Cross-posted from Faith in Public Life Action
By Tara Culp-Ressler
More than 40 Catholic social justice leaders and theologians released a strongly worded open letter today challenging “our fellow Catholics Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail.” Both presidential candidates have come under recent scrutiny for their comments about race and the welfare system–Gingrich has referred to President Obama as “the best food stamp president in American history” and implied that African-Americans are content to take government handouts rather than work, while Santorum told Iowa voters that he doesn’t want “to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.”
As the letter points out, these presidential candidates are attempting to court “values voters” while failing to uphold the values of racial and economic justice. Contrary to Gingrich’s and Santorum’s offensive rhetoric, the U.S. Catholic bishops have called racism an “intrinsic evil” and have consistently defended vital government programs such as food stamps and unemployment benefits that help struggling Americans.
Back in May, when Speaker John Boehner was invited to give the commencement address at Catholic University, a similar letter from prominent Catholic theologians criticized Speaker Boehner for failing to uphold the basic Catholic social teaching to protect the poor and vulnerable in his federal budget priorities. It’s clear that Catholic moral values are broader than some politicians would have the American public believe, and Catholic leaders won’t let them get away with ignoring church teaching to score political points.
Read the full text of the letter to Gingrich and Santorum here.