Rick Santorum, Fundamentalist Protestant

This line is all the rage on the blogosphere today:

"It's not about you. It's not about your quality of life. It's not about your jobs," Santorum said. "It's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology."*

Ironically, this is the argument Protestants have used against Roman Catholics almost since the Reformation. It was certainly the reason Puritans in Massachusetts banned any observance of Christmas when they ran the colony. Most fundamentalist and evangelical Christians today are the spiritual ancestors of those Puritans, in attitude if not in theology (there are important theological differences between the Puritans and present day fundamentalists and evangelicals, but that's another post). So Rick Santorum is using the argument directed against his very faith, as an argument against the Protestant President Obama.

Then there was this, from a few years ago:

"We all know that this country was founded on a Judeo-Christian ethic. But the Judeo-Christian ethic -- sure the Catholics had some influence -- but this was a Protestant country," said Santorum. "And the Protestant ethic, mainstream, mainline Protestantism, and of course we look at the shape of mainline Protestantism in this country and it is a shambles, it is gone from the world of Christianity as I see it."

Which is: A) hardly in line with the ecumenical spirit abroad in most of "mainline" Christianity in America, and: B) an indefensible assault on the base of the GOP, insofar as that base is fundamentalists and evangelical Christians, whose theology cannot be reconciled with the teachings and traditions and practices of the Roman Catholic church.

I do so love it when politicians try to talk about theology.

*Does he really want to go there?