If you missed Rick Santorum's interview on Fox News Sunday, you missed an opportunity to watch one of the most bizarre performances in recent political history. Excerpts from the transcript: (emphasis added)
ON GAY MARRIAGE ISSUE
HUME: Now, you just heard Elizabeth Birch set forth a lot reasons why she thinks the current legal situation, as it deals with gays, is unfair; that, you know, hospital visitation rights and these other things are denied. Do you think that's fair?
SANTORUM: Well, that's a separate issue. I mean, the issue here is marriage. And to me, the building block -- and I think, to most people in America, number one, it's common sense that a marriage is between a man and a woman. I mean, every civilization in the history of man has recognized a unique bond.
Why? Because -- principally because of children. I mean, it's -- it is the reason for marriage. It's not to affirm the love of two people. I mean, that's not what marriage is about. I mean, if that were the case, then lots of different people and lots of different combinations could be, quote, "married."
Marriage is not about affirming somebody's love for somebody else. It's about uniting together to be open to children, to further civilization in our society.
And that's unique. And that's why civilizations forever have recognized that unique role that needs to be licensed, needs held up as different than anything else because of its unique nurturing effect on children.
And there isn't a statistic out there that doesn't show that married couples, in a healthy marriage, is the best environment in which to raise stable children and is the best thing, long term, for our society.
So it's not about not recognizing somebody's love for somebody else. That's not what it's about. It's not being discriminatory against anybody. It's talking about the good that marriage is for our culture.
CIVIL UNIONS
SANTORUM: I guess, my feeling is, I would step back and say that if there are laws that the states want to pass having to do with certain benefits or things like that, that's one thing. But civil union sounds too much to me like marriage and confuses the issues.
And part of the other issue here is, what kind of message are we sending to our children and to society about the importance of the marriage relationship?
And I think when you get into things like civil union, you tend to muddle the picture.
MARRIAGE vs. CIVIL UNION
SANTORUM: We already have the family under assault in America. I mean, there's articles written saying, you know, "Why are people so against gay marriage? I mean, you've got divorce rates that are high, you've got, you know, all these other things that are, sort of, tearing the family apart. You know, what's wrong with just, you know, further tearing it apart?"
And I would argue that anything that detracts from the uniqueness and sanctity of that relationship is not going to be a positive thing for our society.
ENSHRINE: To preserve and cherish as sacred [Merriam-Webster Dictionary]
SANTORUM: ... I think that marriage is such an important thing, and families are such an important thing for a society, that it needs to be enshrined in a very, very unique way.
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
HUME: Let me ask you a question based upon something Senator John Kerry said the other day. The Vatican spoke this week on this issue, quite emphatically. Senator Kerry, himself, I believe a Catholic, said, "I believe in the Church, and I care about it enormously, but I think that it's important not to have the Church instructing politicians. That," he says, "is an inappropriate crossing of the line in America."
Agree, disagree?
SANTORUM: I disagree dramatically.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE VATICAN
HUME: ... it was said, "We don't want to have leaders who are being directed from the Vatican." These were directions [about opposing gay marriage] from the Vatican, in the eyes of many. What do you say?
SANTORUM: It's not a direction from the Vatican. I mean, it's a ...
HUME: Well, they were warned ...
SANTORUM: ... it's the Vatican speaking about what the faith of the Catholic Church is. And, I mean, as every church has a ruling council of some sort that defines what the faith is. And, you know, my feeling is that I have a right as a Catholic politician to uphold the values that I believe are important to me, and important, that I believe, for this country. And I think in this case they're consistent.
But I think it's important to have moral leaders speak out. I mean, that's their right, to speak out and to let politicians, as well as every other American, know what they believe the moral imperatives are for our society.
And that doesn't mean, obviously, everybody has to agree with them, but I think that they should be considered, and certainly people who subscribe to that faith -- and in this case this is a core teaching of the Church -- I think they have an obligation to take that into great consideration, and I think it has -- should have an impact on you.
PRYOR NOMINATION / DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS
SANTORUM: Yes. What's outrageous is the line of questioning that's been conducted in the Senate Judiciary Committee about people's, quote, "deeply held beliefs." There are questions and comments made that if you have deeply held beliefs, particularly about moral issues, that you can't be impartial. Which leads me to the conclusion that you have shallowly held beliefs, if you really don't believe in anything, that's OK, but if you have deeply held beliefs, that somehow or another because of those deeply held beliefs you can't be impartial.
What does that mean? That means someone who is a deeply faithful Catholic, and believes as the Catholic Church, in Bill Pryor's case, and that's where he gets his feeling on abortion...
HUME: Yes, but that doesn't apply to all Catholics?
SANTORUM: But it does apply to Catholics who subscribe to what the teachings of the Church are. And so, if you have a Catholic who subscribes to the Catholic teaching, you're saying that some faithful Catholic cannot apply and cannot be a member of the court because of his deep held religious beliefs, that he projects, because that's his belief structure, into his job.
