Rick Santorum Isn’t Another Trent Lott

by John Hawkins | April 23, 2003 4:34 pm

Rick Santorum Isn’t Another Trent Lott: Rick Santorum, R-Pa has gotten the “outrage industry” all upset with his recent comments about Lawrence v. Texas, a case dealing with sodomy laws that is in front of the Supreme Court. Here’s the money paragraph that has been getting the most play…

“And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything.”

That statement was part of a case that Santorum was making to support the anti-sodomy law. There’s more in this short interview with Santorum and it’s probably worth reading[1] just to get a feel for the whole argument Santorum is trying to get across.

When I think about this case, I hearken back to the famous quote from James Otis which reads. “one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle.” That being said, I’m not in favor of sodomy laws, because I think the government has no business peering into the bedroom of your “castle” to see you’re having sex with and what positions the two of you are getting into.

I’m sure Rick Santorum would counter what I’ve just said by saying that, “if you say that sodomy is legal, you’re opening the door to, “bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery.” It’s a “slippery slope” argument and to be honest, I don’t think it’s totally without merit.

So on the sodomy law, I’m in favor of gingerly taking that baby-step down the slope and hoping that we’re not setting a precedent that we’ll regret 20 years down the road when some slick lawyer is arguing a bestiality or adult incest case.

As far as homosexuality itself goes, I think Santorum obviously finds it to be deviant and immoral behavior and to be honest, he’s probably in the majority. You can argue about whether that’s right or wrong, but when you get into people’s sexual mores & their religious beliefs, you’re probably not going to change anyone’s mind. Furthermore, Santorum didn’t say that he thought gays should be attacked or locked up in camps, he just made it clear that he didn’t approve of their behavior. I don’t think that he said anything he needs to apologize for, although I think it was appropriate for him to clarify his remarks[2]. Maybe some people don’t like what Santorum said, but anytime you start discussing what’s happening the bedroom of people’s “castles” and move it into the public arena, it is going to be controversial. That’s how it has always been and probably how it always will be…

***Update***: After much reading and thought on this subject, I have changed my opinion. While I do think states should repeal sodomy laws, I have come to the conclusion that we shouldn’t even take that, “baby-step down the (slippery) slope” in this case. Here’s an editorial that explains my thinking[3] on this issue in more depth.

Endnotes:
  1. worth reading: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/04/22/national1737EDT0668.DTL
  2. clarify his remarks: http://santorum.senate.gov/pressreleases/record.cfm?id=203106/
  3. explains my thinking: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/john/santorum.php

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