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April 10th, 2012
04:33 PM ET
With Santorum suspending campaign, some religious conservatives wonder how to proceedBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - Evangelical activist Michael Farris was not exactly surprised that Rick Santorum suspended his campaign on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean that Farris, a longtime political organizer, knows what he’s supposed to do now. “Right now my choice is to sit on my hands and do nothing or to actively try to find some alternative” to Mitt Romney, Farris said in an interview shortly after Santorum's announcement. “Some of us just have a hard time supporting a person who said he was going to be more liberal on gay rights than Ted Kennedy,” said Farris, chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association, referring to remarks Romney made in a 1994 letter. Farris’ reaction is a stark emblem of the disappointment among religious conservatives over Santorum's announcement, and a reminder that Romney’s enthusiasm deficit among the conservative evangelicals who form the GOP’s base hasn’t gone away. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories “There are two kinds of disappointment today,” said John Green, a religion and politics expert at the University of Akron. “One is felt by people who care a great deal about social issues, especially white evangelicals, who are uncomfortable with Mitt Romney.” “And there’s another group who really liked Santorum,” Green continued, “and were quite excited about him not only because of the social issues but because they saw him as representing this positive role for faith and values in a society.” The conservative and largely evangelical Family Research Council said in an email to supporters Tuesday night that Santorum's announcement "was clearly disappointing news for those looking for a nominee who understands and articulates the connection between the social and fiscal challenges facing America." "His historical run for President achieved remarkable success because his campaign was based not on money spent, but on the pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-freedom message he carried," the Family Research Council email blast said. Religious conservatives were the key to Santorum’s unlikely rise as a serious presidential candidate. Conservative evangelicals and Catholics were drawn to Santorum as much for his personal story – he is a conservative Catholic and homeschooling dad of seven – as for his outspoken advocacy against abortion rights and same-sex marriage as a U.S. senator. While polls showed him at the back of a seven-person pack just weeks before January’s first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, Santorum won a plurality of Iowa evangelicals, who accounted for nearly 60% of the electorate. That support laid the foundation for a first place Iowa finish. After Santorum’s primary loss in New Hampshire to Mitt Romney - and days before Santorum would lose to Newt Gingrich in South Carolina - conservative religious activists convened in Texas and congealed behind the former Pennsylvania senator. With strong evangelical support, Santorum went on to win primaries and caucuses in 11 states, even as Romney racked up more than twice as many delegates. Not all conservative religious activists are as dead-set against Romney as Farris, who is also chancellor at Patrick Henry College, a school for homeschooled youth. “Barack Obama will unite conservatives and people of faith more so than any single Republican candidate can hope to do,” said Mat Staver, an evangelical Christian who leads the conservative legal group Liberty Counsel. But Staver said Romney would have to work hard to excite social conservatives. “He’s going to have to make some intentional steps to reach out to evangelicals and religious conservatives,” said Staver. “It would be a mistake to assume he has every vote from evangelicals and religious conservatives locked up.” At the moment, plenty of other conservative activists say they’re still in wait-and-see mode about the primary season. “It’s very likely that he’ll end up the nominee, but he’s not he nominee yet,” said Steve Scheffler, president or the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, about Romney. “He was never my first choice, but I’ll support him because the alternative is something we can’t live with. “But I’m not ready to throw my support to him yet,” Scheffler said. soundoff (1,591 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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So, god personally told Santorum to run for President. And he personally told Bachmann to run for President. And he personally told Perry to run for President.
This god is either as terrible at politics as he is at science, or he has one hell of a sense of humor.
LOL!
All hail the great FSM! I was touched by His noodley appendage!
Ramen!
Funny thing is, science believes it was their bowels telling them to run
They are all full of it
my bowels exist.
Just another presidential election cycle where we get to select the lesser of two evils.
@sam stone (keep calm, please)
Please, do me a favour and distinguish between gays outside and gays inside the Church.
I am not concerned about gays outside the church. They could be my workmates, neighbours, etc. and I would treat them friendly.
However, inside the Church gayness is a big problem. Gayness is one of many sins, which proves alienation from God, but inside the Church should only be people, which are reconciled with God. Hence, gays within the Church have to repent or, if they don't want to repent, they have to leave the Church.
God offers the gospel to everybody, also to gays. Gays, who believe in Jesus Christ, will get released from gayness and can join the Church. Gays, which don't want to believe, simply should stay outside the church, but be aware that only churchgoers will finally enter heaven.
It's pretty much a fact that most people who are gay were born with those tendencies.
Why should they be punished because of something that is beyond their realm of control?
If you don't believe that they were born that way, tell me, when did you choose to be straight?
fair enough, rainer. do you support equal rights for gays?
"...but be aware that only churchgoers will finally enter heaven."
Speaking for god again, Rainer?
rainer: do you believe that orientation is a choice? if so, at what age did you make this choice? if not, do you feel that something that is not a choice can be a sin? how about eye color? left handedness? height?
Why would being born gay be a problem for your god? It's like saying folks born left-handed are sinning for using their left hands. Oh, wait – that's exactly what used to happen.
Face it Rainer, this is just one (of the many, many) things your god gets totally wrong. Your god – via the itinerant bronze-age shepherds he "talked" to were totally ignorant about the science of se.xual orientation (like he was totally ignorant about most things in biology, chemistry, and physics).
Sorry.
@sam stone
I said that gayness is only one of many sins, which prove our alienation from God. We are natural born sinners. Just think, how angry yet an infant can be. A certain man, called Adam, degenerated voluntarily by abandoning the source of life and we are his descendants, that means we have inherited his degenerated nature, which does works of death, called sins.
In Romans 1 we can read the following:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
In the same chapter, some verses before, gayness is mentioned as another sign for alienation from God, the source of life.
Our sins are a sign for our alienation from God. They are a kind of death and make us suffering from depression, fear, grief, diseases and physical death.
God offers the gospel. If we want, we can return to God by faith in Jesus. God proved his love for us and his friendly character by delivering his Son for our sins. He also raised him from the dead for our justification.
Mormons neither believe in the trinity or the deity, they represent Jesus as a prophet, not the son of man or God the father. Until a conflict with the government forced Mormons to accept Blacks into the preisthood, they believed blacks were cursed in skin color by Cain Murdering his brother Abel.
May someone point out where it is written that man inherits his own kingdom with his choice of a queen, I also find it odd that Mormons have baptism pools with oxen cravings that would make it all a idolitry worship against GOD himself.
Anyone believing Mormonism is Christian is flat wrong, they are a cult.
I am a born again christian, Santorum was in a cult as well, as you all seem to think Rommey a morman makes a difference it's God will to get Pres. Obama out of office get your head on strait or we will have P Obama again and lose all our rights as Christians, and people in all walks of life.
You are right, Mormonisim is a cult
All permutations of Christianity are.
Born-again christians are just another cult.
ALL christian sects are cults: Mormons, Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, Pentecostals, etc. you all believe slight variations of the same ridiculous myths.
when a religion is not accepted by society, it is called a cult.
when a cult is accepted by society, it becomes a religion.
when a religion loses all its cult members, it becomes a mythology.
christianity has done 2 out of 3 here. keeeeeep going!
Great show.... "I Escaped a Cult" on Nat Geo.... last night was Warren Jeffs and the Colorado City polygamists. Holy hannah... some real nuttiness!!
This soft withdrawal by Santorum doesn't come as much of a surprise given that he hasn't ever been able to get out and on top of Romney, despite a few promising thrusts at Romney in his fairly weak south. Santorum's base has been a pretty small one to come from and Romney has had his pole in position from the start.
Tea party members are well experienced in today's news at http://santorum.com and will not be surprised by it. The real erection campaign is now underway but now Romney is looking pretty flaccid. He will need to recover some energy after his romp with Santorum et al to have any chance at coming from behind Obama.
In taking Santorum away from the GOP nomination, god is showing that he has withdrawn his protection through divine intervention from America
Really hoping this is sarcasm, very very funny sarcasm. Right? Please be right.
ROFL WHAT?!
TR6
Like he did on 9-11 when he let the camel jockeys cremate 3000 people alive?
Tell your God to kiss my ass.
uh oh! one of the loonies climbed the wall again...
go back to your padded room and we'll give you cookies!
(okay, grab him!)
In taking Santorum away from the GOP nomination, god is showing that he has withdrawn his protection of divine intervention from America
Speaking for God, are ya? How frigging arrogant can you be?
ONLY FOR THE NEWCOMERS:------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Why the Christian Right no longer matters in presidential elections:
Once again, all the conservative votes in the country "ain't" going to help a "pro-life" presidential candidate, i.e Mitt Romney, Newton Leroy Gingrich, Ron Paul or Rick Santorum (exit right), in 2012 as the "Immoral Majority" rules the country and will be doing so for awhile. The "Immoral Majority" you ask?
The fastest growing USA voting bloc: In 2008, the 70+ million "Roe vs. Wade mothers and fathers" of aborted womb-babies" whose ranks grow by two million per year i.e. 78+ million "IM" voters in 2012.
2008 Presidential popular vote results:
69,456,897 for pro-abortion/choice BO, 59,934,814 for "pro-life" JM.
And the irony:
And all because many women fail to take the Pill once a day or men fail to use a condom even though in most cases these men have them in their pockets. (maybe they should be called the "Stupid Majority"?)
The failures of the widely used birth "control" methods i.e. the Pill and male condom have led to the large rate of abortions ( one million/yr) and S-TDs (19 million/yr) in the USA. Men and women must either recognize their responsibilities by using the Pill or condoms properly and/or use other safer birth control methods in order to reduce the epidemics of abortion and S-TDs.
i.e. If the Pill and male condoms were used properly, abortion would not be an issue and Obama would not be president.
According to his wife when interviewed by Fox News they thought it was god's will and that their god asked him to run.
When your god asks you to run that is your ace card. He should have played that up more since God is on your side. He prayed a lot, but obviously not enough. Maybe if he did it like Tebow, more public in front cameras, that sort of thing.
god is terrible at cards.
The Mormons are a dangerous cult. Good night America, if Romney becomes president.
The Mormons are no Christian Church. This is easy to prove. The founder of the LDS, Joseph Smith, once had a vision, the socalled First Vision, where "God" told him that he would not be allowed to join any of the current churches of his time. This, of course, was actually demonic.
A true Christian Church will always be connected with the Early Church, which was founded by Jesus. Out of the Early Church emerged the Byzantine Church, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches. Regretably the Catholic Church has turned apostate by papacy. The Protestant Churches meanwhile have entered a state of crisis, because they ordain gays priest and pastors and preach the gospel of the cheap grace.
Nevertheless the Protestant Churches can trace back their roots to the Early Church, which was founded by Jesus. Hence, we need no new church, like Smith falsely assumed, but a Reformation of the existing Protestant and Orthodox Churches (the Orthodox Churches emerged directly from the Byzantine Church).
Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley, Roger Williams, the Great “Babs” et al, founders of Christian-based religions or combination religions also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie/horn-blowing thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immacu-late co-nceptions).
Current problems:
Adulterous preachers, pedophiliac clerics, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology,
So, Rainer, what is that burr you have jammed up your a$$ about gay people?
@sam stone
Please, do me a favour and distinguish between gays outside and gays inside the Church.
I am not concerned about gays outside the church. They could be my workmates, neighbours, etc. and I would treat them friendly.
However, inside the Church gayness is a big problem. Gayness is one of many sins, which proves alienation from God, but inside the Church should only be people, which are reconciled with God. Hence, gays within the Church have to repent or, if they don't want to repent, they have to leave the Church.
God offers the gospel to everybody, also to gays. Gays, who believe in Jesus Christ, will get released from gayness and can join the Church. Gays, which don't want to believe, simply should stay outside the church, but be aware that only churchgoers will finally enter heaven.
I dislike the Mormon church but lets be honest. When Romney was governor of MA, he did nothing to indicate that his religion shaped his policies.
rainer: do you believe orientation to be a choice? if so, at what age did you make your choice? if not, how can something be a sin if it is not a choice? how about eye color, or left handedness, or height?
I believe, maybe wrong, the vast majority in the US are fiscally conservative and socially moderate. They want religion out of politics (as our founders believed) and a government that can produce growth. The religious right and the Sara Palin's of the world are in touch with a vocal minority but not the majority, and not reality. Santorum dropping out of the race, for whatever reason, clears the path for a dialogue between a conservative / moderate Republican Candidate and a liberal President. I would never want to silent the voices of the fringe conservatives as they sharpen the focus of the conservatives and the moderates. However, I do not want them to overrun the landscape as a growth that is not representative of the true landscape.
i agree
"they want religion out of politics"
70% of the public thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.
In states like Mississippi and Alabama half the public thinks Obama is a Muslim. And half of republicans think interracial marriage should be illegal.
According to Pew Research starting last year the majority of Americans now believe evolution is true.
Sorry reason, but no. The most recent PEW data was released in February 2009 and showed that only 32% of the public said that humans have evolved naturally over time from earlier primates. The rest either said they believed in "theistic evolution", which nis not evolution, or said that humans have always been humans with no evolution. Additionally, about half the public thinks the earth is less than 10,000 years old.
Santorum thinks Gandhi, born in the wrong part of the world, is burning in a lake of fire and acid right now, and Hitler, a Catholic who accepted Christ as his lord, is sipping martinis pool-side with Jesus.
Do you have first hand proof that those are the opinions of Rick Santorum?
That is what the Bible says.
I do not recall anything about Gandi in the Bible, and there is no evidence to suggest Hitler ever accepted Christ. Please show Chapter and verse that mention either person.
You should check the facts at http://santorum.com
Hitler was a Catholic and based on Christian beliefs he is in heaven and Gandhi is burning in hell.
Reason
Probably why the RCC has NEVER excommunicated Hitler
They excommunicated a nun named Margret McBride for permitting an abortion, yet they let the mass murderer of 10 million plus off the hook.
Prayer changes things .
Santorum should have spent less time trying to get votes and just prayed more.
His god asked him to run, that was his ace card.
Do you have first hand knowledge of God asking Rick Santorum to run?
Are you saying Santorum would lie about that?
I am saying YOU would lie about that.
According to his wife when interviewed by Fox News they thought it was god's will and that their god asked him to run.
That is at best second hand hearsay information. You were asked if you had first hand information of the statements you are making.
Yes Ronald Reganzo, Rick Santorum personally told me that his god asked him to run. That is how I get all my information and news. I do not bother reading the news, I go straight to each candidate's house and talk to them and their families personally. I already have my plane ticket for Indonesia so I can get a first hand account of th earthquake. Plane takes off in three hours. I would report back to you what I find, but I know you have to get your own first hand account also.
Pointing out that at best you are a liar then.
And at best you are a moron.
That just one upped you all to hell, what does that make you?
ronald: you dismiss as second hand hearsay? do you do the same for the bible?
Also, Ronald, in order to have firsthand knowledge of God asking Santorum to run, you would need to have FIRSTHAND knowledge that God actually exists. Do you have this KNOWLEDGE?
The Bible is for the most part first hand accounts of the people who were there. I personally do not discount the Bible but all atheists do. That is irrelevant to the question originally asked. You are mixing topics to confuse the facts, an old atheist trick that fools no one, but yourselves.
Try to stay with the original conversation sam if it is possible for you to focus on anything bit your own preconceived opinion. We are discussing III's knowledge of what it is writing about. Can you contribute to the conversation any relevant facts ?
Ronald Reganzo wrote, " The Bible is for the most part first hand accounts of the people who were there."
So Genesis is a first person account? And Noah wrote about the flood? I bet you think that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Thank you Primewonk, I tend to give up when I realize someone is either a moron or a troll.
Ronald: So, you do NOT have "firsthand knowledge" of god. Thanks for playing.
Reagan: How about you dump your preconceptions, too?
He was apparently ready to accept it if I had a first hand experience of Santorum's claim, but not from his wife. Meanwhile he will accept things in the Bible, written and heavily modified over time, and which contains mostly folklore. I can only handle so much ignorance.
Prayer doesn’t not change anything; you are so full of crap and lies. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs! ~,~
I guess Santorum joins Bachman, Gingrich and Perry as candidates God wanted to be President, but reality dictated would fail. That's the problem with reality, it has a nasty habit of frustrating the wishes of make believe beings.
Prayer failed, again.
There is nearly no difference, spiritually seen, between a Catholic presidential contender and a Mormon one. Both are sinners, because their alleged faith is worthless.
Up to around 600 years after Christ the Roman Catholic Church was a real Christian Church and people could find health there for their soul and for their body. Gregory the Great (Gregory I) was the last good bishop of Rome or Italy. He refused to accept the ti-tle "Bishop of all Bishops", but wanted to remain merely Bishop of Italy. After Gregory I bad bishops, which were hungry for power, honor and money, assumed rule over the Catholic Church, and thus she corrupted in the course of time. Now she has reached such a state of perdition that her priests molest guiltless children. How shall such a "Church" confer health to its members? Real health means righteousness in daily life.
Secondly, the Mormons believe that God had had se-xual intercourse with Mary, to beget Jesus. Alone this is enough, to condemn them as a horrifying cult.
What we need, is a new Reformation. We need an international council of the Christian Churches, which is free and not predetermined by a lousy pope. Such a free council, where bishops, pastors, priests and laymen could discuss freely, would be led by the Holy Spirit and the outcome would be the clear will of the Lord, the Eternal God.
People need to realize again the meaning of sacramental baptism (sacramental baptism was not invented by the lousy pope, but be Jesus Christ himself). Baptism is the rebirth by Water and Spirit. At baptism a man, which feels sinful and hopes to get deliverance by Jesus, realy gets connected with the Godhead, which delivers him or sets him free. After baptism a sinner is "in Christ" and can overcome his sinful body by Christ's help. It is equal to say that at baptism one receives the Holy Spirit, and by his power he can overcome the lust of his flesh (body). Object of faith and baptism is Christ's death and resurrection. He has borne our sins on the cross and has resurrected for our justification.
By baptism one gets metaphysical connected with Christ's atonement and thus becomes able to live a life of practical righteousness, which will certainly be appreciated by human observers.
Their faith is worthless? Rainer, you are a pompous jacka$$....
so the religious nuts have to deal with the fact that none of their candidates could win the GOP primary, let alone the election. I'd say that's time for real reflection and soul-searching, myself.
Santorum said his god told him to run. What does this mean? Is Santorum turning his back on his god's wishes? Did his god change his mind?
Or was it all delusion from the beginning?
Another Bible cuddler rebuffed. I hope I live to see the day when those who believe in Iron Age Judeo-Palestinian mythology are looked upon as a numerically insignificant cult.
They wonder how to proceed? Here is an idea: keep your religion out of politics!