My parents raised me from a Reformed Baptist church. I know there are crazier sects out there, but the church gave crazy its best. Over the years I worked from saved, through non-practicing, to agnostic, to atheist. It took a lot of self-examination, thinking, reading, and reasoning.
I understand the need to have meaning in life. I get the argument that morals must be present in society. I see the value in having friends you can count on when the chips are down. I can grasp the many reasons why a person would want to be a part of a church. What I don't understand is who would want a bat-shit crazy minister for a national leader?
I come from a child's ass-kicking, fire and brimstone threatening, gay hating, women suppressing, divine intervention hoping, congregation of firm believers in God's direct word as revealed to his servants in an infallible manner. But as an adult, I see that is not the church-going norm. I know Christians at the bar, Christians living with their girlfriends, Christians speeding in their cars and skirting the law, Christians who don't seem to be obsessed with the details of their professed religion, but rather get by on doing good to others and keeping their opinions to themselves.
So when I first heard Rick Perry led an evangelical prayer revival to kick off his candidacy I thought, "Well, he won't last long." What I didn't suspect was that there could be an even more delusional candidate that would make hosting a revival seem like a moderate course of action. Rick Santorum is that man. The more clips I see, the more appalled I become that he could receive more than a pittance of votes anywhere in this country. Sure Romney is an inconceivably rich man who gives lottery size amounts of money as tithes, can't seem to hold a position for more than a year, hates workers working together, and is just plain smarmy, but Santorum? Really? I'll concede President Obama hasn't delivered on all our hopes and dreams, but at least he seems to be trying. At least he is capable of reasoning.
This Muslim-hating, gay-bashing, woman-suppressing preacher belongs in a pulpit leading a couple of dozen unthinking drones to give him ten percent of their pre-tax income. How is it then that this thing has a chance at becoming leader of the free world? I can only hope these results have been a voice for "Not-Romney", but look at who Not-Romney is, at least with Newt we'd get a cool moon base. I wish there was an omnipotent power that could intervene, that could turn bombs into schools, that could open peoples eyes that an easy way to stop terrorism is to stop killing children. I don't believe in an omnipotent power, but I do believe in a higher power, the power of the American people. I will put my trust in them and hope that the enlightened among us will try to open the eyes of those among us who feel a Santorum presidency is just what the situation calls for. Because if we can't, then god help us all.