Santorum Wins Over Evangelicals By Breaking With His Own Catholic Creed [View all]

[powergirl]

As a Catholic I get so offended by Santorum's "platform" and his claiming that his views are supported by the Catholic Church.

"Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum is a darling of the Christian right, and made a tremendous showing among evangelicals in the Iowa caucuses. But Santorum himself is a Catholic, and while many of his more socially conservative positions have endeared him to the evangelical community, they actually conflict with the teachings of his own church. The theological tensions in Santorum's record pose potential political problems for his candidacy: Can he bring Catholics into his camp despite advocating unorthodox positions? And can he maintain his reputation among conservative Christians as a principled man of religious integrity, despite taking political stances that violate the teachings of his own faith?

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But on two issues in particular, Santorum has broken with official Catholic doctrine to side with hardline evangelicals against accepted scientific conclusions. On several other matters, Santorum's political positions have sparked ire among Catholics concerned with social justice.

1. Santorum has been one of the most prominent congressional defenders of intelligent design and the teaching of creationism. But the Catholic Church has long been supportive of evolution. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that there is no conflict between the Catholic faith and the scientific study of evolution, and Pope John Paul II went further in 1996, stating that science had produced an enormous body of persuasive evidence in favor of evolution.

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2. Santorum has broken with both the church and scientists on the issue of climate change. Santorum is a staunch climate change denier, declaring climate change a "scheme" of the "left" that serves as "an excuse for more government control of your life."

That conspiracy theory is not the accepted view of the Catholic Church. While Santorum refers to climate change evidence as "junk science," the church today not only accepts climate change, but actively supports efforts to fight it in the name of social justice. Pope Benedict XVI is often referred to as the "green pope" for his devotion to environmental causes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/05/santorum-wins-over-evange_n_1186942.html