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David Matthews 2 is a freelance writer in Gainesville, Georgia. He is also the host of "Brutally Honest - LIVE!" which you can hear live every Wednesday night.

(The article is a continuation of the "Target Moralism" series, which can be read in full in the Brutally Honest Archives)

Target: Moralism - Part 6
The Moralist’s Theory of Extreme Relativity
– by David Matthews 2

"A healthy appetite for righteousness, kept in due control by good manners, is an excellent thing; but to ‘hunger and thirst’ after it is often merely a symptom of spiritual diabetes." - C. D. Broad

This is going to sound a bit strange coming from a freedom-lover like myself, but thank you Senator Rick Santorum!

The Pennsylvania Republican was recently asked about his thoughts on the pending decision by the US Supreme Court over the State of Texas and their outdated and anti-American sodomy law. Texas law allows oral and anal sex, you see, but only amongst members of the opposite sex. That means that the state government is OBLIGATED to make sure that the partners have the proper personal plumbing, even in the privacy of their own homes. And indeed, that is what they did when they arrested two gay men and convicted them of engaging in sodomy.

So now the Supreme Court is deciding whether or not that law is constitutional… and while working brains would tell you that it should NOT be, the justices have made some fatal constitutional errors in the past, including sustaining a similar law from Georgia in 1988. Some justices that presided over the Georgia case later on admitted that they erred in their decision. And even the state’s highest court finally did what Washington refused to do, namely throw out their antiquated anti-American law.

That brings us back to Senator Santorum. When asked about his thoughts on the case, the tried-and-true moralist quickly exerted his belief that the government MUST enforce some moral standard, even in the privacy of one’s bedroom.

This is what Santorum told the Associated Press on April 7th:

"And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution…"

Scary, huh? And this man is a United States Senator! Someone who makes and passes laws that affect everyone in America! Not only that, but he is the third highest-ranking Republican in the US Senate, and he believes that YOU do not have a right to privacy!

And in case you think that his quote was taken "out of context", he goes on to say:

"I've been very clear about that. The right to privacy is a right that was created in a law that set forth a (ban on) rights to limit individual passions. And I don't agree with that."

Now the Republicans are playing damage control all over again. Santorum’s anti-gay and anti-privacy diatribe came just months after fellow senator Trent Lott stuck his foot in his mouth concerning the old Southern Party, which supported racial segregation and racial lynching. And this time the Bloated Elephant Party is fighting tooth and nail to make sure Santorum stays where he is. The Bush people are also doing everything in their power to make sure that Santorum doesn’t join the Trent Lott Club for the politically irrelevant.

The Republicans are quick to point to Santorum’s comments in that same interview. "I have no problems with homosexuality," he said on April 7^th, "I have a problem with homosexual acts."

"Ah-HA!" exclaim the bloated elephants, "See? He doesn’t hate gay people!" Oh yes, the old biblical creed of hating the sin but loving the sinner.

But even that is a lie, not only to other people, but to themselves as well. Would you tell a black man to stop being black? Would you tell Bill Clinton to stop lying? Would you tell the Pope to stop being Catholic? So how is it you can have a problem with everything that makes a homosexual what they are, and yet not have a problem with them?

Essentially what moralists like Santorum are telling those in the gay community is this: "We have no problem in what you are, so long as you never ACT on those things that make you different. You are forever condemned to live the life of a sexless drone." This commentator is certainly not gay, but even I would be insulted by that kind of arrogant, presumptive statement! That’s hardly what anyone in their right mind would consider being either "inclusive" or "compassionate".

The liberals, Democrats, and the gay community are all up in arms about Santorum’s linking of homosexuality with incest, adultery, polygamy, and – by later references in that same interview – child molestation and bestiality. They think that the comparison is "out of line". But what they don’t realize is that for moralists like Santorum, such a comparison is right on the money!

You see, my friends, in the mind of a moralist like Rick Santorum, it’s ALL related. This is standard operating procedure for moralists everywhere. To him, and people like him, homosexuality is no different than any evil act in the world, so OF COURSE he’s going to relate it to every vile act he can think of.

Go back in history, my friends, and take a look at all of the things that moralists considered being evil and vile in the world. Pool halls, dance clubs, liquor, racy magazines, couples sleeping in the same bed on TV… you’ll find a similar argument with each of them. "Allow THIS", the moralists have contended, "and you open up Pandora’s box. You invite all sorts of evil and wickedness into the world." They have linked, and they will continue to link, whatever they do not like with all of the crime and social problems that we suffer under.

But this commentator happens to think that the pitchfork and torch crowd looking to roast Santorum for his comments do not realize the full scope of what he said in that controversial interview.

The media didn’t help matter much when they edited Santorum’s anti-sex diatribe to imply that he was simply speaking against homosexuality. Go back to what he said in that interview: "If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consentual sex within your home…" He was not just condemning homosexuality, but CONSENTUAL SEX in general! That includes heterosexual sex!

And I’m not just the only one who spotted this. Ronald Bailey of the libertarian magazine Reason noticed this as well, although he was quick to brush it off by saying "So relax, Senator Santorum, and leave people alone. It's none of your business anyway."

Unfortunately for America, the senator thinks that it IS his business.

Let’s get brutally honest here… Senator Richard Santorum of Pennsylvania is a threat to freedom, not because he has some puritanical moral standards, but because he feels that he, as a member of government, is OBLIGATED to FORCE those standards on the rest of us! In that regard, he is no different than the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the Shiite mullahs in Iran, who feel that THEIR morals compel them to FORCE their standards onto others.

So why the hell was I "thanking" him? Simple. Because he just made my job that much easier.

For years I’ve been warning about the threats to freedom from INSIDE America. I’ve talked about the evils of moralism and how self-righteous tyrants have conspired and ARE conspiring to take over America and turn it into some demented Christian version of Iran. But it is another thing to actually have a name and a face to the people who want to tell you how to live your life. Well finally I can say HERE is one of them! Here is someone who feels it is his RIGHT and his OBLIGATION as a member of government to tell you how to live your life! Not just in polite company, not just out and on the town, not even just in your own backyard, but ALSO in the privacy of your own home and in your own bedroom! Senator Santorum just "outed" himself, so to speak, with that diatribe of his on April 7^th.

And he’s not the only one who is "outing" himself and letting his true tyrannical position be known. The more politicians and political organizations that are quick come to his defense and extol his so-called "virtues" and his anti-freedom and anti-sex positions, the more people will realize just how wide-spread the internal threat to America really is! These aren’t just some fringe groups looking to make a name for themselves and their cause. These are well-financed, highly organized groups with solid voting bases and an agenda that is only now starting to come to light. In the weeks, months, and even years to come, their agenda will become crystal clear, as well as their disdain for the individual. And YES, they have no qualms about sending their fellow Americans to prison to achieve their goals.

The freedoms we take for granted in America are not communal freedoms. They are INDIVIDUAL ones. And there is nothing more symbolic of that individual freedom than the rights of individuals to do as they damn well please within reason and within the confines of their own home. Any American that cherishes their own freedom would do well to keep moralistic politicians like Santorum as far away from positions of power as possible, lest their own freedoms become the next on the chopping block.