a former altar boy to the national press corps regarding that “devout” Catholic, Rick Santorum

[appleannie1]

Dear National Press Corps,

Please stop describing Rick Santorum as a “devout Catholic.”

Santorum’s a “devout” Catholic only in the same sense Torquemada was a “devout” Catholic.

Pro-war, pro-death penalty, racist hatemongerers aren’t devout Catholics.

Devout Catholics follow all the Church’s teachings, not just the weirder and and most twisted ones on sex.

Also, devout Catholics do not thump their bibles to make even theological points, never mind political ones. We cite saints and the nuns who taught us. Catholics don’t expect public policy to be “bible based.” We don’t want it to be bible-based because for one thing we recognize that the bible is a very mixed up and self-contradicting document, and for another the bible that’s likely to be used to base policies on would be a Protestant bible.

You might want to educate yourselves on the differences between Catholics and Protestants, particularly on the subject of “good works.”

Devout Catholics are more likely to wish that public policy was based on the teachings of St Francis of Assisi. If there’s a part of the bible we’d like to see enshrined into law it’s the Sermon on the Mount. Where in the public blatherings and political posturings of Rick Santorum is there anything remotely like the Beatitudes? Where in his biography since he entered politics is there even a hint that he’s modeled himself or his politics on St Francis’s life and works?

Finally, beware the layman who rattles his beads more loudly and insistently than any nun or priest. He’s trying to hide something.

Thank you,

Lance M******

PS. Also, you should also stop referring to Santorum’s “working class roots.” MBA-lawyer sons of clinical psychologists aren’t exactly Teamsters.

[joeybee12]

1. KNR...they need to also stop referring to crazy-ass adulter Callista

as one also. Last time I checked, devout catholicas aren't supposed to want three-ways.

[la la]

3. maybe that's what's wrong with...

calista-three-way's hair and eyes....either too much or not enough--

( sorry, i digressed! ;&gt )

[joeybee12]

6. Could be...

The evil glare is from frustration OR extreme exhaustion!

[monmouth]

2. I hope this goes viral. Excellent...n/t

[CurtEastPoint]

4. WELL SAID! That's what is pissing me off about the bishops now.

Trying to get all moral about contraception. Sorry,guys, you all lost big time when you blew the child abuse coverups. No pun intended.

They need to return to preaching true Catholic values.

[WinkyDink]

5. Absolutely spot-on 100% correct. As a Catholic, I studied the Catechism; the work of King James was

not paramount!

Yet somehow, I learned all about caritas.

[Lugnut]

30. You're correct.

I took Catechism classes using the Baltimore Catechism booklet. I was never taught anything about the Bible. I've been wondering why Santorum refers to the Bible when it was never a part of my Catholic indoctrination.

[pnwmom]

33. Catholics hear the Bible every week at Mass, both the old Testament and the New Testament.

And pastors give homilies on these readings. It's pretty silly to say that Catholics are never taught about the Bible.

[Lugnut]

38. Oh, yes.

The Mass does include passages from the Bible but I was never specifically and directly taught about the Bible during any Catechism class. My friends who were Baptist each had their own Bible and were taught about their faith from it.

[xxqqqzme]

43. I was raised in the Espiscopal Church.

An was amazed at how similar the liturgy was/is. (half my family is RC the other half Episcopal so I attended many RC services) I was never taught the bible. Bible verses were used in the 'Lesson' and 'Gospel' sections of the service but that was it. The big gift was receiving your own prayer book at Confirmation, not a bible.

[Lugnut]

45. I got my first prayer book when I received my first communion.

I never got a Bible and my family didn't even own one.

My Baptist friends' families who lived across the street from us used to hold a morning kid's camp during the summer. We played games and their pastor was there to read Bible stories to us kids. They didn't care that I was a Catholic kid. In fact, nobody ever asked me about my religion. I enjoyed their stories and wondered why the nuns who taught Cathecism classes never told these cool stories. The nuns taught us that we would be severely punished if we sinned. We were also told that our non-Catholic friends were doomed to hell if they weren't Catholic. It makes me happy to know that I'm not a part of this crap-fest anymore.

[dmr]

44. Same here. I was never taught from the bible either.

It wasn't until I was an adult & a visiting nun offered a series of classes on the bible on Saturdays. The different interpretations & how they can be applied today. This was back in the mid-80s.

[Angry Dragon]

7. Isn't that communist family background??

[Raine]

8. On point!

[cleanhippie]

9. "Devout Catholics follow all the Church’s teachings" - Yeah, THAT is the problem.

The church's teachings.

[boxman15]

19. How so?

The Church has very outdated teachings when it comes to same-sex marriage and birth control, and its insistence on not having women as priests is ridiculous as well. But its social teachings and the Church's stances on economic policy are very liberal. I advise you to not lump in the Catholic Church with a diehard far-right Protestant church.

If you're saying that the Church's leaders tend to focus too much on gay marriage and contraception and not on attacks on unions or the safety net, then I'll agree. But the Church's teachings themselves, for the most part, are pretty liberal.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. because the church is homophobic and sexist.

not because "Church's leaders tend to focus too much on gay marriage and contraception"

[cleanhippie]

23. "The Church has very outdated teachings when it comes to.."

everything. Thats how so.


The Catholic Church, as an institution, is stuck in the dark ages teaching dark age stuff.

[dflprincess]

27. I've always said that the nun who pounded the Works of Mercy into my head

had a lot to do with my being a liberal.

[Ikonoklast]

36. The Jesuits finally did it for me.

They taught me how to think in a rational manner, and then I realized what they represented was totally irrational.

[Hugabear]

46. If you just overlook their anti-woman, anti-gay theology, they're pretty decent folks

You know, once you get past the fact that they are vehemently anti-gay and anti-woman, that they haven't evolved since the Dark Ages...

[grantcart]

10. Santorum is to theology as . . .

Santorum is to theology as


Bubble gum is to cuisine

Comic Books are to literature

Fantasy Football is to the Superbowl

[usrname]

40. The analogies aren't quite right

What you compared Santorum and theology to are all in the same categories.

A better comparison is:

Santorum is to theology as

A shirt is to water vapor.

/As in "huh? There's no connection!"

[Drahthaardogs]

11. I have stated before, these people are not devout.

Devout Catholics are loyal to the Magisterium. Neither Santorum nor Callista are loyal to the Magisterium, though from all their noise you would think that they were.

[julian09]

12. He has not working class roots, he always mentions his grandfather, never his father.

He spent his life in House, then senate and lobbying since his 18 point defeat in 06.
Too bad his grandfather didn't run for office or that Ricky didn't inherit his grandfathers values. He is more interested in blow jobs than jobs, I guess he never had oral sex because he believes sex isn't for pleasure but only for progragation. When his wife isn't on her back she should be home doing laundry for a slew of kids.

[Drahthaardogs]

17. His grandfather was a company man I suspect.

My grandfather mined coal for 46 years. He was at Ludlow. He would sooner drink bleach straight from the bottle than vote for a Republican.

[southernyankeebelle]

13. Thank you, thank you. I think holy ricky is evangelical and not a catholic. Every thing you said

was correct. He is soooooooooo far from St Francis teachings.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

14. BRILLIANT!! Off to bookmarked you go!! K&R!!

[cbayer]

15. Great letter. Glad to see religious people distancing themselves from this garbage.

Santorum needs to be shown for the extremist he is. He does not represent most Catholics.

[Segami]

16. K&R

[appleannie1]

18. I am not Catholic but I loved that letter. I am from Pennsylvania so I know first hand

how much he does not believe anything Christ spoke of in the book of Matthew, especially His Sermon on the Mount. If everyone lived by what was taught in that one book alone, there would be no wars. Be no ultra rich ruling over people going hungry. Be no hatred of people of different culture, religion or color. That book and that sermon were all about love, forgiveness, sharing and caring for one another.

[karynnj]

20. Excellent, though religion does not have to be the source of a candidate's morality and/or values,

it is better when we don't concede that they are "religious" or even "more religious". Santorum, in his public decisions is at least as much a "cafeteria Catholic" as Kennedy and Kerry were. One major difference is not that their religious values were less important, but that both MA Senators saw a need to make law considering the Constitution first. In MA, a top aide to Kennedy, put out an oped this last weekend that disputed the despicable attempt of Scott Brown to say that his decision to co-sponsor the Blunt amendment following in the footsteps of Kennedy. Here is an exerpt:

While Ted Kennedy was pro-choice in all his policy positions, he really did oppose abortion as a personal matter. Still, he would not permit his own beliefs to dictate the decision made by any individuals. Similarly, he felt that individual physicians, nurses and facilities who delivered medical services should not be compelled to provide services against their religious or moral beliefs. And still, he adamantly protected the right of every individual to get the medical care they wanted for themselves.

By contrast, Scott Brown's legislation would permit any employer and health insurer to deny coverage for any essential or preventive medical service to which they morally object, thus creating a real economic barrier for many individual workers, as well as a host of new ways for employers and health insurers to skirt the consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act. Brown wants to allow powerful employers and insurers to dictate their choices and preferences to individuals.

That is where Brown and Kennedy are worlds apart.

Kennedy's priority always was consistent: protecting the rights of the individual. Brown's priority is the protection of the prerogatives of powerful institutions against the individual.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/health_stew/2012/02/sen_brownsen_kennedy_the_essen.html

In 2006, Kerry spoke on the impact his faith had on him. One daughter was then at Holy Cross College - the values he spoke of echoed the things we heard at their orientations and a mass. My daughter, a world religion major, later said of the link I sent her that his religious perspective was similar to the Jesuit Catholicism she saw at HC. (link to video - http://www.pepperdine.edu/smedia/asx/seaver/dean/20060921_svr_dean_jkerry.asx) It was interesting to hear things that I remembered from 2004 placed in this context - especially seeing that the "global test" was rather similar to the test of a just war. I actually wonder what would have been the impact of not secularizing and globalizing it without saying that was what it was.

Just as there is no reason to concede patriotism to the republicans, there is no reason to religion - and even more so not to concede values.

[hootinholler]

22. No!

They're not exactly teamsters, are they.



Nice letter, thank you for posting it.

[Peregrine Took]

24. There are two Catholic churches.

The church of John XXIII and Cardinal Bernardin (liberal/progressive) and the one of JPII and Benedict XVI that wants to drag us all back to before Vatican II and remove all the changes that occurred therein.

I noticed at my local parish last Saturday - the pews were only about 1/3 full. This is on the north side of Chicago.
People are speaking with their attendance and the envelope basket.

Its probably pretty much a city/suburbs vs rural/small town split and I don't see it getting together in my lifetime.

[meow2u3]

42. These are the two Catholic churches

The real Catholic Church, which is faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ; and the neo-Pharasic, sexist, elitist, Opus Dei-influenced "Catholic" church, which follows the lies of "Saint" Josemaria Escrivá. The latter is a Satanic counterfeit, IMO.

More on Opus Dei at Rick Ross' web site: http://www.rickross.com/groups/opus.html

[soryang]

25. Papist heads of state?

That worked out well in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, didn't it?

[dimbear]

26. Wow. You guys are going to hate me, but devout doesn't mean good. It means

enthusiastic. Frothy is a devout Catholic by any reasonable standard. Also a horrible person.

Woud you say that a person who wasn't a devout Catholic was a bad person? Then don't say a person who is one is a good person.

Thank you in advance from all the world's atheists.

[wickerwoman]

32. To be fair,

and as a fellow atheist, I think devout means enthusiatic... about the teachings and practices of a particular religion.

You can't be a devout Muslim and also drink and eat pork and never pray.

And you can't be a devout Catholic and just not give a shit about the poor. Hell, after the fifteen or sixteen kids you have proving you are a devout Catholic, the odds are pretty strong that you *are* the poor.

I have no use for their stance on birth control, abortion, homosexuality, or a raft of other things but I have huge respect for the Catholic priests involved in the early labor movement and the tens of thousands of priests and nuns who work in charitable organisations in deprived neighborhoods. It clearly is one of the central tenets of the religion.

[GeorgeGist]

28. You forgot the link to the original ...

http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2012/02/devout-ricky.html

[Beartracks]

29. K&R. So true. And has this actually been sent to the Press Corps?!

'Cause, yeah -- they need a reminder that they're being played. Hey, press -- you're the PRESS, for God's sake! You don't call someone a devout Catholic just because he or his campaign manager SAYS he is! From now on, you should at a minimum state it thusly: "Santorum, who calls himself a devout Catholic..."

Remember your schooling: journalists stick to FACTS -- observable, provable facts. Whatever you write is taken to be your own assertion unless you've credited some other source. So, if you write, "Rick Santorum, a devout Catholic, is gaining in the polls...." then, unless it is actually YOU asserting that he is a devout Catholic, you must attribute that editorial descriptor to some other source.

====================

[flamingdem]

31. self delete hehe

[AllyCat]

34. Well said! This is great and spot on :)

[ambercolter]

35. Practise and Principles

It's standard practise for our politicians to profess religious affiliations and then justify war, poverty and so forth. Such is the nature of our system I am sad to say.

[Javaman]

37. ass froth is about as much a devout catholic as I am...

I'm an athiest.

[madmax]

39. My favorite line from this article.

Santorum’s a “devout” Catholic only in the same sense Torquemada was a “devout” Catholic.

[SammyWinstonJack]

41. Oops.

That's gotta sting.