Oh, how controversial to say that there is no separation of church and state? Not really. As Levin has made the point time and time again, as well as in Liberty and Tyranny, so again he reiterated on Monday's program, leading with this conundrum: "If faith has nothing to do with our government, then we need to throw the Declaration of Independence away!" Mark elaborated from there...
On Monday's Mark Levin Show: Mark talks about the issue of separation between church and state - the history of it and Justice Hugo Black, the fact that it's not even written in the Constitution anywhere, and how the liberals have run wild with it and put it in many aspects of our lives.
"[Justice Hugo Black] had also been a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's and was hostile to the Catholic Church. Is it not an irony that David Gregory brings this up to Rick Santorum, a practicing Catholic?"
Certainly, everyone's heard the feigned outrage throughout the Sunday circuit of the MSM elites, from Stephanopoulos to Gregory, as well as the so-called 'conservative' outlets who've disseminated these seeds throughout most of Monday (for you-know-who's sake), concerning Santorum's response when confronted about yet another old, dug up speech given, once again, to a Christian organization (oh, the horror), in which he had to audacity to criticize JFK for his stance on an absolute separation of church and state. To that, Santorum boldly responded, "I don't believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute." Well, Rick, you find yourself in great company, whether that be shared in Levin's arguments from Monday evening or remarks from his former employer at an ecumenical prayer breakfast back in 1984:
I believe that faith and religion play a critical role in the political life of our nation - and always has - and that the church - and by that I mean all churches, all denominations - has had a strong influence on the state. And this has worked to our benefit as a nation.
Those who created our country - the Founding Fathers and Mothers - understood that there is a divine order which transcends the human order. They saw the state, in fact, as a form of moral order and felt that the bedrock of moral order is religion.
Here's the key portions of Reagan's remarks that directly correlate to Santorum's argument against JFK's absolutist belief:
When John Kennedy was running for President in 1960, he said that his church would not dictate his Presidency any more than he would speak for his church. Just so, and proper. But John Kennedy was speaking in an America in which the role of religion - and by that I mean the role of all churches - was secure. Abortion was not a political issue. Prayer was not a political issue. The right of church schools to operate was not a political issue. And it was broadly acknowledged that religious leaders had a right and a duty to speak out on the issues of the day. They held a place of respect, and a politician who spoke to or of them with a lack of respect would not long survive in the political arena.
It was acknowledged then that religion held a special place, occupied a special territory in the hearts of the citizenry. The climate has changed greatly since then. And since it has, it logically follows that religion needs defenders against those who care only for the interests of the state.
Reagan continued to define the bond, not the separation, between church and state:
The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. And as morality's foundation is religion, religion and politics are necessarily related. We need religion as a guide. We need it because we are imperfect, and our government needs the church, because only those humble enough to admit they're sinners can bring to democracy the tolerance it requires in order to survive.
And Reagan closed that speech with a stern warning to future generations, to us, right now:
We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.
I submit to you that the tolerant society is open to and encouraging of all religions. And this does not weaken us; it strengthens us, it makes us strong. You know, if we look back through history to all those great civilizations, those great nations that rose up to even world dominance and then deteriorated, declined, and fell, we find they all had one thing in common. One of the significant forerunners of their fall was their turning away from their God or gods.
So, you are not alone in your convictions, Rick Santorum, not by a long shot.
"I would be the greatest fool on this footstool called Earth if I ever thought that for one moment I could perform the duties of that office without help from One who is stronger than all." ~ Abraham Lincoln
