No one would argue that Republican presidential
hopeful Rick Santorum stands out as being exceptionally, or even
nominally, bright. He’s deeply religious. He’s a homophobe. But
intelligence?
It’s not his strong suit. Even so, his recent remarks towards
Pope Francis surpass even his legendary foot-in-mouth problem.
In an interview with a local radio station,
Santorum told the pope to “leave science to the scientists” regarding
climate change.
“The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science, and I think that we probably are better off leaving science to the scientists,” he told the pope. “I think when we get involved with controversial political and scientific theories, then I think the church is probably not as forceful and credible. And I’ve said this to the bishops many times when they get involved in agriculture policy or things like that, that are really outside the scope of what the church’s main message is.”
Santorum managed to pull a rare “double irony.” A comment so
dumb that it manages to miss the boat in two places at once. It’s impressively
dense because:
A) Climate scientists already agree that climate change is real and
B)
Francis himself has a Master’s degree in chemistry.
He may not be a practicing scientist, but he was certainly trained as one. Santorum, on the other hand, is a lawyer and former politician with zero background in climatology, chemistry, or any of the other scientific fields that would apply to grasping the concept. He should probably take his own advice and leave the science of climate change to the scientists, like the Pope.
However, you do have to admit, Santorum’s “stay in your lane,
Pope” argument is a newer, sleeker approach to the shopworn “I’m not a
scientist, but…” that conservatives have been using to simultaneously deny
science, while also pretending they are being open-minded about it.
If it hadn’t blown up in Santorum’s face (please don’t google that phrase),
then undoubtedly his GOP contenders would be scrambling to take a shot at the
pope as well. Instead, Francis just had to ruin everything by getting that
annoying Masters in Chemistry before
becoming leader of the Catholic faith.
More to the point, even if the pope was not a scientist, he
still deserves a seat at the climate table. In fact, we all do. That’s because
climate change will impact our entire planet in complex and frightening ways.
Scientists (but not Santorum) know that the warming planet will, for example,
cause storms to be stronger and more frequent, a bad turn of events for
anyone currently living on the face of the Earth who prefers that their
house stays upright and intact, their feet stay dry, and the mountains they
live on stay firmly in place without sliding down to crush them.
Santorum, a Catholic, is at odds with his religious leader
because, like many of his Republican colleagues, he doesn’t like that the
Francis’s clear-eyed acknowledgement of climate change butts up against his
firmly held pro-business beliefs.
For Santorum and friends, global warming is
literally an inconvenient truth – one that angers the type of people who give
him campaign money. And as ever, when faced with the choice of remaining true to
his faith or having the (very, very, very) slight chance of becoming president
funded by oil money, Santorum only needs a moment before telling the Pope to
take a hike.
AuthorJameson Parker covers US politics, social justice issues, and
other current events which aren't getting the attention they deserve. Feel free
to follow or drop me a line on twitter.