Santorum declares that Obama is beholden to 'radical environmentalists'

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
2/21/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Candidate says that president practices 'different theology' different from Bible

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has made a series of bold statements that casts U.S. President Barack Obama in a most unflattering light. Santorum says Obama is beholden to "radical environmentalists" and has "a world view that elevates the earth above man." Furthermore, Santorum maintains that Obama practices "a different theology" that is "not a theology based on the Bible."

Rick Santorum denies that he was attacking Obama's religious faith. 'I've repeatedly said that I believe the president's Christian,' the former Pennsylvania senator said. 'He says he's a Christian, but I am talking about his world view and the way he approaches problems in this country. I think they're different than how most people do in America.'

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Speaking out on CBS' "Face the Nation" program. Santorum says that he wasn't questioning Obama's Christian faith in claiming the president subscribes to a "phony theology." It was a phrase that Santorum had used in a speech to Tea Party activists in Ohio.

"I was talking about the radical environmentalists," Santorum says. "That's why I was talking about energy. This idea that man is here to serve the earth, as opposed to husband its resources and being good stewards of the earth, and I think that is a phony ideal."

Santorum appeals to many social conservatives. Staunchly anti-abortion, he is seeking to portray Romney as too moderate to excite core Republican voters and beat Obama in November.

The most recent Gallup poll released found that 36 percent of registered Republicans say they prefer Santorum, while 28 percent back Romney. The poll is a five-day rolling average of support among registered Republicans.

Santorum says that he is the Republican best able to draw a clear contrast with the Democratic president.

"It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology," Santorum said of Obama in Ohio, which holds a Republican primary on March 6. "Not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology."

Robert Gibbs, an Obama campaign adviser and former White House press secretary declared the speech as "destructive" and is undercutting turnout among Republican voters in the party's nomination contest.

"I can't help but think that those remarks are well over the line," Gibbs told television reporters. "It's wrong. It's destructive."

Santorum denies that he was attacking Obama's religious faith. "I've repeatedly said that I believe the president's Christian," the former Pennsylvania senator said. "He says he's a Christian, but I am talking about his world view and the way he approaches problems in this country. I think they're different than how most people do in America."

Santorum also said Obama has "a very bad record on the issue of abortion and children who are disabled in the womb."

He criticized the idea of requiring insurance plans to cover amniocentesis, a prenatal test used to detect fetal maladies.

"A lot of prenatal tests are done to identify deformities in utero and the customary procedure is to encourage abortions," Santorum said.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

- - -

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: Rick Santorum, Presdient Obama, radical environmentalism, religion

NEWSLETTERS »

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 44 Comments

Bulbajer
1 year ago
JoAnn, I'm aware of ol' Teddy Bear's serious faults. I didn't know that progressives were responsible for Manifest Destiny. From what I know about history, Manifest Destiny was a thing that was supported by most liberals and the conservatives of the time. I don't like Jackson either, but he was President way before "liberals" and "conservatives" began to be distinguished in the way they are today. I have mixed feelings about Cleveland. Like Santorum, he put his morals ahead of pragmatism, but unfortunately he didn't consider the rights of the working class very important, to name one example. Coolidge - every time I think of him I'm reminded of one of his humorous quotes - "you lose" - but today I came across another quote of his - "America's business is business." I forgot the person who said it and the exact phrasing, but one of his supporters remarked that he was elected to do nothing and he did it well, meaning that he was strongly against government intervention. I can't say I agree with him about the role of government. "Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it." That reminds me of a similar but less-radical phrase from either Gaudium et Spes (a Vatican II document) or Pope Paul VI's Populorum Progressio, I forget which. I'll try to find it and get back to you.
Vance, what about Fox News?
Rob, great point about conservatives and the idea of social justice.
vance
1 year ago
JoAnn, excellent point about progressives. I call them Marxists because Karl Marx is who they are following. But yes, you are right about progressives artfully dodging the issues because they cannot defend the indefensible, so the diversionary tactic is to name-call or like a fast talking con artist, they will accuse you for doing what they are doing. We conservatives continue to let them get away with it because we do not have our own TV programs. This is where the power of communication is. The Marxist Media Complex has a monopoly.
JoAnn
1 year ago
Rob: I know you know this. FDR, a "progressive" gave this country SS and, at the time, life expectancy was less than 65. When people started living longer, they should have started adjusting the ages. PLUS the fact that there are a lot less people contributing to SS because of ABORTING 50 million new citizens. Just like Mother Theresa said: "A country that kills its children, has no future." Seniors do not consider SS an entitlement as they have been contributing to the "trust" their entire working lifetime. I myself didn't retire until I was 70 yrs. old, and that was only because of health reasons. I would have worked longer if I could. I say "trust" because that is how it started out until Lyndon Johnson moved it into the budget to hide the deficit. After that, greedy progressive politicians started spending it. SS started out as a voluntary program. Of course, the progressives changed that. The "Great Society". Medicare was given to us by another progressive with dreams of grandeur and, I might add, seniors do not consider it an entitlement either because they pay a hefty premium each month for it. Of course, medical coverage was slashed $500 billion dollars because of Obamacare, but that didn't stop the monthly premium from going up. So, seniors are paying more for less medical coverage. Not to mention the supplement medical coverages they have to buy. Rob, you underestimate seniors. I have a lot of senior friends, including myself, that are willing to do anything to get this country's fiscal nightmare fixed, We have children, grandchildren and great grandchildren that we do not want to see be slaves to an out of control government that wants to be everything to everybody including being our god. What do you mean, a whole host of benefits for seniors? I don't know if you heard this or not but the new slogan is "OMG" - OBAMA MUST GO!!!!!! I want to inject another thought here. You wanted to know where does the anti-progressive call end? It doesn't until they are all out of Washington and we stop sending them to Washington. People need to pay attention to the politicians they are electing locally. We need a major "bottom up" house cleaning effort started in this country or we will soon be another 3rd world country, if we aren't already. God bless.
Rob
1 year ago
But where does the anti-progressive call end? Because I surely do not hear conservatives offering up social securiy, medicare or the whole host of benefits that we provide to the elderly. I just don't see a consistency in the platform. Whether we like it or not, whomever is elected President is the leader of all people, Christian and non-christian, liberal and conservative, gay or straight. While we know the what the Chruch teaches does not change, that same standard does not apply to our government. We've been fighting since the founding about what is constitutional and what is not. Heck there was a time when the Supreme Court said that blackes were not people afforded the rights of the constitution. With that kind of legacy, are we really all that suprised as to where we find ourselves today?
JoAnn
1 year ago
Rob: The progressives are very clever. They're masters at changing the dialogue. Just like they are doing now regarding the 1st amendment. They are pushing the women's health narrative in order to distract us from the real issues. It's not a women's health issue, it's religious freedom at stake. You wonder how people keep repeating the same mistakes? It's because they don't educate themselves. They are making one now by accepting the "establishment's" Mitt Romney. He is a "progressive." The only way I will vote for him is IF he gets the nomination. God forbid. If he wins, he is going to have a heck of a a time justifying Romneycare. Can't you just hear Obama taking Romney out on that in a debate. Not to mention that he was pro-abortion when he was running for Governor of Ma. AND, that he appointed liberal judges for the court. Obama is praying that Romney wins. I can just see Obama salivating now. I just don't trust Romney.. He may be a good business man but we need more than a business man. To this day, he has never said Romneycare was a mistake. He says he will repeal Obamacare BUT he is perfectly okay with the states having their own healthcare. Hello, PROGRESSIVE!!! God bless.
Rob
1 year ago
I think the progressive arguement is a good one and I don't disagree that the bigger government get's, the potentital for harm grows. But I think you have to consider why on earth people embrace this? How did it come to be that we've allowed this phiolosphy to control? I would propose that it's the only way the masses can be held at bay while the 1% (I'm sure there is a better word for it) take all the wealth of this country. While you focus on what folks are getting for nothing (benefits etc), no one on these boards ever talks about what the powerful are allowed to take with the help of our government. Government mismanaging our tax dollars is a problem no doubt. The government promosing things it cannot deliver is a problem. But so is the loss of justice for the worker. And our ability for anyone to achieve the American dream is what set us apart from the rest of the world. Our solid middle class made us powerful. Today it's a shell of that. We have a middle class beholden to the actions of the government. Today we have a middle class that serves at the pleasure of the large corporation. You are a widget that is discarded no differently than an outdated piece of factory equipment. There was a time when American business held the worker equal to the owners/stockholders. An American worker could earn a pension, a decent salary & benefits and do all the things that made us so self-sufficient. Good luck finding that today. Welcome to the global economy where our workers have to compete with slave labor in third world countries. Pensions? What are those? And no matter how you measure it, the rich really are getting richer and we are getting poorer. I for one do not advocate the distribution of wealth. I only ask that our government work to restore some justice in the eoncomic order. And maybe a good first step to developing a pro-life mindset would be to acknowledge that corporations aren't people and treat them accordingly. I don't care who did it and who is doing it. If we are not working to restore justice to the worker, then it's all just a variation of the status quo.
angelia
1 year ago
I had prenatal testing done with all 5 of my children (including a set of triplets). One of them was found to have a severe heart defect, and we were told that she probably would not survive after being born. AT NO TIME were we encouraged to abort any of them. In fact, the doctors were very supportive of our decision not to abort. Also, we were given medications to help them develop, knowing they would be very premature. Without prenatal testing, we would have lost at least one, if not all of them. They were all born 9 weeks early, and the doctors were able to perform heart surgery and save our Catie. They are all now healthy, active teenagers. Prenatal testing does not encourage abortions, but it can save lives.
KoAnn
1 year ago
Bulbajer: The 'Progressive Era" started with Teddy Roosevelt. It really got a stronghold when Woodrow Wilson got in office and of course FDR came along and was just as bad as WW, if not worse. Anytime "Manifest Destiny" comes into play, sanity goes out the window, and you can bet your bottom dollar that a Progressive is responsible. Remember, Andrew Jackson and what he did to the Indians. Despicable man. That's what I would call "Manifest Destiny" big time, and it happens everytime we get a progressive in office. We need to identify the progressives and get them out of Washington. We need people more like Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge. If you remember, I posted the story of Grover Cleveland and what he did back in 1887 when the Texas farmers were having a bad time with drought. Time after time Cleveland turned down seemingly small, harmless requests from people looking for federal handouts. Even better, his denials almost always came with a lecture - like this tongue lashing he doled out to someone trying to get a new post office built in his town: "The care and protection which the Government owes to the people do not embrace the grant of public buildings to decorate thriving and prosperous cities and villages, nor should such buildings be erected upon any principle of fair distribution among localities. The Government is not an almoner of gifts among the people, but an instrumentality by which the people's affairs should be conducted upon business principles, regulated by the public needs." Translation - The Government is not in charge of redistributing taxpayer money to the poor. Geez, imagine, back then Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly would have had a heck of a time beating out Grover for "Worst Person in the World." Unfortunately, Cleveland's unwavering belief in the individual didn't last long. It was squashed just a few years after his second term when "Good Ole Boy" Teddy Roosevelt took over. He started saying idiotic things like: "Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it." It just goes to show you that the "R" and the "D" are meaningless - what really matters is whether someone believes in the SPIRIT of unending compassion of the INDIVIDUAL, or instead, in the destructive power of the COLLECTIVE. Obama believes in the collective. TR was a great admirerer of Margaret Sanger and her eugenics theory. That's why she startet Planned Parenthood. It was to eliminate the minorities (disabled, blacks, elderly, etc) in order to have a perfect race. Obama is Jackson, TR, Wilson, FDR, Lyndon Johnson and the list goes on and on all rolled into one. Wilson attacked the 1st amendment, just like Obama is doing. Obama is attacking the sanctity of life just like Margaret Sanger. Ooops, here I go, I'm on my soapbox again. God bless.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
JoAnn, also: great points about all life being sacred. I can't deny that many of my fellow liberals don't realize that, and most don't even realize that they don't realize it, if that makes any sense. We liberals tend to think that we're the pushers of social justice. In our drive to fight what we see as the conservative resistance to justice, we fail to see the difference between true social justice and utilitarianism. In our indignation over the way women have been treated over the centuries, we forget that life begins at conception. A final point: "We can all take care of each other if the government would get out of our way." Respectfully I have to disagree. Too little government regulation is just as dangerous as too much. The government "got out of our way" during the period before the Progressive Era. Things didn't work out so well.
Bulbajer
1 year ago
JoAnn, I agree that we can't afford to lose the personal aspect of true charity. Welfare will never replace charity. That's why it's my hope that any projects the government takes on to help the poor work with, not against, private charity. What's more important, that the fortunate people give their money willingly and lovingly to the needy, or that the needy receive the money necessary to live humanely in the first place? I sure don't know the answer. I'd be curious to hear what homeless people have to say about it.

Prev12 3 4 5 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