WASHINGTON (BP)–Southern Baptist public policy specialist Richard Land has commended Sen. Rick Santorum for “courageously sharing his beliefs” in the wake of heavy criticism of the Pennsylvania Republican from liberals and homosexual rights advocates.
Meanwhile, pro-family leaders expressed concern that Santorum’s GOP colleagues have been shy about defending him.
Proponents of homosexual rights have besieged Santorum, calling for an apology and for his removal as chairman of the Senate’s Republican Conference since he said a potential Supreme Court ruling against a state sodomy law would open the door for a right to such acts as incest and polygamy to be legally recognized.
In an Associated Press article April 21, Santorum said, “If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”
Santorum, a leading pro-life, pro-family advocate in the Senate, also said such acts destroy “the basic unit of our society because [they condone] behavior that’s antithetical to strong healthy families. … Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman.” He said he has “no problem with homosexuality” but does “have a problem with homosexual acts.”
The charges of bigotry and intolerance directed against Santorum are “a vivid reminder of the tactics of his attackers,” said Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Because the homosexual rights groups have been unable to persuade the majority of Americans that homosexuality is good for us, they have resorted to attacking anyone who speaks the majority opinion. In so doing, the gay thought police have revealed themselves for what they really are — bullies who threaten and intimidate those who dare to speak out against them.
“We must ask who the real bigots are here,” Land said April 28. “The real bigots are those who label anyone who disagrees with them as bigoted and intolerant and attack them for sharing their beliefs. Mr. Santorum has not called for anyone’s resignation or dismissal. His detractors have. Once again, the homosexual rights groups have revealed that they are the real bigots.
“We hope other politicians will be emboldened by his stand to hold firm to their convictions about the immorality of homosexual behavior and resist the bullying and intimidation tactics of radical homosexual-rights groups,” Land said.
Even his Republican colleagues do not appear to be doing so, however, some pro-family leaders say.
Republicans are “missing a great opportunity,” said Richard Lessner, executive director of American Renewal, according to Family News in Focus. American Renewal is the lobbying arm of Family Research Council. “If the Republican Party can’t stand up and defend marriage and family, then it’s questionable what, indeed, it does stand for,” Lessner said.
“There are a large number of Republicans who are very uncomfortable dealing with this issue and have been intimidated by the homosexual lobby and by its attack strategies and its smear attacks,” he said, “and so they’re simply remaining quiet. They’re AWOL in this fight.”
Ken Connor, FRC’s president, said, “The unwillingness of Republican leaders to stand up and offer a spirited defense of marriage against an aggressive homosexual lobby unmasked a deep rift in the GOP. Despite the Republican platform’s defense of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, party leaders were unwilling or unable to defend one of their own on the issue. Some Republican leaders clearly want to finesse the issue in an effort to pander to the homosexual lobby. The crude political calculation here is that by downplaying the defense of marriage, and appearing open and inclusive on homosexuality, an electoral advantage will be gained among independent voters.”
While President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter rejected charges that Santorum is bigoted, other GOP senators — such as Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Gordon Smith of Oregon and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine — criticized Santorum’s remarks.
Democratic presidential candidates Howard Dean, John Edwards, Richard Gephardt and John Kerry ridiculed Santorum as well. Dean is the former governor of Vermont. Gephardt is a U.S. representative from Missouri. Edwards, from North Carolina, and Kerry, from Massachusetts, are U.S. senators.
Land said, “As Christians, we will continue to support politicians who speak out against homosexuality and to oppose those who support special rights for homosexuals and who seek to support societal approval of homosexual behavior.
“Our society has the responsibility and the right to discourage the practice of homosexuality,” he said. “The Judeo-Christian teaching on this is clear. Homosexuality is a deviance from God’s norm. It is neither normal nor healthy behavior.
“Furthermore, any attempt to equate homosexuality with race or ethnicity should offend all of us,” Land said. “There is no evidence that homosexuality is an inborn trait, in spite of numerous efforts to prove the contrary. Homosexuality has many contributing causes, but it is obviously not to be equated with race or ethnicity. A person’s ethnicity is what one is, whereas homosexual behavior is what one does.”
After the AP article was released, Santorum issued a statement seeking to clarify the meaning of his comments. He was discussing the Lawrence v. Texas case, on which the Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision by this summer, Santorum said. His remarks “were specific to the right to privacy and the broader implications of a ruling on other state privacy laws,” he said. “In the interview, I expressed the same concern as many constitutional scholars and discussed arguments put forward by the state of Texas, as well as Supreme Court justices. If such a law restricting personal conduct is held unconstitutional, so could other existing state laws.
“Again, my discussion with the Associated Press was about the Supreme Court privacy case, the constitutional right to privacy in general, and in context of the impact on the family,” Santorum said. “I am a firm believer that all are equal under the Constitution. My comments should not be misconstrued in any way as a statement on individual lifestyles.”
In Lawrence v. Texas, two men are seeking to overturn a Texas law that prohibits sexual relations between members of the same sex. The high court heard oral arguments in the case in March, and many observers expect the justices to strike down the law.
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Michael Foust contributed to this article.
