Rick Santorum: Church-State Separation "Makes Me Throw-Up" (VIDEO)

The First Amendment makes Rick Santorum queasy.

During a Sunday (Feb. 26) interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, the Republican presidential candidate said: "What kind of country do we live in that says only people of non-faith can come in the public square and make their case? That makes me throw up."

On Monday, Santorum voiced support for separation of church and state, but not as a means of protecting the government from the church.

Comments

[Hecktic Skeptic]

11:32 AM on 03/05/2012

The Religious Right is fundamentally anti-American. The wrap themselves in the flag, but they hate America as it is.

An America that embraces gay people, a multcultural, homogenous society that seeks to embrace all races and ethnic creeds into its culture.

The America they love is the 'Christian America' that people like Santorum, Romney, Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann, Palin, and Bush all want to 'take us back to.' But it is an America that never existed and certainly doesn't now.

[Gryf]

11:14 PM on 02/28/2012

A new campaign slogan: Santorum for Pope. I think he would look good in a pointy hat.

[moflard]

07:58 AM on 02/29/2012

Is that the type of hat that sits ON the head, or the white one with eye-holes that sits OVER the head?

[conservo]

10:16 PM on 02/28/2012

Well, that just did it for me. Even if Santorum was the most fiscally responsible candidate in the bunch (which he is not) we don't need a Proselytizer-in-Chief....nor do we need a Theocracy.

[Dragosurfer]

06:43 PM on 02/28/2012

As usual, Santorum completely missed the main point of President Kennedy's speech. A Santorum Presidency would be a horrible nightmare for all rational, logical, clear-thinking, freedom-loving Americans.

[IBZeteto]

06:36 PM on 02/28/2012

Santorum makes me throw up.

[Cole 33]

06:17 PM on 02/28/2012

Separation of Church and state, as hard as it is for the believers to believe, actually protects Religion. For some reason they look at Christians coming to this land looking for Religious freedom as if they were running away from some Atheist State, when in reality they were running away from *OTHER CHRISTIANS*

Separation of Church and State has always been a Religion Vs. Religion issue, not a religion Vs. Secular issue.

[IBZeteto]

06:37 PM on 02/28/2012

Good point.

[conservo]

10:21 PM on 02/28/2012

True that. I always ask my christian friends why in the world they would even want the government involved in their religion. So long as they keep it a private, personal matter everyone will be happy and no one will be infringed upon.
But, unfortunately, they are absolutely incapable of doing the very thing that they demand of me---and that is to leave me alone.

[Cole 33]

10:01 AM on 02/29/2012

And as well, not just leave the secular world alone, but leave each other alone.

[mareeeee]

10:08 AM on 02/29/2012

Of course they wouldn't want the government involved in their religion. If that were the case government would be able to tell them how they can and cannot worship. The right-wing christians I know wouldn't stand for that. What they do want, is a one way pass to meddle in government to follow their own ideals and values. Freedom of religion only applies to those christians. Freedom from religion is a totally foreign idea to them .

[RedRat]

05:34 PM on 02/28/2012

Well glad to see that Rick Santorum doesn't believe in our Constitution, perhaps he would be much, much happier living in a purely Catholic country, hmm, maybe he should go live in the Vatican. Whether Rick likes it or not, there is and always has been a separation of church and state in this country, thank you to our FF for that. They understood that mixing religion and politics, looking across the Pond to Europe and being very familiar with its religious based wars, was lethal to a democracy. We see this fatal mix in many Arab countries where the distinction between the clerics and the government (e.g., Iran) is hazy at best. In these religious based countries there is no consistency between what is a basic human right and what is prohibited, equality among people is basically nil.

[IBZeteto]

06:41 PM on 02/28/2012

In fact, I don't think that Rick believes in the Bible, either. I await any day now the announcement of a new Council of Nicea to add the Gospel according to Santorum to the holy canon.

[RedRat]

07:55 PM on 02/28/2012

LOL

[Mamma Roma]

01:18 PM on 02/28/2012

You're crazy Sir. You have misinterpreted the Constitution and the Bible. The only thing you've gotten right, is the CON.

The good thing is, those who vote for him will undoubtedly tout their vote, making it easier to spot the evil among us and run the other way.

[conservo]

10:25 PM on 02/28/2012

Wow! You've certainly got some issues that should be addressed.

[Mamma Roma]

12:38 PM on 02/29/2012

I? I have issues? Really?

That I cannot abide the religious zealotry of this robot? That I hate the pompousness and absolute ignorance of his credo, his policital ideas, his bringing home a fetus in a jar to show the kiddies at home?

You call yourself a Libertarian, an Atheist and Objectivist, you should be emailing HIM the reply you sent me. I'm an angry citizen. I've had enough, and I've certainly had enough of the Tea Party. The only thing that passes Santorum witht the Tea Partry is the color of his skin, everything he espouses is in contradiction to Libertarian ideology.

You just proved how backwards and unorganized this party is when you defend, as an ATHEIST, a man schooled for a lifetime in the Catholic Church, who given the chance would amend the Constitution to proclaim America a Christian Nation and send us all back to the dark ages. But, I'm glad you outed yourself. Now we know where you stand.

[ognibdogtree]

12:24 PM on 02/28/2012

I think he should throw-up. It would be the best thing to come out of him during the campaign season.

[TheFriendlyAtheist]

11:43 AM on 02/28/2012

Someone should tell this fool that JFK was only repeating the talking points of nearly every president we have ever had. None of them believed that government should be involved in religion or that religion should be involved in governing.

[almostlyniceguy]

03:45 PM on 02/28/2012

Never thought I'd say this, but I miss standard, run-of-the-mill politicians. These ideologues are scary.

[tamazul]

11:17 AM on 02/28/2012

Ah, yes Rick. to bring back the 'good old days' of Cardinal Richeieu and his Thirty Years War, or Cardinal Adolf Bertram and the rise of The Third Reich. And to top it off, "like frosting on the cake," by having Torquemada in charge of Homeland Security.

[Hillbilly49]

10:57 AM on 02/28/2012

Last time they mixed politics with religion, people got burned at the stake during the witch-hunts!

[SteveFromEuless]

11:40 AM on 02/28/2012

More recently, in the 1950's, someone added "One Nation under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, and "In God We Trust" to our currency as FINAL proof that we weren't a nation of godless communists...

And now, the same people who gave us "Freedom Fries" and the "War on Christmas" are screaming that they are being "secularized".

God help them.

I'll vote for Obama.

[TheFriendlyAtheist]

11:45 AM on 02/28/2012

I hated it when they did that, had to relearn the pledge and then had to go home and asked mom what a God was.

[jcshiloh]

11:49 AM on 02/28/2012

Atheism, I began to realize, rested on a less-than-satisfactory evidential basis. The arguments that had once seemed bold, decisive, and conclusive increasingly turned out to be circular, tentative, and uncertain.

[Fanny Lebowitz]

02:12 PM on 02/28/2012

Really, how so?

[Lucy0808]

03:04 PM on 02/28/2012

My dear, "atheism" is a lack of belief in gods. It is as simple as that. There is no objective proof of the gods or god and hasn't been for 20,000 years. There is proof of human beings that believe in them. In fact, homo sapiens have believed in over 10,000 gods in our history. So many have died with the religions and cultures that created them.
What is certain, is that there is no objective proof thus far for the gods or god. Who are being reasonable here? Atheists simply haven't seen the proof and a lack of belief is from the lack of proof. Simple as that.

[Hillbilly49]

10:49 AM on 02/28/2012

If Brother Rickie was able to seize power in America; our liberty and freedom would disappear.

[jcshiloh]

11:19 AM on 02/28/2012

You mean the nazi atheist party; our liberty and freedom would disappear.

[TheFriendlyAtheist]

11:50 AM on 02/28/2012

Nazi's weren't atheist my friend, and the Catholic church supported the rise of every fascist/nazi dictatorship that came to power in the 20th century; no only supported it, but the Catholic church was co-ruler with the Croatian nazi's, and Catholic priest led many of the massacres carried out against the Jews and Orthodox faiths in that country and staffed the death camps where tens of thousands were put to death during WWll.

[Fanny Lebowitz]

02:10 PM on 02/28/2012

Since when have religious people been fans of absolute freedom and liberty?

[Jim Fourniadis]

10:02 AM on 02/28/2012

Maybe he is barfing because he has swallowed so much religious garbage.

[JBaker]

12:51 AM on 02/28/2012

Such a sensitive digestive track.