Addressing faculty and students Ave Maria University late last month, Former Senator Rick Santorum hailed the right-wing school for producing class after class of warriors for God who are desperately needed in order to win the “spiritual war” that is threatening to destroy America:
As the guest speaker at Ave Maria University’s fall convocation August 29, Sen. Rick Santorum described the sources of what he called a “spiritual war” currently engulfing America. He told faculty and students at the Catholic college in Naples, Fla. that corruption is all around us, from our academics and culture, to politics and government. Even our nation’s religious heritage and material prosperity have been corrupted to undermine the values on which America was founded, and “exterior attacks from radical Islam” complete the assault. Observing the current political climate he said, “This is not a political war, it is not a cultural war; it’s a spiritual war.”
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Explaining what he calls a “spiritual war,” Sen. Santorum said, “The Father of Lies has his sights on what you would think the Father of Lies would have his sights on – a good, decent, powerful, influential country: the United States of America.”
Among the institutions under spiritual attack, Sen. Santorum identified academia as the “first to fall.” Our university students are being taught to “pursue no truths, or to deny the existence of [objective] truth,” he said. Mr. Santorum said American has abandoned the Judeo-Christian ethic it was founded on. Consequently in his view a culture in which “poor behavior is made fashionable,” has been Satan’s subsequent success.
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“Things are so bad and you are here,” he said triumphantly. “God has chosen you to be here in a time when he needs soldiers the most; congratulations!”
“The greatest thing is, signing up for His army is easy,” he said, “but, the money’s lousy, you’ll be unpopular, you’ll be ridiculed and you’ll lose most if not every one of your battles.”
With still elevated speech, he ended, “But you know who’s going to win in the end, so you warrior on happily.”
