In case you missed it, Santorum, a Republican candidate for president, recently said he wanted to puke over a 1960 speech John F. Kennedy (a Democrat) gave when he was running for president. “"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote,” Kennedy said.
Santorum says, “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The idea that the church can have no influence or no involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country.”
WRONG!
If Santorum doesn’t believe in the absolute separation of church and state Sam and I consider him a dangerous man. Religion’s influence on our political leaders and how they act personally and professionally is one thing. Religious involvement in the day-to-day operations of our government is NOT OKAY!
Would Santorum have us turn our political futures over to the rabid Talibans of our country? (Yes, we do have some). Our constitutional forefathers were wise enough to foresee that mixing religion with everyday politics could result in a real toxic batch of kookies, because our forefathers saw what the Puritans and the other religious zealots of their day were like.
The Alaska Dispatch recently carried an article from The Christian Science Monitor in which writer Mark Trumbull asserts that . . . “the perception that religion is losing influence (among our political leaders) has been matched by the rise of what political analysts David Domke and Kevin Coe have called a "God strategy" in US politics,” and Sam and I think Trumbull is right.
Trumbull goes on to say, “Republican politicians, and to a lesser extent Democratic ones as well, have become more vocal about their religious faith – and have enhanced their connection with many voters as a result. They may not quite be kneeling, Tim Tebow-style, before each speech. But Mr. Domke and Mr. Coe argue in their 2008 book that Kennedy's speech conveyed "a welcome message then" that would be "almost unimaginable today."
And polls supposedly show that Americans want their leaders to be people with strong religious faith. According to Trumbull, a guy named Greg Smith, a senior researcher at something called the Pew Forum, asserts that “Americans want to see that kind of influence of religious values" on their leaders.
Fortunately, Smith also apparently realizes, "At the same time there's a line at which they (the people) don't want to see too much mingling of religious influence in politics."
EXACTLY RIGHT.
The absolute separation of church and state - even if it means no Christmas trees on capitol grounds or in our schools - is a good thing. Instead of wanting to puke about Kennedy’s statement, Sam and I want to dump three bags of poop on Santorum’s feet and advise him to go home and retire from politics. We don’t need him messing our country up anymore than it already is.
The Alaska Dispatch recently carried an article from The Christian Science Monitor in which writer Mark Trumbull asserts that . . . “the perception that religion is losing influence (among our political leaders) has been matched by the rise of what political analysts David Domke and Kevin Coe have called a "God strategy" in US politics,” and Sam and I think Trumbull is right.
Trumbull goes on to say, “Republican politicians, and to a lesser extent Democratic ones as well, have become more vocal about their religious faith – and have enhanced their connection with many voters as a result. They may not quite be kneeling, Tim Tebow-style, before each speech. But Mr. Domke and Mr. Coe argue in their 2008 book that Kennedy's speech conveyed "a welcome message then" that would be "almost unimaginable today."
And polls supposedly show that Americans want their leaders to be people with strong religious faith. According to Trumbull, a guy named Greg Smith, a senior researcher at something called the Pew Forum, asserts that “Americans want to see that kind of influence of religious values" on their leaders.
Fortunately, Smith also apparently realizes, "At the same time there's a line at which they (the people) don't want to see too much mingling of religious influence in politics."
EXACTLY RIGHT.
Did you hear that Santorum? Although Kennedy swore to God that he did not Intend, “to disavow either my views or my church in order to win this election," he insisted that no church would be dictating his decisions, and he would work for the best interests of a nation in which "no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials."
Take a lesson RS. Sam and I won’t be voting for you. We’re Catholic too, but of the Democratic persuasion and we like what Obama’s been trying to do - if he could just get a little cooperation.The absolute separation of church and state - even if it means no Christmas trees on capitol grounds or in our schools - is a good thing. Instead of wanting to puke about Kennedy’s statement, Sam and I want to dump three bags of poop on Santorum’s feet and advise him to go home and retire from politics. We don’t need him messing our country up anymore than it already is.
No comments:
Post a Comment