Below, find the video clip of Sen. Sam Brownback's infamous "All for Jesus!" stump speech in Iowa. Having finally seen it, I can only marvel at the complete pee-in-the-pants hysteria this thing has caused among some commentators. I literally thought he'd be shrieking the phrase from a stage at the state fair or something. In fact, all Brownback does is mention it as a quote from Mother Teresa -- something she said to him after meeting him. He quotes Mother Teresa, then concludes. "Faith is a good thing, not a bad thing."
That's it. That's what Brownback said (and as Ross points out, none of this helped Brownback have much of a showing in a straw poll in the fairly culturally conservative state where he gave the speech). And this is supposed to mark him out as the herald of a burgeoning theocracy?
I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this point, but the "Here come the Christianists!" freak-out over the Brownback address tells us way more about how alienated from ordinary American experience the unnerved are than it tells us about Sam Brownback. I'm not a Brownback voter, for sure, and I wouldn't feel comfortable God into my campaign like that. But come on, that's well within the American political tradition. And let me warn you: if this kind of mild, anodyne pietism in public life makes you want to hide under the bed and await the knock at the door, good heavens, don't move to Texas.
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"Judging from previous posts, what appears to concern you most is the unwillingness of Muslims to pretend they're Christians."
What concern me most is willingness of so many Muslim to cut heads of infidels. How about you, unnamed commenter?
Rod wrote:
"It's not Islam; it's Islamism."
And the difference is? Perhaps some citations from Koran or Haditha that show the difference?
"It's the belief that we ought to be ruled by an Islamic theocracy"
Actually there no such belief. Every good Mussulman believes that the world must live under Allah given rules, Sharia.
In practical terms it is rulers who apply Sharia rules and it is Mullahs who issue verdicts.
"the acceptance, indeed the propagation, of Islamic extremist ideology in a time when Islamic extremists are making war on the United States."
What you call Islamic extremist ideology is a plain meaning of the Koran. Either you ignore the plain meaning and live life as a bad Mussulman. Or you believe in it and support those who try to curry their obligations out and live your life as a good Mussulman.
The trouble is most of you don't actually read up on- or listen to- what Senator Brownback actually says. He is, unsurprisingly, absolutely against any form of state run church - which everyone already knew. He goes on to say it would be bad for the church, which everyone for over 200 years - except some bloggers -has always realized. No one could get elected to Congress or elected three times to the US Senate from anywhere if he was anything like what these irrational bloggers say. He is NOT a proponent of "Open Borders" and just ten minutes of research would rebut all these myths. Spend more time reading and less time typing.
John E.,
I think his friends called him Matthey.
"He is NOT a proponent of "Open Borders" and just ten minutes of research would rebut all these myths. Spend more time reading and less time typing."
Just 2 min of googling and even average high school student will learn that Brownback has voted for Crush the Nation Immigration act last year, one of a handful of Repubs to do so.
Brownback voted for even worse Immigration bill this year. When he realized that bill is not going to pass, he went to an official vote keeper and changed his vote. To their shame many Repubs, commited yes votes, voted against this bill when they realized that it is going down. Repub Minority Leader is one of them.
But nobody was as shameless as Bback, who literally voted yes before voting no.
If Kansas voters have any sense they would dump Bback ASAP.
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