Rick Santorum Doesn’t Think You’re a Christian

The Republican candidate for POTUS, who thinks that our president follows and unbiblical theology, thinks that mainliners are not ChristianL

We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic but the Judeo-Christian ethic was a Protestant Judeo-Christian ethic, sure the Catholics had some influence, but this was a Protestant country and the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is in shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it. [via Santorum Excommunicates 45 Million Christians]

Further, he doesn’t believe in a strict separation of church and state:

Santorum also reiterated his statement that a 1960 speech by John F. Kennedy, meant to ease concerns about the then-Democratic presidential candidate’s Catholic faith, made him want to “throw up.”

“I don’t believe in an America where separation of church and state is absolute,” he said. [via LA Times]

Here’s the thing: the rights afforded us by the First Amendment are sacrosanct, at least in a non-religious sense. But, as a religious person, I abdicate some of my rights when I submit to living in a country with laws. If my religion dictates that I smoke weed, or that I sacrifice cats, I don’t get to do that. My religious rights are not absolute — they are relative, because they are judged in the relative weight with the good for society.

But neither are First Amendment rights absolute. You don’t get to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater, and you don’t get to post kiddie porn on the internet. Again, the good of the society trumps your individual rights.

That’s why Santorum’s views on contraception, for instance, are reckless. He may be personally appalled that men and women use contraceptives, and he can use his bully pulpit to promote those views. But to impose those personal views on the rest of us is the equivalent to Mitt Romney forcing us all to wear sacred undergarments, or Barack Obama making women wear burkas. 😉