David Jones on Rick Santorum: Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor

Senator Santorum spoke from his heart, from his core convictions, in a way I have never personally heard a politician speak before.  It wasn't just the flowery symbolic rhetoric and platitudes that we typically hear from politicians who are speaking on the campaign trail.  He had a real message, a message that moves and changes hearts.  My parents, boys and I left there blown away.  He made us proud to be an American.  It has been long time since I have felt this way, not since Ronald Reagan.

P>LEE SUMMIT,MO (Catholic Online) - On Friday, February 3, I took my two boys and parents to see Rick Santorum in Lee Summit, Missouri, which is a suburb of Kansas City.  It was a great civics lesson for my boys.  Senator Santorum did a cross-circuit tour across Missouri, the Heartland of America, and was ending his visit for the day not too far from my own home. 

First, he visited and spoke in Hannibal, Missouri, which was the home to the legendary American writer, Mark Twain.  Next, he spoke in Fulton, Missouri, which is where Winston Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech and generations of great international speakers have came since that time.  Senator Santorum then went to Columbia, Missouri and held an amazing conversation on Faith, Freedom and the American Family with Dr. James Dobson.  Lastly, he arrived in Lee Summit to give one of the most powerful and moving talks that I have ever heard. 
 
Senator Santorum spoke from his heart, from his core convictions, in a way I have never personally heard a politician speak before.  It wasn't just the flowery symbolic rhetoric and platitudes that we typically hear from politicians who are speaking on the campaign trail.  He had a real message, a message that moves and changes hearts.  My parents, boys and I left there blown away.  He made us proud to be an American.  It has been long time since I have felt this way, not since Ronald Reagan.
 
Senator Santorum began his talk by saying that we have a fundamental philosophical choice to make in this country during this election.  This is the most important election of our generation, and it is one of the most important elections in American history.  Do we want a top-down model or do we want a bottom-up model?  This relates to not only Obamacare, but more fundamentally, how government should work in our lives and how Americans must take responsibility for their own lives.  If there was one overarching theme in his talk, that was it.  The genius of the American system of government is not one which puts its trust in the government, but instead puts its trust in the people, people who derive their rights from God. 
 
His talk was not so much about jobs or the economy, even though he does have a great economic plan to rebuild America's core, our manufacturing base. It was not so much about Obamacare or the other various Federal programs, which he would like to block-grant back to states and get the Federal government out of them.  It was not so much about foreign policy, i.e. Iran or the existential threat of Radical Islam to our country and to our way of life.  We have many problems, but the largest is an American people who have forgotten who we are and the sacrifices that so many have made to give us our freedom.
 
Senator Santorum spent the night talking about the two fundamental documents of our country, our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence.  As he did in a recent debate in Florida, he reminded us that the Constitution is the operating manual to this country.  Even more foundational though to what makes our country great is our Declaration.  Our Founding Fathers did not base our rights upon the mere opinions of their fellow man like the French did in their revolution, but instead they boldly stated that those rights come from God, who is the author and creator of the cosmos and our humanity.
 
He ended his remarks to a packed house of Missourians by talking about the often forgotten virtues of honor and duty.  He talked about the Founding Fathers who had offered their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to give us this amazing country, but every generation, every generation, has to renew this contract, this pledge, this oath, this covenant.  Are we going to be the generation which walks away from our heritage?  Our country needs us now, and the world desperately needs our example.
 
What struck me most about his remarks is when Senator Santorum stated that "he was not asking for our votes."  Never in my life have I ever heard a politician say that.  It goes completely against the conventional logic.  He was asking us to lead, to renew the pledge of our Founding Fathers, to have the courage to fight for America once again.  In the end, he trusts us.  He trusts that we will do the right thing.  He desires only what is best for our country, for our families, for our children.  At the end of the talk I had the privilege of shaking his hand, not the hand of a politician, but the hand of a good man, a great man who needs our prayers.
 
Listening to Senator Santorum was a blessing for me and for my family.  It was as if we were hearing once again George Washington at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.  It is a talk that I will never forget, and I hope it is a talk that my boys will never forget either.   

Disclaimer - The opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the author and not those of the U.S. Army.

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David Jones holds a Masters in Theological Studies from the Institute of Religious and Pastoral Studies, University of Dallas. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Pontifically recognized and approved ecclesial movement. He also runs a popular blog entitled La Nouvelle Theologie. His conversion story is published in the Italian book entitled Sotto Il Cielo D'America (Under the American Sky) written by Marco Bardazzi. The introduction of this book has been translated into English and is available on-line here.  

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