Brownback's silence on religion speaks volumes

The Hutchinson News ^ | June 15, 2003 | Mary Rintoul

[axel f]

Brownback's silence on religion speaks volumes

By Mary Rintoul

Sam Brownback says his religious affiliation is his private business.

The U.S. senator from Kansas has flatly refused to address the issue of his conversion a year ago to the Roman Catholic faith and his association with Opus Dei, an ultra-conservative offshoot of the church.

Brownback's silence speaks volumes.

The senior senator from Kansas should take a page from the book of a fellow Catholic politician, who came out swinging instead of ducking when the issue of religion was raised.

"I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish - where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source - where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials . . ."

Sen. Sam likely wishes for such eloquence. President John F. Kennedy was blessed with it.

Kennedy was the first Catholic ever elected president. And the issue of his religion came up time and again in the 1960 campaign. He was elected by the slimmest of margins, but he never fled the questions.

Unlike Kennedy, Brownback was not born into the Catholic faith. The senator's conversion - his wife and children remain Methodists - has raised questions and eyebrows. Not because of the faith he chose but because of the friends he keeps.

Brownback was lured to Catholicism by Opus Dei guru Father C. John McCloskey III. And since then, nearly every story about Opus Dei, whether written by the Catholic press or mainstream media, links Brownback and McCloskey.

Brownback, of course, won't comment on why he keeps getting mentioned with Opus Dei, which promotes self-flagellation - a practice more politicians should engage in, if you ask me.

Brian Finnerty, Opus Dei's director of communications in the United States, claims Brownback is not a member of Opus Dei. And that likely is true - membership requires a definite time commitment. Members are expected to attend Mass daily, pray the rosary daily, read the gospels daily and make a weekly confession.

Not exactly a schedule a busy senator like Brownback can keep.

Literally, Opus Dei means "work of God." It is a Catholic lay organization recognized by the Vatican, and it exhorts members to find holiness in daily living.

Not a bad idea. Until one digs a little deeper.

In addition to the daily and weekly chores and the self-whippings, Opus Dei numerates - members committed to celibacy and who typically live in an Opus Dei center or residence - embrace cult-like activities. Personal mail is read by an Opus Dei official; permission is needed to leave the residence; single women are not allowed any physical contact with men; members wear a tight band around their thigh for several hours each day as a reminder of Jesus' suffering on the cross.

Those are the activities that have been uncovered; other practices remain secret.

This is not normal.

Yet Brownback offers a telling no comment when asked to explain his new faith and why, even though he is not a member of Opus Dei, he is associated with the movement.

As a U.S. senator, he decides how to spend taxpayers' money. He helps craft laws for this country and participates in shaping foreign and domestic policies. The job calls for clear thinking and level-headedness. And it demands accountability.

The senator's association, whether by guilt or choice, with a secret society that practices cult-like activities under the auspices of the Vatican, should be exposed.

Brownback's life needs to be an open book. He cannot afford to operate in the dark, nor allow his personal life to be questioned or shrouded in Opus Dei mumbo-jumbo. Nor should his constituents condone such behavior.

Brownback chose a public life and public service. That means the light shines a bit brighter on his activities.

The senator from Kansas can stand in the shadows and whisper religious persecution. Or he can step up to the podium, as JFK did time and time again in 1960, and explain his faith and disassociate himself from Opus Dei.

A politician's religion doesn't matter. But a constituency's faith in that politician to conduct himself in the open - both privately and professionally - is critical to that politician's career and credibility.

Brownback's silence about his ties to Opus Dei begs the question: What does he have to hide?

Copyright 2003 The Hutchinson News

[RAT Patrol]

I grumble about the Wichita Eagle sometimes (they're hitting Bush hard these days, for all the wrong reasons), but here is an example of what's good about them. (The truth is, even though their opinions make me mad, they really are a bunch of decent people.)

Head Start tantrum

There's a lot of screeching coming out of Washington, D.C., these days as Congress crafts a bill to reauthorize Head Start, a federal program established in 1965 to promote school readiness through educational, health and social services to preschool children of low-income families.

Research indicates that although Head Start students as a group improve in terms of social skills and access to health care, they still lag behind their peers academically, so changes appear to be warranted. But getting the details right is crucial to ensuring that change is improvement.

As the parties wrestle over the $6.5 billion budget, the role of the states, rules for Head Start-affiliated faith-based groups and what aspects of the program should be expanded or eliminated, there's one important thing everyone should keep in mind: what's best for the kids.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the board, L. Kelly

Now, that's not a big deal until you consider what it does and doesn't say. It doesn't whine about more money being the cure-all. It acknowledges the study that found HS ineffective in most areas. It mentions faith-based groups without foaming at the mouth. Etc... To me, it's an honest position for a paper to take. There are no plans on the table so they are not trying to push someone's agenda before the fact. It is not knee-jerk, give the teachers money no matter what the result. It's not hostile to people of faith. Mostly, they take that kind of approach to things. If you land on the losing side, they resist defaming you (for the most part). They fall into this "voters were sleeping" stuff when conservatives come up big, and anyone I love as a representative is sure to be an "idealogue" or otherwise way too principled. My candidates/represenatives are also going to be embarassing, backwards, etc... But really, I can live with all of that. It beats the alternative. They do criticize their own too (differently).

[RAT Patrol]

I pinged myself instead of you to post 41. (Silly me!)

[wimpycat]

Brownback should hold his ground and continue to not comment on his religion.

They're trying to turn people against him because he's Catholic and because he "has something to hide". That's the impression they are trying to create.

But if they continue harping on it, voters will get the impression that he's being persecuted because of his religion, and that won't go over very well.

[iconoclast]

Get back to us when you find a snake handler in the Senate.

Does this crap really fly in Kansas?

[axel f]

LOL! I remember doing that a time or two.

Your description of "what the article doesn't say" is really sad from a standpoint that you're happy it isn't in there. Especially since if it had been the Crapital-Urnial, it most defintely would have. It is refreshing not being called a name in an editorial, isn't it?

Speaking of Connie Morris, have you read her book? I keep meaning to, but then I keep forgetting.

[RAT Patrol]

I didn't even know she had a book. I should read it. She deserves a fair airing of her views.

[axel f]

I think I heard you can get it at Hastings. I can't even remember the title. I heard it's really good though.

[RAT Patrol]

I guess if we were not embarrassing ideologues, we would understand the Crapiol-Journal a little better.

[RAT Patrol]

If you are a lefty, you are not an ideologue; you're principled. I cannot remember ever reading about a lefty ideologue. I don't remember them ever being embarrassing, or winning only because voters were sleeping either. It appears that a low turnout is the other reason conservatives sometimes win. It has nothing to do with real public opinion you understand.

[Rushian]

How come I had read from the day he was elected that Brownback was Catholic? As for the JFK BS, he should have been kicked in the @ss for going to Houston and submitting himself to the Baptist Preacher Inquisition!

[AdA$tra]

I would much rather have have a Senator who actually practices his faith than a Governor that pretends to be Catholic. She cannot even tolerate the basic ideas of the Catholic faith, but seeks any potential political advantage she can by claiming to be Catholic. How can one trust anyone on any issue when they don't even stand behind what they claim to beleive. Even before Sam became Catholic he was out doing good things that had no self-empowering political purpose such as working to end the slave trade in the Sudan. It is no surprise that this liberal reporter cannot even see that much. More hypocracy from the left....or perhaps she supports the slave trade in Sudan?

This article is a piece of trash. I would hope even Kansas democrats could see through this tripe. I do, however, agree with RW that Sam is untouchable in the next election. Other than that one shining example, our once great state is in serious trouble.

[AdA$tra]

I guess if we were not embarrassing ideologues, we would understand the Crapiol-Journal a little better.

Better than what? LOL!

[Steel Eye]

The Hutch News is pretty bad. Mary Rintoul is one of the more sensible of the bunch. She was the only one who believed that Sadamn needed to go. The rest just hate conservatives.

It seemed to me like they were *trying* to provoke threats against Connie Morris. In this one they basically called her a Nazi without coming right out and doing so. They are very good at that sort of thing.

I think they should publish a compilation of some of their better hit-pieces. Sort of a coffee table book for liberals. They could call it "Fear and Loathing at The Hutchinson News". Or "Race-Baiting for Dummies."


http://www.hutchnews.com/past/05-04-2003/opinion/opinion2.html

Cinco de Mayo

Hispanic holiday takes on sense of urgency

Last May, Connie Morris was a storm cloud on the Colorado border, the National Socialist Movement a rumble in the northern Plains.

Not this May.

Communities across Kansas celebrate Cinco de Mayo this weekend. But this year, the festival takes on a sense of urgency.

Because after years of growth and integration, Kansas Hispanics suddenly find themselves under attack from the right.

Few people gave Morris, a St. Francis Republican, much of a chance in her State Board of Education primary last summer against incumbent I.B. "Sonny" Rundell. But Morris found a message that appealed to aging western Kansas whites - stop educating the children of illegal immigrants.

A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling found it illegal for public schools to deny education to the children of undocumented aliens. Morris said that she was aware of the ruling, but in the end, she didn't care; she wanted to play on the region's fear of Hispanics and Asians, and it worked. She knocked Rundell out of the election.

Hispanic advocates expressed outrage, but too late. No Democrats filed for the Western Kansas seat on the board, and Rundell lost badly in a November write-in campaign.

Now a woman who believes immigrant children should only be given one year in school to learn English holds a seat on the State Board of Education.

But those views appear mild compared to the tenets of the Nationalist Socialist Movement, which showed up on the Statehouse steps for a summer rally.

A neo-Nazi group from Minneapolis, Minn., the NSM advocates "nothing less than the absolute domination of the white, civilized areas of the earth by the Aryan white man." On a sweltering August day, a group of 21 Nazis attracted about 50 sympathizers and 500 protesters at the Capitol.

The state's minority leaders responded quickly and firmly to the National Socialist Movement, but the threat continues. As one Nazi leader put it, "Kansas is a good environment for us and our message."

Kansas Hispanics celebrate their heritage this weekend, and well they should. They contribute to the vitality of this state.

But they also need to begin planning for their future in Kansas - a state where Connie Morris and neo-Nazis no longer rumble in the distance; they're upon us, and they see the state's growing racial diversity as a problem, not an asset.

[RAT Patrol]

LOL! I am not progressive enough to know.

[axel f]

RP, did you read latest Steel Eye's post? LOL! That "editorial" about Connie Morris just made me laugh. I wasn't offended. It was so ridiculous it just made me laugh.

[axel f]

Let's make that "RP, did you read Steel Eye's latest post?" Proofreading is a good thing.

[RAT Patrol]

she wanted to play on the region's fear of Hispanics and Asians, ????? ROTFL! Lacking an honest argument, there is always the delusional alternative.

They could call the coffee table book The Art of Political Delusion and Scare Tactics.

[RAT Patrol]

You know, I rarely notice someone else's mistake until they point it out. I should learn from that and quit pointing out my own. LOL!

[Steel Eye]

>>> They could call the coffee table book The Art of Political Delusion and Scare Tactics.

Exactly. That is what they were trying to do. Cause Hispanics and Asians to fear conservatives. Create a crisis, a "sense of urgency," out of thin air.

It really is despicable. Goebbels would be proud.

[axel f]

My favorite part was at the beginning when they described Connie Morris as a "storm cloud on the Colorado border." LOL! So dramatic. Especially if you've ever heard and seen Connie Morris, that description is so off the mark it's hilarious.