Republicans and Democrats Can Work Together? Who Knew?

My friend Carl pointed out this interesting story on GetReligion.org, a blog which is run by several journalists and is devoted to discussions regarding the media's coverage of religion. The post is about the Joshua Green's cover article "Take Two" in the November issue of the Atlantic, which deals with Hilary Clinton's attempts to turn herself into "the consummate Washington player." According to Green's story, the primary catalyst for Hilary's "transformation" has been her involvement in a prayer group on Capitol Hill.

Apparently there are a number of these prayer groups where lawmakers gather together for some form of private worship. Most of these groups are affiliated with a secretive organization known as the Fellowship--according to Green, the Fellowship was:

established in the 1930s by a Methodist evangelist named Abraham Vereide, whose great hope was to preach the word of Jesus to political and business leaders throughout the world. Vereide believed that the best way to change the powerful was through discreet personal ministry, and over his lifetime he succeeded to a remarkable degree. The first Senate prayer group met over breakfast in 1943; a decade later one of its members, Senator Frank Carlson, persuaded Dwight Eisenhower to host a Presidential Prayer Breakfast, which has become a tradition.

While the existence of such groups is interesting in and of itself, what is particularly interesting is what occurred through Hilary Clinton's involvement in one of these prayer groups. These groups are primarily attended by conservative congressmen and women, and Hilary was in a group with Senator Sam Brownback, a well known and influential conservative from Kansas. Here is how Green describes what happened in the group:

One spring Wednesday, a few months into the term, Senator Sam Brownback’s turn came to lead the group, and he rose intending to talk about a recent cancer scare. But as he stood before his colleagues Brownback spotted Clinton, and was overcome with the impulse to change the subject of his testimony. “I came here today prepared to share about this experience in my life that has caused great suffering, the result of which has deepened my faith,” Brownback said, according to someone who watched the scene unfold. “But I’m overcome now with only one thought.” He confessed to having hated Clinton and having said derogatory things about her. Through God, he now recognized his sin. Then he turned to her and asked, “Mrs. Clinton, will you forgive me?” Clinton replied that she would, and that she appreciated the apology.

Green goes on to explain that as a result, Clinton and Brownback have worked together on two separate initiatives--one to protect refugees fleeing sexual abuse, and another to study the effects that violent video games and television shows have upon children.

There are two things that are significant to me about this story. First, it is refreshing to see two politicians who could not be on more opposite sides of the political spectrum working together. One could hope (probably futile, but lets pretend it is not) that such activity could become the rule, rather than the exception. Second, it is interesting that this bipartisan cooperation came about as a result of a regular prayer group. Green notes that these groups may be one of the last venues in which politicians feel free to share their faith and thoughts in a private setting--a place in which they can truly be themselves with one another. I find it fitting that this venue would be a prayer group, because it is exactly how the church should function--bringing together people from diverse backgrounds on the basis of their shared belief.

Of course, everything states in this story could be political rhetoric--certainly Hilary could benefit politically from being viewed as more moderate. While the cynic and realist in me thinks this is probably the case, the idealist in me hopes that maybe, just maybe, this story is an example of politicians doing something right.