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February 8th, 2012
03:08 PM ET
10 reasons religious conservatives love Rick SantorumBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - For all the attention paid to the clout of fiscally focused tea party conservatives and of the primacy of jobs in the 2012 election, Rick Santorum’s trifecta victories Tuesday night are a good reminder of the powerful role religious conservatives play in the GOP. They fueled Santorum’s wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado - and his earlier victory in the Iowa caucuses. But why, exactly, do religious conservatives love the former senator from Pennsylvania? There are obvious reasons - his advocacy against abortion and same-sex marriage, for instance - but plenty of less obvious ones, too. Here’s my list. What would you add?
 Opponents of Proposition 8, California's anti-gay marriage bill, outside the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday.
February 8th, 2012
11:09 AM ET
My Take: Welcome back, culture wars (and Rick Santorum)
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN So much for the cease-fire in the culture wars. With the rise of the tax-focused tea party, the slump into recession and the emergence of Occupy Wall Street, U.S. politics was supposed to turn to economic matters. But recent developments on the Holy Trinity of bedroom issues — gay marriage, abortion and contraception — demonstrate that the culture wars are alive and well and (among other things) propelling Rick Santorum to a clean sweep on Tuesday in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. Last month, the Obama administration announced a new rule requiring that health insurance plans offer birth control to women for free. This rule specifically exempts, on religious liberty grounds, Catholic churches, but it does not exempt Catholic-affiliated institutions such as universities, hospitals and charities. In recent days, the Obama administration has been pummeled in the press by Catholic leaders and Republican presidential candidates for purportedly sacrificing religious liberty at the altar of its health plan. On Tuesday, Romney called the policy an "assault on religion." Earlier, Bishop of Phoenix Thomas Olmsted sent a letter to his flock stating, "We cannot — we will not — comply with this unjust law."
February 1st, 2012
02:36 PM ET
Santorum co-chair: Homosexuality 'makes God want to vomit'(CNN)–Reverend O'Neal Dozier, pastor of the Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, joined CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin to discuss some controversial statements he has made in the past on social issues. Dozier, an honorary Rick Santorum co-chair, defended his views that homosexuality is 'disgusting' and 'the paramount sin' in the eyes of God. He went on to explain why he thinks that Mitt Romney is unelectable due to his Mormon faith. Get all the latest from Brooke Baldwin's show at the CNN Newsroom Blog.
January 7th, 2012
10:00 PM ET
Reversing JFK: Santorum’s bid to marry faith and politicsEditor’s note: This is part of an occasional series of stories looking at the faith of the leading 2012 presidential candidates, including Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich. We also profiled the faith journey of Herman Cain before he suspended his campaign. By Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editors (CNN) - It was election night in November 2006, and Rick Santorum had organized a private Catholic Mass in a room at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh. The senator from Pennsylvania had just lost his re-election bid. The Mass, held just before his concession speech, included a priest and Santorum’s close family and staff. Though the occasion was somber, the soon-to-be-ex-senator aimed for a celebratory mood, said Mark Rodgers, then a top Santorum aide. “Life is if full of what can be perceived as disappointments or hardships,” Rodgers said, “but Scripture tells followers of Jesus that we approach those situations with joy because there’s ultimate redemption.” Santorum’s younger brother, Dan, remembers that many attendees - including the senator’s children - were weeping over Santorum’s landslide defeat at the hands of Democrat Bob Casey Jr. But not the senator. “You’d think he would have been crushed,” says Dan Santorum. “But he wasn’t even bitter. He didn’t complain. He just said it was God’s plan. 
January 4th, 2012
12:21 PM ET
Survey: Most religious voters in line with national polling averagesBy Dan Merica, CNN (CNN) – Even though former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, one of two Catholics in the race for the GOP nomination, was helped by an evangelical bump in Iowa on Wednesday, his support among Catholic Republicans is near the bottom of the field, according to a new Gallup survey. Santorum, who according to the survey gets the support of 3% of all registered Republicans, only gets 4% support - a 1% bump - among his Catholic GOP brethren.
December 31st, 2011
10:00 PM ET
Why do Iowa’s evangelicals wield so much political clout?By Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) – At first blush, it’s just another standard-issue political rally. Inside Mitt Romney’s Iowa headquarters – a former Blockbuster store on a commercial strip outside downtown – Romney and his wife, Ann, are introduced by former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty and his wife, Mary. “It is an honor to be supporting Gov. Romney and Ann,” Mary Pawlenty tells the crowd of a couple hundred, a silver cross dangling from her neck. “They are good people, they share our values – these are people that we are delighted to call friends.” How Mitt Romney's faith shaped him A few moments later, Mitt Romney mentions his five sons and hands his microphone to 36-year-old Josh, who calls his dad “my hero.” “He taught me my great love for this country,” Josh says, “and my great love for my family.” Sounds like typical political posturing, right? Many Americans wouldn’t give such gestures a second thought. But experts on religion and politics say the message to one particular subculture – evangelical Iowans – is clear: Mitt Romney may be Mormon, but he shares evangelical Christian values, including a rock-solid commitment to family, and counts high-profile evangelicals like the Pawlentys as friends and supporters.  Rick Santorum was endorsed by the head of Iowa's Family Leader on Wednesday.
December 20th, 2011
04:25 PM ET
Split GOP presidential endorsements reflect fractured evangelical baseBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - When Newt Gingrich’s campaign announced Tuesday morning that it had won an endorsement from Don Wildmon, president of the evangelical American Family Association, it seemed like one more bit of evidence that the former House speaker has become the unlikely favorite of conservative Christian activists. But a few hours later, Bob Vander Plaats, president of an influential Iowa evangelical organization called the Family Leader, announced he was throwing his personal support behind Rick Santorum. The day of split Republican endorsements reflects a Republican religious base that is largely fractured just two weeks before the first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses. 
December 7th, 2011
06:26 PM ET
GOP candidates court Jewish Republicans(CNN) – All but one of the Republican presidential candidates made their case to Jewish voters Wednesday, voicing their support for Israel and criticizing Iran while uniformly hitting President Barack Obama's strategy of appeasement on the world stage. Speaking before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington, D.C., the candidates stressed the importance of the United States standing with Israel, something they charged Obama has failed to do in his first years in office. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has said he will zero out all foreign aid from the United States if elected president, appeared to fully reverse course on the issue during his remarks. "Strategic defensive aid in all forms will increase to Israel," Perry said, after calling Israel America's strongest ally in the Middle East. Read the full post on CNN's Political Ticker
November 23rd, 2011
02:51 AM ET
Santorum endorses profiling Muslims, council asks for repudiationBy Dan Merica, CNN (CNN) – Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum said at Tuesday's CNN National Security Debate that he would improve airport security by profiling, particularly Muslims and young men. "Obviously Muslims would be someone you'd look at, absolutely," Santorum said. "Those are the folks who ... the radical Muslims are the people that are committing these crimes by and large, as well as younger males."
October 18th, 2011
10:29 AM ET
Opinion: Who does God want in the White House?
By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN) - Vote for me or burn in hell. I can't imagine someone running for office saying that. And yet four candidates - Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum - have said they had a sense that God was leading them to run. How far can we be from "vote for me or burn in hell" when it seems we're already comfortable with "vote for me, I've been called by God"? Read LZ Granderson's commentary |
  About this blog
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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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named Journalist of the Year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. 