Brownback: "Message is all-important"

Sen. Sam Brownback

Message is all-important. I believe the biggest threat to our future as a movement is a negative public face, when we don't project a welcoming and hopeful message based on an authentic faith. The future of the conservative movement in our country will be strong if we can be moved by genuine faith and love for mankind, but not by political power.

...

Atheistic communism ran counter to human nature when it tried to create a society without God. Such a society will never honor human dignity because it turns man in on himself, instead of outward in love.

The conservative movement in America will succeed to the degree that it is faith-filled. We must exude the virtues of authentic faith: joy, hope and love. Our movement must be more compassionate, loving and welcoming.

It doesn't mean we abandon our principles. Of course we will continue to stand for life, marriage and faith in the public square. The question is whether we move forward as bold people of faith, focused on compassion instead of judgment and dedicating our daily lives to witnessing instead of winning.

I can think of so much that is wrong with Sen. Brownback's op-ed. Unfortunately, time is a bit too precious to go into detail. Suffice it to say, my own clip for the title is added for both emphasis and sarcasm. Brownback dances back and forth between geniune faith-filled love as a key driver of conservatism, only to reside in the belief that what's simply needed is a friendlier, more compassionate mask on top of the existing policy ideas.

Umm, I think we've seen this before. Do I really need to remind anyone how it ended?