The Real Problem with Rick Santorum’s “Satan” Remarks

Rick Santorum made headlines with his 2008 “Satan has set his sights on America” comments. Josh Barro at Forbes has an issue with this attitude . . . not a concern about whether Satan is real, or if this should be a subject discussed by politicians. Barro instead goes after Santorum’s assertion that “[Satan] didn’t have much success in the early days—our foundation was very strong, in fact, is very strong.”

Let’s think back to what America was like almost 200 years ago. Slavery was legal, indeed enshrined in our Constitution by our Founding Fathers. The federal government was forcibly removing American Indians from their lands, leading to thousands of deaths. Women couldn’t vote and were limited in their rights to own property. And yet, Santorum sees Satan wielding more influence and having more success in America today than he did then.

The issue is not that Santorum favors slavery or Indian removal—if prompted, I’m sure he would agree strongly that these were great evils. But how does somebody look at the history of American society and see a country that was more Godly under Andrew Jackson than it is today? The answer is by focusing only on the rights and treatment of white, Christian men. When some conservatives and libertarians make paeans to a lost period of American greatness, they are treating the perspectives of women and minorities as if they don’t exist, or don’t count.

Read more: The Real Problem with Rick Santorum's "Satan" Remarks – Forbes.

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