Sam Brownback: “I worked with him on a number of issues, and he was a great study of culture. He actually said the central conservative…”

“I worked with him on a number of issues, and he was a great study of culture. He actually said the central conservative truth is that culture is more important than government. What culture honors and what it does not honor, what it upholds, what it says is good, and what it says is wrong is more important than the government around it. He was saying actually that the central role of government at all levels should be to see that children are born and remain in intact families. This was his comment. He was saying that because that is the central foundational character of building the institution that we have. It is not government. Government is important. It provides a number of very useful functions, but it is not the central entity. It is that family basis that builds the strong citizenry, strong people. As a cultural commentator, he saw that. As a matter of fact, he nearly lost his job in the 1960s by commenting about the disintegration of the American family in a particular ethnic group at that time, but he was just saying that if that family unit is ruined, it goes downhill and has an effect on the children. That is why he felt so strongly about it and why I feel so strongly about it. In looking at these cultural indicators, we need to do everything we can to help this institution that is in trouble. Marriage is in trouble in America. I have a chart that I will quickly share with my colleagues to show the type of trouble we are in.”