Rick Santorum has lit the fuse on a ticking bomb of renewed religious bigotry and sharp sectarianism. His efforts if allowed to metastasize can poison the well in the commons for all of America.
Allowing Santorum's crusade to succeed is to see the religious cultural war-as rudely introduced to politics by radical Catholic Pat Buchanan at the Houston GOP National Convention, 1994, is alarming. Buchanan's infamous presentation of "Cultural War" (as a political goal) engulfed this nation in an apocryphal fury which, still smoldering, will and can tear asunder American's unifying social and cultural fabric.
"We go out of our course to make ourselves uncomfortable; the cup of life is not bitter enough to our palate, and we distill superfluous poison to put into it, or conjure up hideous things to frighten ourselves at, which would never exist if we did not make them."
-- Scottish journalist Charles Mackay
The astute observer will conclude the Religious Rightist called together as "the Texas 150" met and anointed Rick Santorum as their choice for GOP nominee. Santorum is "God's man" to be elected by their "social conservatives"- the so-called "values voters." This religious cabal of autonomous religious authority figures (and the flocks they command) are driven by what has been described elsewhere: "a binary, Manichean vision of life and a hunger for conflict."
As a group, these devote religionists (cum political powers) have a highly malleable command in hectoring the religious voting block: "Their minds appear to have no more give and take than that of a terrier staring down a rat hole," that is, they continence "no compromise" on their issue no hint of dissuasion. Note, their loyalty and their commitment to a distinct set of "social issues" (to which they are called to support by their aggressive religious leadership) is without equal. Mediocre in their vote-getting efforts, they are not!
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| Albrecht Durer woodcutting "The Penitent" (1510) which shows a man scourging himself (British Museum). |
Suffering Santorum ("santorum" literally means "saint") & the Martyr’s Complex
This quote is the verbatim claim of candidate Santorum describing how American institutions and our nation's way of life are falling to evil forces:
"This is not a political war at all. This is not a cultural war at all. This is a spiritual war."
"And the Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies, Satan, would have his sights on: a good, decent, powerful, influential country the United States of America. If you were Satan, who would you attack in this day and age?"
Take Note: This is not a "dog whistle, it's a disaster siren to his base: Rick Santorum isn't about politics per se; in his mindset he's all about serving God and suffering for one's beliefs. Religious fervor buoys Rick and his social conservative supporters (who project into the politics of such candidates as George W. Bush, and now specifically, Rick Santorum) their fears of evil and the unknown which they harbor and labor under.
Rick's surname is a term derived from Latin meaning: "connected to someone acting as a saint, or who has connection with religious things (a sacristan)." What a perfect candidate for a kind of "martyrdom" in a hostile political arena. Yet Santorum seems to be saying: Bring it on!
For Sen. Santorum and his "values voters following" modernity, technology, and science are very spiritually threatening. Fighting off these threats feeds driving motivations for the aggressive religious right's desperate commitment to be "winning for Jesus." It all centers in promoting their exclusive, banded, "Jesus polices." This fanatical faction expects national leadership and policy to flow from their man once ensconced in White House. With close observation, we can extrapolate a partial portfolio of their prime goals and aims in this crusade. It's not a comforting picture.
The hot winds of a swilling and rabid religious storm are following, surrounding and supporting the front -running GOP candidate, Rick Santorum. Out of this storm we see that Rick has assumed role similar to that of one Father Coughlin of the troubled and turbulent 1930's, a cleric and strict Catholic. Coughlin was an arch-provocateur and agitator riling the fears and paranoia of religious conservatives. Eventually Father Coughlin crossed the line and his ranting was unplugged, long after deep damage was done to the country.
Coughlin's 1930's flock of extremists believed in no compromise. Coughlin's militant crusaders and fans were individuals for whom the Devil is real and the Devil's disciples are both identifiable and clear targets (think: liberals, secularists, 1960's activists), enemies perfectly attacked as the "enemies of God's people " and even "enemies of God himself." These terms were part and parcel of Dr. James Dobson's attack on Congress's judicial appointments and Sen. Patrick Leahy, all who opposed Dobson's intrusion into the process with his church based /national crusade designed to skew the SOUS appointment process toward the religious, extreme right's wishes.
Identify Santorum as a man lost in a one dimensionist's moral delusion, conceiving of only stark Black or lily White, he's Manichean. "Manichean" is widely applied as an adjective to a philosophy or attitude of moral dualism, according to which a moral course of action involves a clear (or simplistic) choice between good and evil, or as a noun to people who hold such a view." (Wikipedia)
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Operating in the religio-political arena which the "spiritual" leadership of Protestant-based Moral Majority remnants (ala Jerry Falwell) engendered are folk who can be moved by panic stampede. Appealing to them we now find Santorum. This faction, led by Tim LaHaye (still in the business of religious king-making) wants to mount Santorum's kind of red-meat political slug-fest. Santorum willingly provides fodder-hate radio style.
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one."On the Reader:
-- Scottish journalist Charles Mackay (who warned and informed his readers of "the madness of crowds.")
See Also: "Diehard Fundamentalist Evangelicals & Pentecostals have essentially a no-choice “choice” for GOP Candidate for President"and "St. Santorum Fails the Defender of Truth Test".
More on Rick Santorum and the candidates in the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary on the Gazette.
Original PART 1 and PART 2.
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