Rick Santorm - The Wrong Kind of Catholic

I realize that I've addressed Rick Santorum and Catholicism a lot of late. But, to me, Santorum's form of Catholicism is part and parcel with the larger form of sickness that pervades Christianists and other religious extremism of all faiths who incessantly attack the rights of others and seek to inflict their own - in my view, perverted - religious beliefs on all citizens. A column in the New York Times looks at both Rick Santorum's kind of Catholicism, that of most American Catholics, and the morally bereft Church hierarchy. In my view, Santorum has aligned himself (probably because of his own inner personal psychological issues) with the kind of Catholicism that does evil in the world and perverts the message of Christ. Here are some column highlights:

If Catholicism is measured by obeisance to the pope, his cardinals and the letter of Vatican law, then Rick Santorum is the best Catholic to ever get this far in presidential politics.

On homosexuality, premarital sex, pornography and more, he doesn’t just take his cues from church dictums. He trumpets that alignment as a testament to the steadfastness of his devotion, the integrity of his faith.

And for this he has been rewarded with a truly noteworthy level of Catholic support. Noteworthy because it’s so underwhelming. . . . In primary after primary, more Catholics have gravitated to Romney than to Santorum . . .

This is a hurdle that Santorum must overcome to win the primary in Illinois, whose population is about 30 percent Catholic. And it’s yet more proof of most American Catholics’ estrangement from an out-of-touch, self-consumed church hierarchy and its musty orthodoxies.

But most American Catholics don’t share their appointed leaders’ qualms with the pill, condoms and such. . . . Despite church condemnation of abortion and same-sex marriage, American Catholics’ views on both don’t diverge that much from those of Americans in general.

The Catholic hierarchy, meanwhile, keeps giving American Catholics fresh reasons for rebellion. As The Times’s Laurie Goodstein reported last week, lawyers for the church in Missouri have begun a campaign of intimidation against a support group for victims of sexually abusive priests: they’re trying to compel the group to release decades of internal documents.

[A] great many priests molested a great many children, who were especially vulnerable to them — and especially damaged by them — because they called themselves men of God. And for a great many years, church leaders actively concealed these crimes, which continued. For the church ever to grouse that critics make too much of this, let alone to retaliate against victims and accusers, is galling. But it helps explain the breach between the hierarchy — invested in its own survival, resistant to serious discussions about the celibate culture’s role in child sexual abuse — and everyday Catholics.

That’s a big part of their resistance to Santorum. But it’s also true that his particular Catholicism isn’t theirs. It’s the hierarchy’s. And his poor performance among Catholics should cause cardinals, bishops and the candidate himself to rethink the way they approach their religion.

I don't see the Church hierarchy changing anytime soon - at least not until rank and file Catholics in America and modern portions of the world turn their backs and walk away of break from Rome. Only then will the hierarchy have to decide whether it wants to lose its wealth and power and become the leaders of a third world religion. Meanwhile, Santorum has aligned himself with those who have proven themselves to be the protectors of child rapists - not exactly something that I think Christ would applaud.