Nienstedt vs. Hann on the State Budget

There seems to be a lot of buzz around Archbishops Nienstedt’s letter to Governor Mark Dayton about the budget situation in Minnesota and the response he received from Senator David Hann. Some comments have been fair and honest, but most of them have been extremely one sided or another. First of all, to set the record straight, my political leaning is that of an asparagus. I have no political party, and I think that all politicians act pretty much the same way.  When you hang out with other politicians all day long you tend to talk and act like a politician. Also, I am not pro or anti-catholic.  I believe what I believe and you believe what you believe; no harm no foul. However, I do believe that different  groups can learn from each other if they just take the time to listen.
 
When it comes to activities at the capital, Archbishop Nienstedt represents another constituency working to gain the ear of government. Whether or not you agree with whom or what he represents is a whole different issue entirely; he represents another constituency.  Now that’s not good or bad, it just is what it is.  Now, the Archbishop is appealing to the government on behalf of the human services that he represents to ensure that their state dollars aren’t taken away.  No problem, everyone does that it’s all part of politics and government. However, when the Archbishop writes his appeal to a democratic governor, ignores a republican held congress, and adds comments like “spending reductions, program delivery reform and increased revenue should all be on the table” he begins to walk, talk, and act like a Democrat. The Archbishop stepped across the fine line of a religious leader and stepped into the land of politics and chose to put on the robes of a democrat. So, he’ll get what he gets when someone responds like Senator Hann.  Like he might have expected something else?
 
However, Senator Hann isn’t clean as the proverbial bishop’s robe either.  In his response to the Archbishop he reacted as any politician would react to a letter that leans toward the other side of the political aisle. He went over the top and started spouting off platitudes about “socialist fiction” and “moral claims on someone else’s property” and might have popped a blood vessel in the process (this is not confirmed at all but merely speculation on my part). However, whatever the normal political lingo that occurs at the capital between Senators and Representatives, he should never treat any citizenry the way that he treated the Archbishop, irregardless of how much Senator Hann thinks that the Archbishop deserved it.
 
The Archbishop stepped into the world of politics and got just what we would expect from politics, a instant attack on his beliefs and views; politics as usual.  Senator Hann went over the top in his response to the Archbishop as any politician would.  Both sides attacked this issue poorly and both sides get attacked from both sides. However, at least the rest of us can should recognize the situation for what it is instead of jumping to one side or the other and making this out to be something bigger than it is. But hopefully we can learn the lesson about the flaws in the religious side as well as the nature of politicians in all of this and work to change both sides. Oh well, all of this at least reaffirms my belief in the separation of church and state.