This week the governor of Virginia has an opportunity to pass a law that would make hormonal birth control and abortion the equivalent of murder. Their basis for passing this is not expressed in religious terms, but this is a slide of hand trick. Governor Bob McDonnell is a lawyer that changed his career path in his mid thirties when he attended The Christian broadcast Network University (founded by televangelist Pat Robertson- and has since been renamed Regent University) and wrote a thesis on the moral decline of America that included the negative roll that contraception and abortion play in the process. His thesis also claims that “the working woman” and feminism are a detriment to a healthy family.
Once again we have an influential politician trying to pass legislation that is based on theology. But we are not supposed to criticize religion while shouting because someone might be offended. Secular Americans should be up in arms whether they live in the commonwealth of Virginia or not.
On the same note, Presidential hopeful rick Santorum has been quoted recently on the abortion topic; specifically about whether or not victims of rape should be allowed to have an abortion as a result of their assault. This is what he said: “To put them through another trauma of an abortion, I think is too much to ask. So I would absolutely stand and say that one violence is enough.” I have heard, but can not find a similar quote that read something like this. “Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation, and accept the child as a gift from god.”
Basically Rick is saying that a woman being raped and impregnated is all part of god’s plan. Very few people that I know have even heard these incredibly compassionate quotes from this Pennsylvanian catholic. This is a problem. This means that people either don’t believe that a politician will not act on their crazy beliefs, they don’t pay attention to the news, they disagree with this religious view but don’t want to say anything, or they agree with him. For Santorum to be doing as well as he is in the primary I would have to assume that the latter two are the most likely here. Anyone else feel like shouting yet?
Another gem from Potential Theocrat Ricky Santorum-(CNN) -- Sen. Rick Santorum, who is campaigning to become America's second Catholic president, disagrees from the bottom of his gut with the first Catholic to hold the office.
ReplyDeleteIn October, he told a Catholic university audience that when he read the 1960 speech in which John F. Kennedy said: "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute," he "almost threw up." More recently, he elaborated on his dyspeptic condition in an ABC television interview, calling JFK's credo "an absolutist doctrine that was abhorrent at the time of 1960."
Santorum's success is a scary wake-up call. Can theocracy happen here? We're already "one nation under god," and Santorum voters know what they're getting with him.
ReplyDelete