PRUDEN: The ignorance of Rick Santorum

The Washington Times ^ | February 28, 2012 | Wesley Pruden

[Mariner]

There’s a tiny priest living in Rick Santorum’s trim, toned body, struggling to get out. The rogue priest escaped Sunday and said foolish things.

The candidate most admired for plain speech made it plain and clear that he doesn’t believe in the wall between church and state and doesn’t think much of John F. Kennedy for saying he did.

“I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute,” he told ABC News. “The idea that church can have no influence or involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country.”

[Mariner]

I agree with Wes Pruden.

When Santorum said he encouraged a role for the Church in the operation of the state, he disqualified himself from Federal office.

[impimp]

Wrong. Separation of Church and State is not constitutional. Santorum knows this. JFK spoke that Protestant pastors shouldn’t tell their congregations how to vote. That statement tells me that JFK did not understand the first amendment.

[impimp]

Do you really think that the Church shouldn’t have influence over the operation of the state? Do you have any idea what is in the constitution?

The Church should be able to do whatever it wants. The constitution only constrains the state. Churches should be able to use whatever influence they have to shape public policy.

[no dems]

Yeah; the Kennedy slam (along with a lot of other foolish statements Rick has made “off the cuff”) probably cost him Michigan tonight. I loathe Romney and I like Rick, but every time he starts to speak, I tense up; not knowing what is going to come out of his mouth. When he said the Kennedy speech made him want to throw up, every time he heard it, was the final straw for a lot people. Well..... we still have Newt!

[Tex-Con-Man]

I listened to his speech tonight and thought it was exceptional.

[Mariner]

And Rick Santorum said the church should have a role in the operation of the state.

Please address that issue.

[Mariner]

"Churches should be able to use whatever influence they have to shape public policy."

I agree with that.

But I don't believe a church or the church should have a role in the operation of the state.

Should the run the courts and be the judges? Should they run the public schools?

If so, which church?

[Steelfish]

Romney won the female vote by 5% and tied the male vote with Santorum.

[org.whodat]

Duh, the founders had church in the capitol building. No one was forced to attend.

[Verginius Rufus]

Pruden's column dates JFK's speech to 1963. That is a slip--the date was 1960, before he was elected.

Santorum's comments remind me of Mark Twain's saying about Wagner's music--"it's not as bad as it sounds." I doubt Santorum really wants to create a theocracy but comments like the ones he made the other day will scare a lot of people.

[Tex-Con-Man]

I thought the speech went a long way in addressing the presses cartoon characterization of his attitude towards women. Talking about his working mother, his wife and daughter. I was impressed.

[sickoflibs]

A few weeks back Obama was saying Jesus would raise taxes on ‘the rich’ and was claiming he was doing Jesus work as POTUS.

There was a lot a good material for RS to use against Obama and yet he goes on this diss JFK theme. Lets see, JFK said this 50 YEARS AGO.

Church and state is not the same as beliefs/faith/principles and state.

[Mariner]

"Duh, the founders had church in the capitol building. No one was forced to attend. "

There's not a damn thing wrong with that.

The the institution didn't have a role in the operation of the state.

The men who attended that church DID have an enormous role.

[Ken H]

Separation of Church and State is not constitutional.

"Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion & Govt in the Constitution of the United States, the danger of encroachment by Ecclesiastical Bodies may be illustrated by precedents already furnished in their short history."

James Madison

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions64.html

[ROCKLOBSTER]

he doesn’t believe in the wall between church and state

There isn't such a thing.

[org.whodat]

Correct, we have a shortage in the men of principle in this government and country today.

[Mariner]

"There isn't such a thing. "

“The idea that church can have no influence or involvement in the operation of the state is absolutely antithetical to the objectives and vision of our country.”

"Involvement in the operation of the state"

In fact our Constitution is absolutely clear that only the institutions of the President, Congress, USSC and The States should be "involved in the operation of the state".

[papertyger]

You would think a wordsmith like Pruden would be smart enough not to misuse the term “ignorance” like a bitchy drag queen.

Reading his embellishment of what Santorum *actually said* sounds more like a schoolgirl attempting to destroy a social rival than a competent political analyst.

[Mariner]

"Reading his embellishment of what Santorum *actually said* sounds more like a schoolgirl attempting to destroy a social rival than a competent political analyst."

Wes Pruden has his conservative bona fides, far more so than Rick Santorum.

And Rick Santorum's words are worthy of such ridicule. They are the antithesis of our constitutional government.

[Gene Eric]

JFK’s remarks on the SCS fallacy were more than abrasive. Santorum obviously wasn’t thinking about the Presidency when he hyperventilated into that brown paper bag. Two dorks.