Rick Santorum Takes on Jihadism, Showing Moral Coherence and Political Courage

3/16/2011

(Page 2 of 2)

"Culture of Death."

He also gave cover to countless Catholic politicians to be morally incoherent in their political participation for too many years. Senator Santorum's speech in Houston is the much needed and long overdue corrective. There is a political dualism too often touted in Republican circles - the idea that there are "social" and "economic" issues and they must be kept separate. In the run up to the 2012 campaign it is rearing its ugly head once again.

Santorum does not separate social and economic issues. He knows that the reason we should care about expanding economic opportunity is because we respect the dignity of every human person and want to expand participation. His advocacy of smaller government is not anti-government. He calls for the proper application of the principle of subsidiarity out of respect for the primacy of the family as the first society, the first government, the first church, first school, first economy and first mediating institution.

He rejects the idea that there is any true "right" to an abortion even if the positive law currently protects the act. Every procured abortion is the taking of innocent human life and the denial of the true Right, written in the Natural Law, the fundamental and inalienable Right to Life. He would place the respect for life front and center, using it as the lens through which every other issue would be approached.

He does not back away from controversy or opposition because he has real courage. That was demonstrated in January when he gave an interview to Terry Jeffrey of CNSNEWS.com entitled "Santorum Says He Agrees With MLK on Moral Basis for Human Rights; Can't Understand Why Obama Would Deny Them to an Unborn Child." In that interview he reiterated his belief in the Natural Law as the moral basis of a truly free society. His grasp of authentic Catholic social doctrine is refreshing - and all too uncommon among Catholics in public service.

In the interview, the Senator referenced Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s reliance on the Natural Law in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Some in the media attacked Santorum and tried to paint him as a racist for even doing so. Some in contemporary political circles might have backed off, but the former Senator from Pennsylvania refused to back down. In that letter, Dr. King did indeed cite the Catholic Natural Law tradition to bolster his defense of fundamental human rights. As the day progressed the Senator stood his ground and responded to repeated efforts to smear him with these words:

"For decades certain human beings were wrongly treated as property and denied liberty in America because they were not considered persons under the Constitution. Today other human beings, the unborn of all races, are also wrongly treated as property and denied the right to life for the same reason; because they are not considered persons under the constitution. I am disappointed that President Obama, who rightfully fights for civil rights, refuses to recognize the civil rights of the unborn in this country."

This past weekend the Senator again demonstrated courage at the Strafford County Lincoln-Reagan dinner. Among the topics discussed was the threat of militant jihadist ideology. He said, "Jihadism is evil and we need to say what it is.We need to define it and say what it is. And it is evil. Sharia law is incompatible with American jurisprudence and our Constitution." Making reference to the hearings on the radicalization of some American Muslims held last week he noted that the majority of Muslims in the United States do not want Sharia Law in the United States. He said many left their home countries "because of Sharia law" and continued, "Sharia law is not just a religious code. It is also a governmental code. It happens to be both religious in nature and origin, but it is a civil code. And it is incompatible with the civil code of the United States." He is correct and his willingness to say it is refreshing.

Rick Santorum is a man of courage in an age of cowardice. In 1947, C.S. Lewis addressed the decline of Britain in an insightful book entitled "The Abolition of man: How Education Develops Man's Sense of Morality." He warned of the subjective and relativist trends in the British educational system and reasserted the timeless moral truths of Christianity. Lewis called for a return to the classical Christian vision of the human person and the cultivation of virtues as the path to true human flourishing and freedom. He defined what he called "the chest" in this work as the "higher emotions organized by trained habit into stable sentiments or character." He wrote that without this "chest", men and women devolve into self-idolatry, losing their human dignity and true freedom. They become slaves to disordered appetites.

The West is a mess, just as Lewis warned. With its decline we face the eclipse of true freedom. Lewis' words in this book are timely: "And all the time - such is the tragicomedy of our situation - we continue to clamor for those very qualities we are rendering impossible. You can hardly open a periodical without coming across the statement that what our civilization needs is more 'drive,' or dynamism, or self-sacrifice, or 'creativity.' In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful."

Rick Santorum is a statesman in an age of salesmen - and women. He is a "man with a chest." I will be watching his movements over the next few months as one of the most important Presidential elections in American history begins to take shape.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Santorum, Rick Santorum, President Obama, 2012, Presidential race, election, Islam, Jihadi, Deacon Keith Fournier

NEWSLETTERS »

Previous Page 1 | 2

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 27 Comments

Meowth
2 years ago
Oh please nominate Santorum. Obama would win for sure. Also, just a word of warning to anyone voting GOP, to win a presidential election, you need moderate swing votes and Santorum is far more conservative than Obama is liberal.
Eddie
2 years ago
Mark M, You need to move on. You have it wrong - Jesus came to save the sinner! You have chosen to be very selective in your reasons for Jesus coming just as I suspect you choose to define good and evil absent any thing the inspired word of the Holy Spirit has provided. No doubt we are urged by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere in the inspired word to engage in corporal and spiritual works of mercy for the sake of our love for his Father. We Catholics take this charge for seriously and devote time, talent and treasure to follow the inspired word! I am sure in your own mind you are in a better place intellectually now that you have put yourself above those of us who still cling to our faith tradition.
Mark M
2 years ago
I finally agree with Santorum on something. I've always disliked his anti-Catholic ideals of favoring rich people, favoring corporations and ignoring the plights of all those Jesus came to save (poor, hungry and those needing the communal help of the Church). But for ones I agree with his assessment of the deadly nature of the cult of islam. I would say this cult is horrible to women, but really they are horrible to anyone. Im not sure who they hate more, outsiders or their own people.

And at some point someone needs to put a dictionary in front of a moslem to show them the correct definition of the owrd martyr. Its not mass murderer just because they die in the process or every murder-suicide would be deified.
vance
2 years ago
Bruce Barron, great post and very well written. Your post hit the proverbial nail on the head. It scares me to see the Liberal complacency about Islam as if it is another Protestant church. We have had 2 car bomb attempts and a shooting at Ft Hood already. The New York car bomber told the Court Judge that there will be plenty more where he came from. Recent TV news reported an Islamic father murdering his daughter to conform to sharia law.
Bruce Barron
2 years ago
Islam,with or without Sharia Law,is absolutely and totally incompatible with Christianity and Western Culture.There is no meeting ground.
Sharia Law is incompatible with our Constitution which John Paul 2 called a natural law document..
As far as the word allah is concerned it may represent some single god but it is a pagan god and not the God of the Jews and Christians.
St.Thomas Aquinas in writing the "Summa Contra Gentiles" had these Islamic pagans in mind.
There is nothing rational about Islam.The entire culture is incompatible with the culture of every nation and tolerates nothing but Islam.
Islam will stop at nothing to attain its goals even converting to Christianity.It will resort to deception. The term allah is nowhere in Hebrew or Aramaic Biblical texts.
Apparently Vatican 2 called Islam one of the 3 monotheistic religions. It may be monotheistic but it's monotheism is with a totally singular god having nothing to do with Judaism or Christianity.
Whether all Moslems are jihadist at heart I cannot answer.Hopefully the Moslems that have come here was to escape Sharia Law but if in the majority would they return to jihadism?
Islam cannot be assimulated into Western Culture but would like to assimulate the world into its system.
The very idea that they claim the right to exercise Sharia Law in this country exposes them for what they are and their intentions.History reveals it quite well.
The Jihadist pose a threat to our way of life,culture,and civilization and are not to tolerated.They would topple this government in a moment if they could.If they apply Sharia Law in their communities they are then to be tried under our laws.Sharia Law doesn't apply to American Moslems and where applied it is still irrational in nature and content.
If mosques are being used as fronts for jihadist terrorist cells then they should be treated as targets and destroyed. This amounts to spying.
The First Amenment cannot tolerate or protect lies that would undermine the welfare of this country.Islam is not a religion but a political system using the term religion as a veneer for veracity. Speech,after all, to be free must be truthful or the best possible opinion given the facts and infomation available.Sometime opinions must be arrived at very quickly. The opinion is thus the best possible decision that can be arrived at taking everything known into consideration.
There is no truth in jihadism, Islam,or Sharia Law.So it certainly exists and must exist as a bold face lie.
vance
2 years ago
Grimes, Everett, Nestor, mgm, Rob, Your Dear Leader has scored again. Today's news reveal that Food price have inflated to a 36 year high. Housing starts plummeted 22%. Jobless numbers continue to go up. How's that Hope and Change working for you guys? It's NOT working for the unemployed and the poor. Gaddaffi is safe at home plate with your Dear Leader, BUT he says he will not sell us any oil for Obama dissing him. The Rebels say they won't sell us any oil either if they take control because of Obama. Your Dear Leader is a great foreign policy maker.
AvantiBev
2 years ago
Anthony writes: "Catholics confronting global poverty are uniting on March 15 to call on their members of Congress to stop balancing the budget on the backs of our brothers and sisters in Haiti, Sudan and around the world. Proposed cuts to poverty-focused international assistance will cost lives."

Balancing? We Anericans are so many trillions over budget due to both parties profligate spending and promising a chicken in every pot, that we are no where near balancing. Of course we can always just tax old Bev more or we can print money even faster than we are now and then bemoan the poverty that will come to all our citizens when the resulting inflation wipes out their savings and investments. For 55 years, I have heard my fellow Catholics define "charity" as picking my Daddy's and my pockets, distributing the money on this or that ineffective "poverty program", arts subsidy, etc., and then congratulating themselves on THEIR charity.

Like Charlie Sheen, there are far too many ADDICTS in our nation. They are addicted to the worst drug of all: taxpayer provided "booty" (and I don't care if that word does not comport with the New New Bible translation.) Whine and moan and thrash around all you want --- from Wisconsin to Washington DC -- IT'S WITHDRAWAL TIME, folks.
Theresa
2 years ago
If you want to get to know Rick Santorum, listen to him every Friday on AM Talk Radio (AM 860 in St. Pete, FL) when he hosts the Bill Bennett Talk Radio Show from 6-9AM. Rick Santorum is among the few good men around. His position on all the life issues is impeccable and anyone who thinks he is not for aid to the poor and needy only listens to biased news and not to the man, himself, on all the issues....And, yes, his "fruit," too, is as good as it gets in this day and age.
vance
2 years ago
Deacon Fournier, another great article. I love how Santorum challenges Kennedy's push to drive religion from the public square. I remember it quite well. Kennedy's Catholicism was the same as Pelosi's today. Like Pelosi he called himself a Catholic only when it was politically expedient. I can understand why Grimes, Everett, Nestor, and mgm gag when they read about someone who promotes Christianity and Christian culture. It assaults their Marxist sensitivities. The Death Culture and Christianity mix like oil and water.
minoria
2 years ago
My Friends:

We must know what information to give to show other non-Muslims and even Muslims that the Koran itself,the heart of Islam,is extremist.In the following article I have written the more than 12 EXTREMIST PASSAGES in the Koran that are of UNIVERSAL APPLICATION.I ask people to read it not out of vanity but because the information is VITAL:

http://www.antisharia.com/2011/03/14/about-the-argument-of-diversity-in-islam-and-the-extremist-passages-in-the-koran-2/

EXTRA INFO FOR A CHRISTIAN(to fortify your faith)

Did you know that the way several passages in the OT are written LITERALLY give us the NAMe of the MESSIAH,which is YESHUA or Jesus?They are 2 in Isaiah,2 in Jeremiah,2 in Zechariah:

http://www.avraidire.com/2010/04/the-old-testament-says-the-messiahs-name-is-yeshua-jesus/

Prev12 3 Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment