Can we please have an explanation?

How did honorable evangelical Christianity become corrupted into the current vote-getting, fag-bashing, money-making, Republican organization? Does anyone wonder why many of us look on appalled? How did this happen? And why do you who claim to be evangelical Christians put up with it? You must know the Bible. You’re not fools. What’s going on?

What Santorum may be trying (and failing miserably) to say in the piece Zoe quoted above is that NEO-LIBERALISM is not the panacea that it was believed to be back in the 1980s. It have never really been part of the ‘Catholic mindset’ to embrace neo-liberalism; calls to protect the vulnerable go hand-in-hand with calls for social responsibility and discipline.

What we are perhaps seeing here is Santorum being the neo-liberal (on economic issues), and forty Church luminaries responding with some enlightened ‘traditional conservatism’!

An Open Letter to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum

As Catholic leaders who recognize that the moral scandals of racism and poverty remain a blemish on the American soul, we challenge our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail. Mr. Gingrich has frequently attacked President Obama as a “food stamp president” and claimed that African Americans are content to collect welfare benefits rather than pursue employment. Campaigning in Iowa, Mr. Santorum remarked: “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” Labeling our nation’s first African-American president with a title that evokes the past myth of “welfare queens” and inflaming other racist caricatures is irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders.

Some presidential candidates now courting “values voters” seem to have forgotten that defending human life and dignity does not stop with protecting the unborn. We remind Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Santorum that Catholic bishops describe racism as an “intrinsic evil” and consistently defend vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans. At a time when nearly 1 in 6 Americans live in poverty, charities and the free market alone can’t address the urgent needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. And while jobseekers outnumber job openings 4-to-1, suggesting that the unemployed would rather collect benefits than work is misleading and insulting.

As the South Carolina primary approaches, we urge Mr. Gingrich, Mr. Santorum and all presidential candidates to reject the politics of racial division, refrain from offensive rhetoric and unite behind an agenda that promotes racial and economic justice.

The Bishops of Stockton, CA (a leading member of the USCCB) and of Albany, NY posted this comment (I suspect in response to a Santorum/Gingrich supporter):

‘ If you believe only dissenters and apostates are speaking out against the stereotyping, it begs the question: where are the voices of Church leaders you recognize?

‘ After all, last spring, Catholic bishops cautioned both houses of Congress: “The moral measure of this budget debate is not which party wins or which powerful interests prevail, but rather how those who are jobless, hungry, homeless or poor are treated. Their voices are too often missing in these debates, but they have the most compelling moral claim on our consciences and our common resources.” ‘

I also doubt that the Vatican will take issue with the general concerns the letter raises.

Whether the letter represents fairly Santorum’s and Gingrich’s ‘campaign behaviour’ is a matter for another discussion. I suspect it does – at least in part. Some people (e.g. Santorum/Gingrich supporters) will be pretty peeved about this, but I doubt there will be any meaningful ‘reprisals’ against any of the authors.