ex-Lutheran who became a Roman Catholic Priest, wrote a manifesto with Charles Colson, titled “Evangelicals and Catholics Together”
According to this March 23, 2012 article in The New York Times "Santorum's Catholicism Proves a Draw to Evangelicals":
After more than a century of widespread antipathy between Catholics and evangelical Christians, a Catholic with Italian immigrant roots from the industrial Northeast has emerged as the favored presidential candidate among evangelicals, even in states he lost over all, like Ohio and Illinois. On the eve of Louisiana’s primary on Saturday, Mr. Santorum had won a plurality of the evangelical vote in 9 of 16 states, according to exit polls by Edison Research.“Santorum represents a game-changer,” said D. Michael Lindsay, the president of Gordon College, a Christian school near Boston, and an expert in evangelical voting patterns. “His candidacy has the potential to reshape conservative political alignment, securing once and for all evangelical support for a conservative Catholic in public life.”
Mr. Santorum has, in fact, performed far better with evangelical Christians than with Catholics, who have preferred Mitt Romney, a Mormon, in virtually every state. Through a critical reading of the data, Mr. Santorum’s base of evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics could be seen by cynics as a coalition of zealots, held together by intolerance. By another way of thinking, however, his candidacy offers proof of a growing tolerance on the part of evangelical Christians, a willingness to shed ancestral religious prejudices.
What is it abut Santorum that would get these peoples' support? Santorum was best known as a 'right wing" Roman Catholic probably better known for being vilified by the LGTG lobby . But in this poor economy, largely but hardly exclusively the blame of the previous 'Republican' U.S. President Bush 43, where's the legitimate self interest in viewing 'social issues' which are largely with the possible exception of abortion completely outside the preview of government?
Indeed, regarding "life" where are these "Christians" on the various wars overseas with grossly disproportionate and usually misdirected revenge for the events of September 11, 2001? Or on that cigarette-pharma-alcohol protectionist racket of the "war on [some] drugs"? Though relatively few grasp the broader scam of the 'drug war', many do, at least regarding Cannabis/Marijuana
Over 50% public opinion can be found for legalizing Marijuana.
Are not a great many such people concerned about the increasing centralization of powers?
Are not they suppose to be proponents of limited government?
One would think that would translate to support for the 'Republican' Party candidate holding closer to such values: Ron Paul. Yet Paul gets 4th place, with the pair of such "conservatives" of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich between Paul and the previously appointed "frontrunner" Mitt Romney.
Santorum is said to get this support owing to his commitment to "social issues". That he has done better in the 2012 Republican primary than Gingrich flows with the idea of people being disgusted with the latter as a hypocrite for his marital infidelity, in contrast to the remaining three as of March 31, 2012: Santorum, Romney and Paul. Romney is mistrusted as a "moderate" 'etch a sketch' candidate, except perhaps on Cannabis/Marijuana which he defends the status quo of suppressing the plant while being okay with its pharmaceuticalization, while Paul is deemed unacceptable for not being sufficiently pro national security as the mainstream media defines such, e.g. pro unlimited NSA surveilling people's electronically transmitted activities, connected to Federal-Local law enforcement 'FUSION" centers, without any oversight to guard against politically motivated searches and seizures, with a Pentagon agenda including developing and deploying miniature drones- eventually insect sized. Of course both 'social conservatives' Santorum and Gingrich and the 'moderate' Romney promise to be more likely to bomb Iran. And of course, the people are overlooking the flip-sides, e.g. how all of this stuff can back fire badly, that this growing surveillance state, with the blissful disregard of the issue of oversight, all covered over by the lie that the USA is immune to human failings- aka 'American Exceptional-ism'
But like the "Tea Party" or the copy-cat Obama-fan "Coffee Party", this gets thrown out of the window. Rah Rah rally around the flag with little thought. Likewise with much of the "left" with the continuing distraction from the problem of mercantilism by blaming "capitalism" in general. Or anything in general. Over-generalizations about a broad array of things: "drugs" (ironic given a "Coffee" and Tea" parties) "urban freeway" or "fill in the blank" - a prescription likely disastrous- leading to all sorts of missteps and contradictions. For instance- Oppose Obama Care, but somehow fail to question the cigarette-pharma mercantilist drug war. Nor question the USDA/FDA's clearly criminal mercantilist anti customer right to know conspiracy regarding labeling of GMO ingredient, along with the sweatheart exemption from product labeling of the ingredients laws for alcohol and Tobacco products.
Thhe general public needs to brush up on some history- google "ultramontane".
How did this come to pass?
Obviously the increasing Jesuitical infiltration of the schools and media. Including the establishment of the college fraternity system.
The New York Times article does not go any of those places; instead crediting this man, a Lutheran who became a Roman Catholic:
The road had also been paved for Mr. Santorum by evangelical Protestants and conservative Catholics, who for decades had tried to define common theological and political ground. In 1994, a panel led by the evangelical activist Charles Colson and the Catholic writer Richard John Neuhaus wrote a manifesto titled “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” While acknowledging the divides in ritual and dogma, the document presented them as allies against “a widespread secularization” that “increasingly descends into a moral, intellectual and spiritual nihilism.”
Such top-down efforts coincided with shifts in grass-roots religious life. “In the last 30 years, you’ve had a lot of breaking down of denominational lines within the evangelical community,” said William Martin, a sociologist at Rice University who has specialized in evangelical Christianity. “You had the growth of megachurches that don’t emphasize denomination or doctrine the way evangelicals once did. Catholics benefit from that. And the fear of modernity and relativism that has come with globalization has been a spur to fundamentalism of various sorts.”
