, but you do believe in a universal spirit or higher power, or you don't believe in either?

	Believe in God	Believe in universal spirit	Don't believe in either	OTHER (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	78	14	7	*	1
2004 May 2-4	81	13	5	*	1
1999 Dec 9-12	86	8	5	1	*
* Less than 0.5%

A comparison of the responses to these two questions makes it clear that self-reported belief in God varies slightly depending on the alternatives posed in the question. The percentage of Americans who profess a firm belief in God is estimated at 78% when the respondent is allowed the alternative option "a universal spirit or higher power". Firm belief in God increases to 86% when the alternative is "something you're not sure about".

Between 6% and 7% of Americans are willing to tell an interviewer that they do not believe in God, regardless of the way the question is asked.

Americans are less likely to say they believe in other spiritual or religious entities than they are to profess belief in God.

For each of the following items I am going to read you, please tell me whether it is something you believe in, something you're not sure about, or something you don't believe in. First, ... Next, ... [RANDOM ORDER]?

2007 May 10-13 (sorted by "believe in")	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in
	%	%	%
God	86	8	6
Heaven	81	8	11
Angels	75	11	14
The Devil	70	8	21
Hell	69	8	22

More Americans say they believe in heaven than say they believe it its counterpart, hell. And more Americans say they believe in God than say they believe in the Devil. Three-quarters of Americans say they believe in angels.

There has been some change in these measures of belief in the Devil over time. In several surveys conducted in the 1990s, less than 60% of Americans said that they believed in the Devil. The three surveys conducted since 2001 have all shown roughly 7 out of 10 Americans saying that they believe in the Devil. It is important to note, however, that there have been changes in the context in which the belief in the Devil question has been asked. Some older Gallup surveys included the Devil in a list of things such as witches, reincarnation, and ghosts. The three surveys conducted since 2001 have included the Devil in a list of more directly religious entities. These changes make it difficult to ascertain if there has been a real change in belief structures, or if the changes are due more to respondents' views of which "type" of Devil is being discussed.

For each of the following items I am going to read you, please tell me whether it is something you believe in, something you're not sure about, or something you don't believe in. First, ... Next, ... [RANDOM ORDER]?

A. God

	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	86	8	6	*
2004 May 2-4	90	5	4	1
2001 May 10-14	90	7	2	1
* Less than 0.5%

B. The Devil

	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	70	8	21	1
2004 May 2-4	70	10	19	1
2001 May 10-14	68	12	20	*
1996 Sep 3-5	56	8	35	1
1994 Dec 16-18	65	9	26	--
1991 Oct 24-27	52	9	39	--
1990 Jun 14-17	55	8	37	--
* Less than 0.5%

C. Angels

	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	75	11	14	*
2004 May 2-4	78	11	10	1
2001 May 10-14	79	12	8	1
1996 Sep 3-5	72	11	16	1
1994 Dec 16-18	72	13	15	--
* Less than 0.5%

D. Heaven

	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	81	8	11	*
2004 May 2-4	81	10	8	1
2001 May 10-14	83	10	7	*
1997 May ^	72	20	8	*
^ Gallup/Nathan Cummings Foundation and Fetzer Institute Poll

E. Hell

	Believe in	Not sure about	Don't believe in	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 May 10-13	69	8	22	1
2004 May 2-4	70	12	17	1
2001 May 10-14	71	13	15	1
1997 May ^	56	22	20	2
^ Gallup/Nathan Cummings Foundation and Fetzer Institute Poll

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,003 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 10-13, 2007. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.