Google Santorum

I’ve got to admit that I’m a little sad today. I was busy saving lives last night at work but I found a minute to look up the results of the Iowa Republican Caucus during my lunch break. Now I don't think that the Iowa Caucus is a bellwether of the American public—or even most Republicans. Iowa as a whole, maybe. Iowa Republicans, no way.

However, that Rick Santorum won 25% of the vote and was able to come in second place by only 8 votes makes me very sad and it makes me sad for two reasons.  

First, it makes me sad that people are so easily brainwashed by the media that they're willing to vote in a presidential election for a guy who has made his name on bigotry and homophobia. The people know nothing about this man. They knew nothing about Michele Bachmann, they knew nothing about Rick Perry, they knew nothing about Hermann Cain, and they knew nothing about Newt Gingrich. All they knew was what the people in the talking box were telling them. Santorum got lucky that Newt's ride on the media bandwagon ended just in time for the Iowa Caucuses and he was the heir apparent to the anti-Romney throne. Hey Rick, congratulations, you're the conservative's last resort. Now the media is going to actually vet you and the public will see you for who you really are, you bigot.

The second (and primary) reason it makes me sad is because it shows that there is still a large portion of our population that are socially conservative ideologues. I’m not referring to the live and let live conservatives, but the ideologues who want to jam their religion down your throat--the ones who want to deny equal rights to gays because their religious ideals tell them gay is bad. I’m talking about the ones who want to control women’s uteruses and care more about a kid when it's a fetus than when it's an actual live child (until, of course, they reach military age-then they're much more useful).

Rick Santorum is a bigot who thinks his idea of “values” should supersede anybody else's "unchristian" value system. Yes, I said it-Rick Santorum is a bigot and if you think your religious ideals give you the right to trample on the rights of others' who do no harm to you then you’re a bigot, too. That’s another thing that annoys me. Why is the term “values” in this country synonymous with “Christian values?” You dig through the history of the church’s actions past and present and you’ll find that Christianity is very low on the morality totem. Christians most definitely do not have a monopoly on values. But if you want to know more about my feelings on religion then I refer you here: WARNING: Excessive Consumption of False Rhetoric Leads to Messed Up Worldviews. 

How can we take seriously a man who compared gay marriage activists to 9-11 terrorists? How dare we even consider a man who openly says that gay relationships are the equivalent to polygamy, incest, adultery, pedophilia, and bestiality? Why would you want a president who is openly disdainful toward single mothers seeking government help (forget his completely contradictory stances against contraception and sex education)? But, hey, when Glenn Beck says you’re the next George Washington, you must be legitimate. If you really want to know the true nature of this dufus looking a-hole, all you have to do is Google “Santorum.”

Don’t get me wrong, Rick Santorum isn’t going anywhere. He’s a Mike Huckabee and considering Rupert Murdoch’s endorsement, he’ll be back on Fox News sometime in the near future. He works for the loony tune evangelicals, but the American public won’t tolerate such an ignoramus once they learn who he is. It’s just disheartening to know that the God, Guns, and Gays demagoguery still holds clout with such a large segment of society.

Here’s my plea to sane Christian’s everywhere (I know you’re the majority): Please stop letting people like this represent you. Rick Santorum is one of the reasons why stereotypes have way more power than they should. Is Google “Santorum” really who you want people to think of when they hear “Christian?”

Successful societies always trend towards progressivism and giving more rights. This country’s no different, but unfortunately it isn’t a linear progression towards freedom. The road to freedom and equality has some bumps in it. We take steps forward and backward—we just have to hope the forward steps outnumber the backward ones.

I thought this country was more advanced in its thinking, but that Rick Santorum can be taken seriously as a presidential candidate makes me very sad that we haven’t moved beyond that kind of ignorance in many places. But, like I said, things always move toward progressivism—just at varying rates. America is a beautiful country, but sometimes we get a large, ignorant boil right on our ass that can only be treated with intelligence and insight.