Santorum Does Not Have a Lock on Religion, Ethics or My Vote

I am a Christian.  More specifically, I am a baptized, communing, believing, church going, practicing Lutheran.  An evangelical co-worker of mine once asked me if I was, “…born again.”  My response was that when you are born Minnesota, Norwegian Lutheran once is quite enough.   Minnesota is the only state in the Union, where marrying outside of your faith means marrying into a different synod of the Lutheran church.   I grew up knowing how to make Jell-O in every color of the liturgical vestments of the church year.  

            This being said, Rick Santorum is giving me the blues.  Big time blues!  He has no plans, no promises and no shame when it comes to pandering to the lathered right of his party.  Since this is my party too, and I hope for its success on the larger stage of National politics (where people from the middle of the philosophical spectrum, not the lunatic fringe predominate), I harbor more than a little resentment toward his latest rants.  First of all, for a man who complains constantly about President Obama’s, “war” on religion (by which Santorum really only means fundamentalist Christians) Santorum doesn’t seem to mind attacking Obama’s religious beliefs.  Santorum hints, harps and harangues Obama, always trying to bring up that tired old allegation that Obama is a closeted Muslim.  Evidently Santorum only believes that HIS beliefs should be honored, not anyone else’s. 

 I wouldn’t care if Obama were to say he is a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Theist, or druid.  I can’t ask him to respect my beliefs if I don’t respect his.  Quite frankly, since I consider politics to be a temporal not ecclesiastical task, I could easily vote for an atheist (Why not?  I’m married to one and he is a decent, ethical, loving man).   What some people choose to call a war on religion, I call a thinly disguised attempt to substitute emotion for reason.  Trust me; there are plenty of reasons to want a Republican president in the next election.  [Start with getting an energy secretary who doesn’t want gas prices to get as high as Europe’s (about $7/gallon) so we will stop driving so much!]  

            When Santorum questions Obama’s theology by saying he, “…elevates the Earth above man” he ignores the need to develop our resources without devastating the land for future generations.  Why not talk about the President’s refusal to okay the Keystone Pipeline instead of alluding to some vague theological preference for trees instead of people.  I will tell you why.  Santorum is making the mistake of trying to whip up right wing angst against his rival, Romney, instead of Romney’s rival, Obama. 

            When Santorum says that some prenatal tests should not be covered because they increase abortions, he sacrifices the independent voters we need to win the next election in order to gain the vote of single issue anti-abortion voters against Romney.  Why not talk about the hard questions of how to provide world class health care to all of our citizens without socializing medicine or breaking the national budget?  Where is the substantive discussion of economic issues?  Where is the insight into the complex and volatile world of Middle Eastern politics? 

            Romney is talking about beating Obama.  Santorum is talking about beating other Republicans, and he is willing to find the lowest common denominator to do it.  Not my style, not my guy, not my fight.  Let me make this very clear: I would never, ever, vote for this man.

            Sometimes we keep the faith by keeping religion a personal matter instead a political tool.