Religion News Service
Rick Santorum on Islam & on America: Equal Opportunity Discriminator
Omid Safi | Mar 18, 2012
Rick Santorum's views on many topics from homosexuality to his critique of the public school system to women's work outside the home, the primacy of religious law over secular law, and the need for Puerto Ricans to adopt English have all received a lot of attention.
It seems that Santorum is what we might call an "Equal opportunity discriminator,” directing his views now against gays/lesbians, now against Hispanics, now against women working outside the home, now against the poor, and now against Muslims.
Since it has not been much covered so far, let’s take a closer look at Santorum’s views on Islam. The context of the speech is important. Santorum appeared in the noted Islamophobe David Horowitz’s conference, the same ranting and raving loudmouth who takes out advertisements in papers stating that there is no such thing as a Palestinian, that colleges are “feminizing” their students and we need a return to traditional fraternity culture, and that there is a linkage between radical Islam and the Left in America. And Santorum wholeheartedly agrees with this, regarding the source of danger facing America: “"But it’s not just radical Islam; it is also the radical left.” So apparently your tweed-jacketed, brim-glasses wearing, balding, underpaid, overworked and unfit professor is secretly an al-Qaeda jihadist. Who knew?
So here is some more info about Santorum’s speech in the comically named “Islamofascism Week,” that has been met with derision and critique in many institutions:
*Santorum stated that in this grand culture war against immigrants and Muslims, United States is on its own, without help from Europe. That’s because Europe is already over, it has already become “Eurabia” or “Euristan”, having succumbed to its own secularism and to the immigrants. Here is Santorum in his own xenophobic words:
Look at Europe. Europe is on the way to losing. The most popular male name in Belgium – Mohammad. It's the fifth most popular name in France among boys. They are losing because they are not having children, they have no faith, they have nothing to counteract it. They are balkanizing Islam, but that's exactly what they want. And they're creating an opportunity for the creation of Eurabia, or Euristan in the future...Europe will not be in this battle with us. Because there will be no Europe left to fight.
*Santorum shares with the audience his very learned observations on the fine distinctions between Sunni and Shi’i Muslims. Apparently it’s not about a succession dispute to the Prophet Muhammad, or about the nature of the office of the person who succeeds the Prophet, or about alternate readings of the Qur’an. No, according to Santorum, Sunnis want to dominate the world, whereas Shi’i Muslims want to destroy the world. Yup, that is actually what he says. Somehow the thousands of books on Islam have so far failed to grasp this fine nuance.
*Santorum apparently plans to put religion professors like me out of business. No need for a PhD, no need to actually learn difficult languages like Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, or for that matter to visit Muslim countries and learn through human to human contact. No, Santorum is going to take care of the religious indoctrination of the country. He states that in his administration, "The President of the United States has to turn from the Commander in Chief to the Educator in Chief." Greaaaat. Just what we want the President to do, to be in charge of the religious education of the country.
*Perhaps the most chilling statement is Santorum’s summary, in which he lays out his winning strategy: "What must we do to win? We must educate, engage, evangelize and eradicate." So we have four words that all start with an E. One might disagree with his qualifications as a president to religiously educate the American nation, and let him explain how evangelize doesn’t mean evangelize, but it is that last unexplained word that catches one’s eye: eradicate. Eradiate what exactly? Eradicate Muslims? Eradicate all 1.5 billion Muslims? Santorum doesn’t feel the need to explain or clarify. He merely states: "The other thing we need to do is eradicate, and that's the final thing. As I said, this is going to be a long war."
In short, when you consider his overall views, it is not so much any one view that stands out, it is his overall vision for America that is stark. The many Americans who are poor, black, Hispanic, gay/lesbian, non-Christian, women working outside the home, or Muslim, may not fit in. And those Americans who see America as a tapestry that is made stronger through our diversity will also feel out of touch and out of place in Santorum's America.