Christianity
Santorum Decries America's "Cultural and Moral Decline"
By Mike Hein
Apr 27, 2007 - 3:08:54 PM

A capacity crowd filled Colby College's Diamond Building Auditorium to hear former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum speak on Thursday evening. The 300 largely college students in attendance heard Santorum present "The Dawn of an American Renaissance," his analysis of the global war on radical Islam. Santorum focused on the imminent danger that radical Islam presents to our nation in his one hour speech and the hour of answering questions that proceeded it. "We must confront the threat before us before it's too late," he said.

In attendance were the Mayor of Waterville, Republican Paul LePage, the Maine Republican Party's Executive Director, Julie O'Brien, former Maine Republican Party Vice-Chairman Dan Schuberth, Maine's College Republican Chairman Nate Walton, and Colby College's College Republican Chairman Nathaniel Betz, who hosted the event. The speaking engagement was co-sponsored by the Young America's Foundation. Noticeably absent were any media outlets other than the League's Record.

Santorum, a devout pro-life, pro-family Christian, talked about the current conflict between the United States and radical Muslim terrorist states in the Middle East in cultural terms. He warned that "unless there is a [moral] renewal, time will cause [the United States] to decay, become vulnerable." "Culture drives everything," he said, urging the crowd to work towards a more healthy and moral culture.

In his remarks regarding our nation's war against radical Islam, Santorum said, "This is a cultural conflict or struggle. We don't like to talk about it, but the truth is that our enemy is not 'terror.' Terror is [only] a tactic. The enemy prays to a god, and their god has a theology." He noted that even "President Bush refuses to confront that truth." "Europe is being Islamicized as we speak. Europe, as we know it, is dying. Theirs is a crisis of faith." Regarding their capitulation to Islam, he later remarked, "Europe has thrown in the towel."

Santorum�s speech reached its high point when he exclaimed, "We should not negotiate with the Iranians because they want to blow everything up."

He ended his prepared comments citing Sir Winston Churchill's famous "This was their finest hour" speech. He concluded with his own personal statement, "We're not going to win [this war] cleanly; we're not going to win it quickly."

Used with permission of the Christian Civic League of Maine.