Rick Santorum’s interview with Caffeinated Thoughts, an evangelical Christian blog, is a fascinating one. He covers a wide range of topics, including some of his favorites: family, procreation and marriage. In one sense the interview humanizes Santorum. He comes across more calm, more focused, less angry than is often the case when he is speaking to a large audience. You get the sense that the man is being honest with himself and his audience in a way politicians seldom are.
He is also consistent, which can be another positive attribute, unless the consistency becomes rigidity. In the interview, Santorum says,
“One of the things I will talk about that no president has talked about before is I think the dangers of contraception in this country, the whole sexual libertine idea… It’s not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be within marriage, for purposes that are, yes, conjugal… but also procreative.”
Santorum also says that when procreation is taken out of the equation, the special bond between men and women is diminished.
As Conor Friedersdorf, a staff writer at The Atlantic, has pointed out, Santorum’s interest in what goes on in a couple’s bedroom runs directly counter to his limited-government label but it also becomes deeply rigid, black and white without any hint of gray. In short, his thoughts on what can create a special bond is one dimensional. What Santorum misses is the chance to advance the argument. How does a couple navigate the desires for sex and pleasure within the context of their “special” relationship and without the purpose of procreation. Answering that question will impact most people’s lives.
Here’s the entire interview. Jump to the 18-minute time code if you want to hear his views on sex and procreation.
Image courtesy of Gage Skidmore
