Everyone expects the Brownback inquisition!

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) has induced seizures in theocon watchdogs for claiming in a letter to Catholic parishioners that five Catholic members of the Senate who are pro-choice are not really Catholic.

"These liberals siphon off huge chunks of 'values voters' who are tricked into sending, 'abortion-on-demand' politicians to represent them in Washington, DC.," writes Brownback. "Real Catholics need a new voice — not the likes of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi who have campaigned as Catholics while voting to undermine the values that we hold most dear."

"It is unusual, and perhaps unprecedented in modern times, for one senator to question the religious practices of another," writes Joe Feuerherd, of the National Catholic Reporter, who broke the news.

The NCR also reports that Brownback's office denies he has anything to do with the letter. "Our chief of staff ... had never seen, heard of, or approved it," said Brownback spokesperson, Brian Hart.

But the Damon Linker of the New Republic is skeptical. "[T]he fact is that given Brownback's longstanding support for the theocon approach to waging the culture war, there is no way for him to reject the contents of the letter on principle. He simply wants the inquisition to be conducted on someone else's letterhead."

Linker believes this is the fulfillment of a theocon dream:

Now it isn't just theocon writers (and the occasional bishop) who will act as inquisitors of Catholic Democrats but also their colleagues on Capitol Hill. That's what happens when political ideology and theological orthodoxy are brought into perfect alignment, which is what the theocons have been after for years.

Politicians as arbitrators of orthodoxy. This isn't new, is it?

Hitchens: prejudice and paranoia under the cloak of faith is everyone's problem

Hitchens weighs in on the Catholicism's recent slide into pre-Vatican II practices and the messy attitudes that come with it. On the re-emergence of accussations of deicide, Hitchens responds:

The Christian consensus is that Jesus went to Jerusalem on that Passover in the full knowledge that he was going to his death. Ought this not to mean that the Jews and Romans did humanity a favor, by obediently fulfilling prophecy and by spilling the blood that ransomed the world? Evidently not. As a nonbeliever, this is not my problem. But the indulgence of prejudice and paranoia under the cloak of faith is my problem as a citizen.

Now you too can own your very own Cloak of Faith! Here's how:
Step one: Cut from the Bible your desired design. (Tip: Take care when selecting your pattern; many patterns are deceptively similar but clash when held side-by-side.)

Step two (optional): Soak your design in historical research. (Tip: Archaeology is the preferred treatment, but the social sciences will do in a pinch.)

Step three: Tie your material tightly under your chin. (Tip: The material is more likely to stay fastened if you have it secured with a rigid dogma.)

Step four: You may now roam about freely. Should anyone begin investigations into what you are concealing under the cloak, refer them to the makers of the design you wear. It is not the wearers of the cloak, after all, who are responsible for the design. They are merely its models.

And it was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and ruby peach and olive and violet and...