Rick Santorum said the nation's colleges are promoting a "sea of antagonism toward Christianity" and "indoctrinating" its youth with ideals that support gay marriage, abortion and pornography.
Santorum called in to Tony Perkins' "Washington Watch" on Tuesday to talk about the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling. The conversation dealt not only with abortion but also included other "symptoms" that have changed the nation.
Perkins spoke broadly, saying pro-choice Americans represent a troubled country that doesn't choose life, meaning "That is to follow the principals, the teachings, the instructions of God ... You see that as you've been in Washington, D.C. There is a rejection of this idea of truth, and that there is a foundation or morality, which needs to be upheld."
Santorum agreed, adding that less young people devote themselves to Christianity. "If you look at the popular culture and what comes out of Hollywood, if you go to our schools and particularly our colleges and universities, they are indoctrinated in a sea of relativism and a sea of antagonism towards Christianity."
"Abortion is a symptom. Marriage is a symptom. Pornography [is a symptom]," he continued. "All of these are symptoms to the fundamental issue that we've gotten away from the truth and the 'Truth-Giver.'"
Santorum has long been against gay marriage and anti-abortion. When he was in the running for the GOP presidential nomination, he vowed to initiate a war on porn if elected. Santorum received his undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University, an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law but has criticized the notion that college is a critical entry point to the middle class.
"President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob!" Santorum said last February, according to the New York Times. "There are good, decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to the test that aren't taught by some liberal college professor trying to indoctrinate him. I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image."
The Times highlighted a 2008 study that disproved the theory that going to college makes students increasingly liberal. The study found that 18 to 24-year-old students' ideals shifted somewhat leftward, but this was in line with normally occurring shifts in that age group regardless of education.