Rickie Santorum

So, I've been asked why I haven't yet blogged (or otherwise commented) on Sen. Rick Santorum.
The truth is, I don't find him compelling enough to talk about (well, until I'm asked to actually think about him and comment). He is a garden variety theocrat, a rabid homophobe, and an opponent of procreative freedom. He claims to be a conservative, but his conservatism seems to be a mix of wanting the US to serve as the global police force (sounds disturbingly like imperialism), a religious world view from the middle ages that may not be entirely comfortable admitting even still that the world isn't flat, and an unapologetic privileging of maleness and heteronormativity. I'm not sure that's "conservative" as much as its just white male privilege trying to hold onto power.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't mean to suggest that Santorum isn't dangerous. I mean, whenever we don't take threats seriously, they have a way of becoming even more threatening. I'm not suggesting that by ignoring him he'll just go away. But his unenlightened, hateful rhetoric, his intolerance of women's agency, and his opposition to equal rights for all people just seem so extreme, so misguided, so antiquated, and so ridiculous, I have a hard time imagining that he would appeal to the majority of Americans, or even to the majority of Republicans. I just am still enough of a humanist to believe that most humans want better representation than that. However, I have been wrong before.

I don't know Sen. Santorum. He must be intelligent; he holds both law and business degrees. He must appeal to some people; he held a senate seat for a dozen years and recently won some primaries/caucuses as he seeks his party's nomination for president. He has a family and I'm sure he loves them and they probably love him, too. He even has a fairly decent smile. He can't be soul-less. He must possess some good qualities. But his inability to separate the right wing of Christianity from faith in general, and his unwillingness to separate personal faith from public office is disturbing, and for me, enough to disqualify him as a national leader.

When people try to legislate their personal faith, it not only shows their faith to be weak (why else would it need political enforcement for it to seem legitimate to them), but it also poses a real danger to everyone who doesn't share their faith...and in a nation that has always prided itself on freedom of (and from ) religion, that is problematic.

I hope Mr. Santorum does not get his party's nomination.
I hope Mr. Santorum never becomes president.
I hope Mr. Santorum never holds public office again.
But I also want to have and express these hopes without demonizing him personally. He is a member of the human family and he, like all people, possesses sacred value. However, that still isn't quite enough to elevate him to the status of world leader.

So there. I have now expressed views about former Senator Rick Santorum.

My non-sectarian prayer for this election year is: "Let there truly be liberty and justice for ALL and may peace prevail on earth."

Vote in November :-)