Rick Santorum’s Bigotry

Referring to a bigot as a bigot is an act of bigotry in itself…or so says Rick Santorum.  When Piers Morgan suggested that Santorum’s views on gays and same-sex marriage bordered on bigotry, Santorum shot back with this.

I think just because we disagree on public policy, which is what the debate has been about — which is marriage — doesn’t mean that it’s bigotry. Just because you follow a moral code that teaches that something’s wrong doesn’t mean that — are you suggesting that the Bible and that the Catholic Church is bigoted? If that’s what you believe, fine. [...] Well, I shouldn’t say — not fine. I don’t think it’s fine at all. I think that is contrary to both what we’ve seen in 2,000 years of human history and Western civilization, and trying to redefine something that has been — that is — seen as wrong…I think is in itself an act of bigotry.

Here’s what Santorum, the supposed non-bigot, said in 2003.

“If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual [gay] 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… In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That’s not to pick on homosexuality. It’s not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing.”

And here’s what he said in 2005.

“[Gay marriage] threatens my marriage. It threatens all marriages. It threatens the traditional values of this country.”

It’s difficult to imagine how one could interpret those words as anything else than those of a bigot.  I also wonder if anyone has ever asked Santorum in which way same-sex marriage threatens his marriage.  I’d like to know.

By any definition, Santorum is a homophobe and that puts him clearly in the category of bigot.

As for his question about whether the Bible and the Catholic Church are bigoted…one can argue that most religions are both bigoted and intolerant to some degree but the larger point is that religion is a festering ground for bigots.  In my experience, I have known homophobes who are naturally bigoted and use religion to justify their bigotry.  I’ve also known decent people who are homophobic solely because of their adherence to a specific religion.

Whatever the root cause of one’s homophobic tendency, I see no problem with calling public figures out on their bigotry.  They may not like it but allowing homophobes like Santorum to hide behind a Bible is no way to deal with hate.

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