When Santorum said he encouraged a role for the Church in the operation of the state, he disqualified himself from Federal office.
Wrong. Separation of Church and State is not constitutional. Santorum knows this. JFK spoke that Protestant pastors shouldn’t tell their congregations how to vote. That statement tells me that JFK did not understand the first amendment.
Do you really think that the Church shouldn’t have influence over the operation of the state? Do you have any idea what is in the constitution?
The Church should be able to do whatever it wants. The constitution only constrains the state. Churches should be able to use whatever influence they have to shape public policy.
Yeah; the Kennedy slam (along with a lot of other foolish statements Rick has made “off the cuff”) probably cost him Michigan tonight. I loathe Romney and I like Rick, but every time he starts to speak, I tense up; not knowing what is going to come out of his mouth. When he said the Kennedy speech made him want to throw up, every time he heard it, was the final straw for a lot people. Well..... we still have Newt!
Santorum's comments remind me of Mark Twain's saying about Wagner's music--"it's not as bad as it sounds." I doubt Santorum really wants to create a theocracy but comments like the ones he made the other day will scare a lot of people.
A few weeks back Obama was saying Jesus would raise taxes on ‘the rich’ and was claiming he was doing Jesus work as POTUS.
There was a lot a good material for RS to use against Obama and yet he goes on this diss JFK theme. Lets see, JFK said this 50 YEARS AGO.
Church and state is not the same as beliefs/faith/principles and state.
There isn't such a thing.
You would think a wordsmith like Pruden would be smart enough not to misuse the term “ignorance” like a bitchy drag queen.
Reading his embellishment of what Santorum *actually said* sounds more like a schoolgirl attempting to destroy a social rival than a competent political analyst.
Oh please
First off there is no such thing as “wall of separation between church and state” in the Constitution.
The freedom of religion does not ban religious persons from holding office.
He is over 35 and a US citizen, he is Constitutionally eligible to be President.
The thing is to keep government out of the church and that has been violated for decades.
Here’s a pretty good summary re the so-called `wall of separation.’ http://www.firebuilders.org/JAmJeff.htm
In the next several months, building to (disappointing, we can only hope) crescendo, we can expect to read about one African-American church minister after another plugging Obama.
And on Jefferson’s tombstone: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom and Father of the University of Virginia.”
By “religious freedom,” he meant `freedom from’ as well as `freedom of.’
I am a huge Santorum fan but like Sarah palin before him, he has to know that bold social statements will be turned into spun tweets and late night bits ad infinitum.
Senator, please, THINK before you say things. I’ve agreed with every word you’ve said, but Joe Q Public doesn’t understand you and gets it wrong every time. I never knew I could cheer and grimace at the same time, but every newsworthy line you’ve said, I cheer inwardly and grimace outwardly.
Anything out of the mainstream has to be patiently explained BEFORE you say it. Sorry, but it’s true. Throwing up at Kennedy?? Didn’t you THINK people would then say that Michigan is throwing up rather than vote for you, etc.? Don’t feed the beast so much. Be you, but save some of this stuff until you Get the bully pulpit.
I am so sorry you didn’t knock Romney out in MI tonight.
Kennedy made it clear that his religious convictions would be walled apart from his political practice.
It is the same argument made by Catholic politicians today when they support laws at variance with their church’s teachings. It was the same argument used by Jesuit priest/congressman Robert Drinan when he lent all his support for abortion.
I used to like what Wes Pruden wrote, but not any more.
Sooner or later, it seems that everyone shows who they really are.
Santorum’s speech simply repeats the standard positions I’ve heard for many years in conservative evangelical Christian circles. Frankly, when I read speeches like this, I’m more pleased than annoyed by Santorum.
That’s also true about his criticism of higher education which generated a similar article attacking him this week in the New York Times. The only thing I find surprising is that I’m not used to hearing Roman Catholics talk this way. Maybe I need to spend more time paying attention to politically active conservative Catholic intellectuals; Santorum didn’t come up with this on his own and he probably didn’t get this worldview exclusively or even primarily from the Protestant evangelical community.
Unlike the New York Times, I expect the Washington Times and its senior management and emeritus management to understand conservative Christian views.
Pruden is a legitimate conservative leader. I find it difficult to believe he doesn’t know better, but perhaps he’s spent so much time in the secular conservative environment of Washington that “red meat” conservative Christians.
You probably separation of church and state is actually in the constitution. I know Pruden is smarter than that so I must attribute his diatribe, to some other motive. So what is yours?
As Benjamin Rush said, " The only foundation for a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.”
I believe that Like Pruden you purposefully misunderstand what was said. Santorum did not say that the church (pick which flavor of Christianity or believe you want) should set the policy or make the laws. What he said was he though that churches and people of faith should be able to openly influence what goes on in government. ow if you say nonsense then I ask where do you stand on DOMA or abortion or the death penalty or any number oof other issues that clearly have a faith basis for existing.
Santorum, of course, is right.
The Church influences people, and those people are involved in the operation of the state.
Saying that Christians are not allowed to work in government jobs is antithetical to freedom in America.
In fact, the Constitution itself says there can be no religious test.
Santorum used the term influence. Influence is not power.