Portrayal of Religious Bigotry towards Catholics - in the name of political ideology - screenshot the Drudge Report
On Tuesday, February 22, 2012 the Drudge Report’s headline screamed “Santorum’s Satan Warning” –and linked to a report that the GOP Presidential candidate
actually gave a lecture at a Catholic College, about the forces of good and evil, about Satan and the war on the world, and how it specifically relates to the United States. Matt Drudge even supplied the audio. At first glance the black and white photo that is used to highlight the “article” (see screenshot below) appears to designate someone who is “out of touch”, someone who cannot possibly be serious, someone who just might be one of those religious nuts who actually believes in God, Satan and – worse – practices their Catholicism. It is big news that someone who is a practicing Catholic should have the unmitigated gall to attempt to run for the highest office in the land.
It is, to a Catholic, and to most practicing Christians, the most offensive and most ludicrous attempt to attack a candidate in this election year – especially since the Senator’s religious beliefs are no secret – and there are, at present, approximately seventy million Catholics of voting age in the United States. Either Matt Drudge is a fan of Rick Santorum’s and wants to get the word out, or he’s firmly in the GOP – camp – and extremely desperate.
As a Catholic, albeit lapsed, the headline and subsequent ridiculous articles that were generated in news stories from major to minor outlets, got my “Catholic up” – and reminded this blogger that there was another time, when a Catholic had the nerve to run for President, and faced criticism and downright paranoia from the press and from within his own party – that candidate was John F. Kennedy. From the Chicago Tribune,
on April 22, 1960, Kennedy defended his faith, as it was suggested he might want to drop to the VP slot, not run for President due to being – of all things – a Catholic. (See image below). This bigotry and bias towards Catholics, and Christians or religious of all faiths is nothing new – it’s been going on for centuries – however, this is the one nation that allows, under our Bill of Rights, the freedom to express our religion, and one can bet, that Senator Santorum has the ability to not only practice Catholicism, but to also govern.
The Kennedy Article - Fighting Catholic Bigotry
It is a direct attempt to put the Senator in a religious category – the night prior to the only debate before Super Tuesday, so the buzz is all about those Crazy Catholics, and not about his solid economic programs, his strong foreign and domestic policy backgrounds – and especially, here’s the kicker his ability to identify with people that runs the social spectrum but most especially the working class – formerly though to belong solely to the Democrat Party. Thank you Matt Drudge, for adding yet another reason to really like Santorum – he believes in the same things that over one third of the voting bloc of the U.S. (Catholics) and another (estimating here) one third of the nation that believes in Satan and God and good and evil, the evangelicals – one cannot be a Catholic or an Evangelical, or of any other religion and not understand the war that is raging between good and evil. It is his right, as a Catholic and as a citizen of the United States to both practice his religion and run for office. The only ones who might find a person’s faith, specifically the Catholic faith, are those who are deeply bigoted, and or so highly intellectual that there is no justification for faith – some of those “intellectuals” who went on to rule counties or were heads of state, such as Adolph Hitler, Stalin, the North Korean modern day Communist dynasty – murdered millions of people, all in the name of anti-religion.
One might even begin to think that Matt Drudge is in the tank for Mitt Romney – a preference of the national GOP, a man who is so popular with the rank and file (this is sarcasm) that Romney’s PAC, Restoring our Future, is running ads against Santorum in Massachusetts. Is Massachusetts also going to go the way of Colorado and Minnesota, and possibly Michigan and Arizona? One would think Romney would not need to have his PAC run ads in Massachusetts, but they are running, back to back, on FOX cable network, and those ads are about as accurate as Matt Drudges’ headlines. Romney is in trouble it the Bay State, if one were a political analyst one might supposed that there are internal polls being taken in each and every state holding primaries and caucuses in March, and the most wins are the states in which Romney lived, and the state from which he supposed cut taxes (while raising fees to the tune of seven hundred million and driving businesses out of the state). Social issues aside, he changed his mind every 10 seconds, but as one might be aware, most residents of the Bay State are more concerned with their pocket-book than social issues. This would be a clue for the rest of the nation and specifically those intending to vote as a Republican. A Santorum win or even strong second, it is more probable with a little help from Matt Drudge, given the voting bloc in the Bay State is primarily Catholic.
Moreover, let us not forget the evangelicals and other religious who might find offense at an assault on yet another candidate by the Drudge Report – go back to 2008 and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who was consistently painted as a “right wing zealot”, a Baptist Minister, oh my! – He was running against, of all people, Mitt Romney. However, the reformatted and often misleading “Drudge headline” (linking to articles that aren’t quite what the headline indicates), were not as outright egregious and seemingly desperate as they are as the establishment GOP tries to take down the son of working men and Italian immigrants, a Catholic to boot!
Does Santorum have to answer for giving a lecture on religion at a Catholic College, or does he have to explain why he believes in Satan and Jesus Christ? Apparently the press and Matt Drudge think so – to the rest of the nation, specifically those Catholics and evangelicals – it is an identifier – a strong identifier that requires no explanation because it is what is taught in catechism, it has been a predominant theme of the Christian faith – when Christ was tempted, for forty days and forty nights, every one that is a Christian understands just who was tempting him – Satan! Sorry Matt Drudge, you’ll need to find some flaw in Santorum’s voting record (unlike the Romney PAC AD’s account – it is available at Thomas.gov and it is, to this moderate, conservative, Catholic, almost perfect. (One cannot agree 100% of the time with a candidate, and let’s face it, individuals are allowed to change their minds – just look at – oh Mitt Romney or John Kerry – two that come to mind).
One might also want to take a look at Rick Santorum’s issues page, and find that underneath that Catholic exterior lays a brilliant, thoughtful man who is deeply committed to the nation and actually has some solid plans:
www.ricksantorum.com/issues
Of note: during the last month this household has received two separate Catholic publications, one the “Catholic Family News”, ran two articles that are extremely interesting: one “Obama Codifieds Indefinite Detentions for US Citizens” (from the front page and continued throughout the paper), and the other “The Obama Administration and the War Against Religion”. It was address to current resident – and one could have knocked this blogger over with a feather. The Catholic Church is normally seen as strong Democrat, and for the Church to go in depth, well, then that’s another story – the articles go onto suggest that Catholics vote against those who would treat the Church (and other religious institutions) in such a manner. (Repeat after the Drudge Report, Santorum is a real Catholic). Yesterday, another Catholic Magazine appeared in the mail – this was the local Massachusetts Diocesan publication – again, the Attack on the Catholic Religion was primary, complete with the notion that the “Administration” was responsible for attacking all religions, by virtue of their health care mandate contrary to Church teachings – again referring to the Constitution and giving instructions to Catholic on who to address the station.
It’s about time that religious institutions and those how are of faith in this country stand up and fight for their right to practice their faith and to work in whatever field they are most qualified. To this blogger, it does not matter if one is Catholic, or if one is Evangelical, or pick a brand of Christianity, a Jew, or Buddhist, or Muslim, or yes, even a Mormon (that was for Matt Drudge). It matters not how an individual practices faith, but what does matter to this voter is that the individual does have faith, and understands that there is good (God) and evil (Satan) in the world – and of course, is smarter than the average reporter, and has the desire to take on a job which will be nothing but a nightmare.
Therefore, leave Rick Santorum’s faith alone, leave my faith alone, and leave the faith of 70,000,000 Catholics, practicing or not, in this nation, alone. (Include in that, every one who wishes to practice a faith of their choosing) To those who will immediately scream about the atrocious behavior of some Catholics, let us not forget that the church, any church, of any faith, is run by men (and women) and that there is indeed, Evil in the world, but that does not take one grain of sand away from the principles of the faith, and only enhances those practicing Christians (Catholic means “Universal”) – making someone who is of faith, more responsible and compassionate, and qualified for the position of President of these United States.
John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism did not, as it was suggested, put him in the number two slot on the ticket, rather, he stood up for his faith and stood his ground, as a Catholic. Rick Santorum makes no apologies for being a Catholic,
and is prepared to defend everything he has spoken (CNN) . How refreshing, yet, the “Right” (or Establishment GOP) has attempted to knock Santorum off his game, politicizing his Catholicism, just as the Establishment DNC did to Kennedy in 1960. There are men of principle, and men of opportunity, (and women for that matter) – Rick Santorum is a man of principle, who has solid experience and an fantastic plan to bring manufacturing back to the United States. Who better to lead the free world?
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