On Scott Brown and Cosmopolitan magazine

By: American Decency Staff

Massachusetts Senator-elect Scott Brown says he has “no regretsâ€Â about posing nude for a 1982 Cosmopolitan magazine photo spread. In an exclusive ABC “This Weekâ€Â interview (January 31), Brown told Barbara Walters “you have to have a sense of humor about yourself,â€Â and links the centerfold to many of his successes that came later in life. “If I hadn't done that… I never would have been sitting here with you. It's all connected,â€Â Brown told Walters. That’s the spin that ABC News puts upon the interview that Barbara Walters did with Scott Brown regarding Brown’s posing nude for a 1982 Cosmopolitan magazine photo spread. http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2010/01/brown-no-regrets-on-cosmo-nude-spread.html Several points that I would like to share here: (1) If you watch the actual footage from that interview you will see Scott Brown rather quickly placing his hands over the middle section of the photo display that Barbara Walters places before the viewers. His non-verbal reaction certainly didn’t indicate that he wasn’t at least somewhat embarrassed. (2) Scott Brown went on to make the point that he has served in the military for 30 some years and that posing for Cosmo was nearly 30 years ago. He’s “moved onâ€Â he said. He was 22 years old. (3) When asked what he would say if his daughters were given the opportunity to pose nude, Brown paraphrasing his response, Brown basically said: “I would leave it up to their discretion. I don’t think it’s in the cards though. They’re very confident, intelligent young women. They’ll probably make different career choices.â€Â That was hardly a statement urging his young daughters to do likewise, yet it also didn't communicate a strong fatherly concern over the emotional harm and degradation that is associated with pornography. Personal response: Scott Brown doesn’t answer his questions in the way that I would like. I don’t like the fact that he is pro-choice. I’d like him to come out stronger against his posing nude for Cosmopolitan magazine in 1982. He could have said, “Yeah I should have known better. It was a youthful indiscretion. Some good things resulted from it for me but the ends don’t justify the means."  While Brown clearly didn’t come across as a sleaze bag, it is obvious that he isn't consistent in regards to moral values held by millions of conservatives.  There are very clear indications that he is independent and  will not be voting a straight party line. He opposes federal funding for abortion. He is against partial-birth abortion, but is pro-choice.. He believes in a strong parental consent notification law. Unfortunately, he is in favor of civil unions, but at least he is against gay marriage. In closing, the media is already trying to lure him into a race for the presidency by asking him the big question “Would he consider a run for the presidency in 2012?â€Â I wonder what percentage of Americans will learn from the past that voting for a person for any and all offices shouldn’t be about looks, charisma, body build, television presence. He will soon be tested presumably far beyond what he has ever been before. How he holds up will tell us far more than a few short answers under the lights of ABC and the prying, probing questions of Barbara Walters. May he hold up better than the likes of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford or former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. They were once good with words, too, articulated with charm and good looks. We are in need of leaders who will humble themselves, seek God's face and turn from their wicked ways. Our hope is that Scott Brown is capable of kneeling down in heart, soul and body – with reverence to God – and humbly asking God to show him how to lead with wisdom and to keep Him from evil. To make a donation: Online: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/main.php?f=donate/display9 American Decency Association P.O. Box 202 Fremont MI 49412 American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 https://americandecency.org/ http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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