sort of OT: My condolences, tmyers. I had assumed that you, as I am, were just another middle of the road guy stuck in slightly too red state. It seems, however, that Kansas has set out to be the benchmark by which the term "red" is defined:
Kansas Christians Mobilizing on Moral Issues
Sun Mar 6, 2005 8:07 AM ET
By Carey Gillam
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Reuters) - Seen from afar, the unadorned cross atop the First Family Church of Overland Park seems to stretch almost into the heavens.
But it is the thousands of Christians congregating at First Family and other churches throughout Kansas who are flexing their political muscle by pushing a conservative Christian political agenda that is rapidly gaining momentum.
"There is an evangelical resurgence in this country and what is happening here in Kansas is symbolic of much of the nation," said First Family senior Pastor Jerry Johnston.
Indeed, a host of conservative Christian causes are moving forward: on April 5, Kansas voters will take up one of the strictest anti-gay marriage amendments in the nation; the state school board is embroiled in arguments between evolution and Biblical beliefs about creation; and fresh battles have begun over book banning and abortion rights.
The farming state in the middle of the American Heartland has long leaned Republican, and routinely backed conservatives on both social and fiscal matters.
But the last year has seen an unprecedented conservative Christian fervor sweep the state, sparked primarily by out-of-state court rulings favoring same-sex marriages. Hundreds of church leaders have been meeting, holding rallies and pounding pulpits to spur followers to political action.
They say their movement was bolstered by the re-election of President Bush, a self-proclaimed born-again Christian.
"There are pastors and other Christian leaders in every state who are beginning to understand they can't sit back any more," said Pastor Jim Conard of First Baptist Church in Shawnee, Kansas. "Any clear-cut moral issue that God has spoken on is worth defending."
Not all Kansans are embracing the evangelical agenda. Both Democrats and many life-long Republicans say the efforts to curtail abortion and homosexual rights are regressive, divisive and discriminatory.
"We're trying to become the laughingstock of the world," said Bill Franklin, a former mayor of Prairie Village, Kansas, who describes himself as a moderate Republican.
GOP STRONGHOLD
Observers say religious ideology has helped keep Kansas a Republican stronghold, despite the fact that much of the state is rural and populated by working- and middle-class families, the exact demographic Democrats say are hurt the most by Republican fiscal policies.
A key concern for the Christian groups is next month's vote on a constitutional amendment that would not only ban same-sex marriages -- already prohibited by Kansas law -- but also prohibit any relationship other than a married man and woman from receiving benefits associated with marriage, such as shared health insurance.
Conservatives are also making inroads on abortion issues. State Attorney General Phill Kline, a Republican, has demanded the private medical records of dozens of Kansas women who have had late-term abortions, which are restricted but legal.
Abortion rights groups called it a witch-hunt designed to intimidate women and doctors but Kline, who leads the national Republican attorneys general association, says he is seeking evidence of possible crimes.
Kansas conservatives are also busy lobbying for changes in science instruction about evolution, which Christian groups say runs counter to Biblical teachings about the origin of life.
Kline has weighed in there too, telling Kansas Board of Education members they can place stickers on textbooks that read: "Evolution is a theory, not a fact."
And there are efforts in one of the state's highest-achieving school districts to ban books from the high school reading curriculum because of value concerns.
The moves are the first of many to restore morality to Kansas and the nation, church leaders say.
"You're going to see more and more of this," said Johnston, who is preparing for an April 3 rally in the Kansas City area expected to draw 10,000 people. "The church is alive and well. It has woken up, and it has become politically savvy."
here's the link:
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...-KANSAS-DC.XML