Santorum - Christianity

Christianity

Though raised a nominal Catholic, Santorum's faith deepened around the time he met his future wife, Karen.j Rick Santorum is a devout Catholic and openly expresses his personal faith as the source of his politics and worldview. He attends Mass almost daily and organized a Catholic study group for lawmakers while in Congress. He proudly calls himself a "culture warrior" and "true Christian conservative", garnering popularity among evangelicals. Santorum's emphasis on his "Christian roots" to voters was especially favored by evangelicals in the Midwest and Southern states during the 2012 primaries, although he lost the Republican Catholic vote in most states to Mitt Romney. Exit polls found only 42% of those Catholics and less than a third of Protestant evangelicals knew Santorum was a Catholic. After Santorum won Protestant-majority states Alabama and Mississippi, but lost in heavily-Catholic Puerto Rico, the Huffington Post said he "seemed exasperated by the trend" and said his base support came from "people who take their faith seriously", not necessarily fellow Catholics. He has written for Catholic publications and frequently comments on political issues from a religious standpoint. He has said, "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. The First Amendment means the free exercise of religion and that means bringing people and their faith into the public square." In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Santorum said that the distinction between private religious conviction and public responsibility, espoused according by President John F. Kennedy, had caused "great harm in America." He said: "All of us have heard people say, 'I privately am against abortion, homosexual marriage, stem cell research, cloning. But who am I to decide that it's not right for somebody else?' It sounds good, but it is the corruption of freedom of conscience." Santorum has been criticized for not separating his politics from his personal faith, and has been accused of advancing a "Christian theocracy" through his work. He told a group of college students in 2008 that the United States had been founded on "Judeo-Christian" ethics, and now presently, "it is a shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."

Santorum states that he values faith over politics and views the theological views of a politicians' faith as significant.k He questions whether President Obama truly has a religion, alleging that he may have chosen Christianity as a politically expedient platform for power. Santorum stated, "if the President says he's a Christian, he's a Christian" but has stated that Obama's agenda is based on a "phony theology", not the Bible. In an interview with Glenn Beck, Santorum said Obama's desire for greater higher education rates nationwide was a veiled attempt at "indoctrination", claiming that "62 percent of kids who go into college with a faith commitment leave without it." Santorum declined to provide a source for that figure. He believes colleges reinforce secular relativism and antagonize religiosity, particularly of Christianity, and lists young people's support for abortion, gay marriage, and pornography as "symptoms" of indoctrination.