Rick Santorum's Moral Delusions

With Michele Bachmann now out of the GOP presidential nominee race, Rick Santorum has taken Bachmann's place as the craziest and most untethered from reality of the candidates. Yes, "craziest" is a relative term since most of the GOP contenders are crazy. But like Bachmann, Santorum is obsessed with gays and sexuality in general and is only too willing to fan the flames of bigotry in the hope that the nastiest elements in the GOP will reward him with their vote. The reality that facts do not back up his claims is irrelevant to Santorum. A column in the Chicago Tribune trashes Santorum for his lies and advocacy for marginalizing those who do not conform to his own twisted religious beliefs. Here are highlights: .

Why is Rick Santorum running for president? Because America is in trouble and he knows why. Faith and family are under attack. "Moral relativism," he warns, is breeding "aberrant behavior." Gay rights advocates are bent on "secularization." Liberals have brought about a "decaying culture."

Santorum insists that gay marriage will destroy the family, "the very foundation of our country." Lamenting the scandal of pedophile priests, he wrote in a Catholic publication: "When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."

Santorum takes it for granted that religious belief, at least of the Christian variety, is a powerful force for moral behavior. That's not apparent from looking at this country.

But where is the evidence that the developments cited by Santorum are producing harmful side effects? In the past couple of decades, most indicators of moral and social health have gotten better, not worse. Crime has plummeted. Teen pregnancy has declined by 39 percent. Abortion rates among adolescents are less than half of what they were. The incidence of divorce is down.

It turns out that religiosity does not translate into good behavior, and disregard for religion does not go hand-in-hand with vice. Quite the contrary. Consider homicide, . . . . Of the 10 states with the most worshippers, all but one have higher than average homicide rates. Of the 11 states with the lowest church attendance, by contrast, 10 have low homicide rates.

Teen pregnancy also tends to follow a course precisely the opposite of what Santorum preaches. Almost every one of the most religious states suffers from more teen pregnancy than the norm — while the least religious ones enjoy less.

What impact does gay marriage have on how kids handle sex? Massachusetts, the first state to legalize it, has less teen pregnancy than the country as a whole. Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire and Vermont, which have also sanctioned same-sex unions, are also far better than average.

Does gay marriage undermine the health and stability of heterosexual marriage? Not so you can tell. Massachusetts has the nation's lowest divorce rate. Iowa and Connecticut are also better than most. Vermont and New Hampshire are about average. In the Bible Belt, by contrast, marriages are generally more prone to break up.

In fact, in his indictment of tolerance, individual conscience, sexual freedom and secular morality, he [Santorum] is not telling truths but spinning sanctimonious fairy tales. American culture is not sick, and Santorum is no healer.