Santorum also made headlines with his eye-popping comment in February that reading John F. Kennedy鈥檚 famous 1960 speech on religious freedom made him want to 鈥渢hrow up.鈥�
鈥淲hat kind of country do we live in that says only people of nonfaith can come into the public square and make their case?鈥� Mr. Santorum said Feb. 26 on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥�
Later he added: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.鈥�
Santorum is a devout Roman Catholic, but he has a large following among born-again 海角大神s. Religious conservatives have long complained about court rulings that bar expressions of faith in public settings, such as prayer in public schools, nativity scenes on public land, and the posting of the Ten Commandments in court houses 鈥� and many see Santorum as a champion of their cause.
Romney, in contrast, is a Mormon 鈥� a controversial religion in some circles 鈥� and prefers to keep discussion of faith out of the public sphere. True, when he gave a major speech on faith in his last presidential run four years ago, he argued that separation of church and state had gone too far 鈥� but without criticizing the Kennedy speech. In his 2012 campaign, Romney has declined to discuss his faith, except to say that it is a pillar of his life.
More important, Santorum mischaracterized the intent of the Catholic Kennedy鈥檚 speech, as he sought to reassure Americans that he would not take orders from the Vatican if elected president, according to FactCheck.org.
鈥淗e never said that religious people could not voice their opinions,鈥� says the FactCheck.org article on Santorum鈥檚 statement. 鈥淲e find nothing in Kennedy鈥檚 words that could be reasonably construed to say that Kennedy would not 鈥榗onsult with people of faith,鈥� as Santorum claimed.鈥�
Santorum later told conservative talk-radio host Laura Ingraham that he regretted his characterization of Kennedy鈥檚 speech, saying the speech contained some 鈥済ood things.鈥� But he added that 鈥渢here were some things [in the speech] that triggered in my opinion the privatization of faith and I think that鈥檚 a bad thing.鈥�
