Rick Santorum and the Kingship of Christ, (Part One)

Crisis Magazine ^ | 3/5/12 | William Fahey

[marshmallow]

Let’s have Christ our President
Let us have him for our King
Cast your vote for the Carpenter
That you call the Nazarene

The only way we can ever beat
These crooked politician men
Is to run the money changers out of the temple
Put the Carpenter in.

—Woody Guthrie

In his Rick’s Degrees of Separation, Stephen Klugewicz draws our attention to the latest attempt of an American politician to speak on matters of Church and State. His article rightly demonstrates the shallowness of the media in their manner of reporting Senator Santorum’s recent remarks on Kennedy’s address to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association during the latter’s 1960 bid for the presidency. Yet Klugewicz, I would suggest, obscures the Catholic Church’s actual teaching with respect to church and state. But in so doing, he reveals one of the gravest challenges Catholics in the modern world face: how to act as responsible Christians in a pluralistic democracy.

Again, Klugewicz gives us some fine insights, especially his revelation of the difficulties Catholics will face in their attempt to find a political rhetoric effective in American society, while remaining true to their Catholic traditions and teaching. This is particularly evident in an age of rapid social communication. Still, his argument is hampered by an insufficient grounding in history and Catholic social thought. The essence of the problem can be seen in the following remark: “Santorum must also remember that the separation of church and state is a good thing for the Catholic Church, and for people of faith in general. The concept has an honorable history within the Church.” Here, Klugewicz is simply wrong.

The relationship between the Catholic Church and the various political powers of the last two millennia is............

[DaveyB]

I can't speak for Rick, but I for one still believe that the first commandment has primacy over the first amendment (or at least a perverted judges view of the first amendment). I'm sure that God has a higher jurisdiction the federal government.

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear...
Psalm 2:10-11