Novak’s Sect Appeal (Is he a member of Opus Dei?)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.radarmagazine.com/fresh-intelligence/

Does Bob Novak owe his uncanny capacity for secrecy to the right-wing Catholic sect Opus Dei? While his Network-like turn on CNN last Thursday seemed to suggest a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown, the columnist has so far managed to ignore persistent demands that he reveal his involvement in the Valerie Plame leak—a feat of rare internal fortitude that some say is a hallmark of the shadowy Christian group.

Members of the 76-year-old sect are known for self-flagellation and wearing spiked metal garters underneath their clothes as forms of penance—the kind of extreme self-discipline that’s said to have also appealed to one of Opus Dei’s most infamous initiates, ex-FBI agent and convicted Russian spy Robert Hanssen.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Yes, he is a member.

He was born Jewish, lost his faith, became Catholic in, IIRC, 1998. Then joined Opus Dei sometime afterward.

[DURHAM D]

2. Robert Hansen's boss - FBI Director Louis Freeh is also a

member, plus Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

[MissMarple]

3. Oh, joy, more fascist wingnuts.

Sam Brownback is as well. He converted to Catholicism and is a member of Opus Dei. And he lives in a house owned by a conservative religious group called "The Family" when he is in DC. These people are just too weird.

on edit: The Family is also known as "The Fellowship. I found this on google.

"Apparently Brownback has an affinity for surreptitious religious organizations. He maintains a residence in Washington DC in a house owned by C Street Center, a sister organization to a loose coalition of Christian government and business leaders known as the Fellowship. The Fellowship is so secretive that many of its members deny its existence. What is known about Brownback’s affiliation with this group is that he pays a heavily subsidized rent of $600.00 per month to live in the Fellowship’s house, and that he holds weekly religious meetings with the other five Congressmen who share his quarters. Despite its innocuous appearance, there are dark motives beneath the surface of the Fellowship, sometimes known as the Family. Founder Abraham Vereide’s held many fascist viewpoints, and infected many of our nation’s leaders with his ideologies as the Fellowship grew in popularity over the years."

http://www.selvesandothers.org/article9854.html

[Bridget Burke]

4. The article asks the question but does not anwer it.

Can you find confirmation?

Aren't there enough reasons to dislike Novak? The political influence of Opus Dei may be problematic, but what does any "weirdness" have to do with it? What is your opinion of the men in leather & chains who march in the Pride Parades?

Don't believe everything that The DaVinci Code says about Opus Dei. The article you linked adds: But while Novak appears to have adopted the sect’s cloak-and-dagger affectations, some accuse him of discarding the underlying themes of fellowship, humility, and charity that were stressed by Opus Dei founder Saint Josemaria Escriva, who preached that people should do "small things with great love.”

[MissMarple]

6. I found this on google, there are more results.

And check out my link in the post above. Rick Santorum is credited with helping convert Sam Brownback to Catholicism and into Opus Dei with McClosky.

" Though McCloskey denied the charges, Father Vincent Keane, then Aquinas director, dismissed him as associate chaplain in 1990. McCloskey has since become a high-powered figure in Washington, D.C., converting syndicated columnist Robert Novak, Senator Sam Brownback, Judge Robert Bork and others to Catholicism."

http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2005/03/22/news/12386.shtml

[meg]

5. Jeb Bush and John Roberts, too

Jeb joined about 1995.

I believe that the power thugs have decided to use the Catholic Church as their religious base rather than the US-limited fundie base. I believe that they are in the process of merging the US Talibans with the Catholic Church.

Look at the people have converted in the past 10 years. Look at the hierarchical, dictatorial structure of the Catholic Church. Look at the world-wide reach of the Catholic Church. Look at the merging of beliefs and emphasis on abortion and gay-bashing.

[Demeter]

7. Opus Dei Is The Pimple on America's Butt

and the sign of Caholicism's total disregard of the teachings of the prohpents and the Christ.

The Inquisition would be preferable, if not equally indefensible.

[warrens]

8. Scalia (Fat Tony to you) is too