TOPEKA, Kan. - It's official. Kansans can breathe a sigh of relief. According to David Epps with the group Transform Topeka, God has made it possible for Sam Brownback to rule over Kansas.

The Capitol was turned into a Christian Church as the third floor reverberated with songs and prayer. In the small group that assembled, Governor Brownback stood with radical evangelical, anti-abortion messianic prophets (shades of crazy John Brown) to anoint the 2012 legislative session for the glory of their Religious Right God; a God who just happens to support their extreme social agenda.

This Christian pep rally was part of the "Prayer on the Hill" event organized by the Culture Shield Network. CSN is a faith based advocacy group from Wichita founded by Donna Lippoldt . She maintains that they have "people that pray in the Capitol all day, every day during the whole legislative session,"

Lippoldt might be familiar to some Wichitans. She takes credit for keeping casino's out of Sedgwick County but her real claim to fame would have to be the wasted years she spent harassing patients who sought legal abortions in Wichita, Kansas. Nice to know the governor is hanging with the very people who did so much to demonize, threaten and elevate the climate of violence in Kansas against Dr. Tiller.

COLBY, Kan. - I copied the following from an email I received.

Dear Kansas MoveOn member,

You might be surprised to hear that Mike O'Neal, the Republican Speaker of the Kansas State House of Representatives, is praying for President Obama.

Unfortunately, he's praying for the President's death. And he's exploiting the Bible to do so, circulating an email that cites Psalm 109: "Let his days be few; and let another take his office. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow."

Sadly, it's not unusual for Republican politicians to use vile and hate-filled rhetoric when speaking about President Obama. But when they exploit religion to do so, people of faith have a moral responsibility to condemn it...

That's why I created a petition to Speaker O'Neal on SignOn.org, which says...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a vote that surprised no one (just in case you missed it), our hard working representatives in D.C. reaffirmed for all Americans by a vote of 396 to 9, the unconstitutional national motto: "In God We Trust".

Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), who is also an ordained minister voted against this resolution. Cleaver stated he didn't think Congress should be telling anyone to trust in God. That's something people have to choose for themselves. It's not the business of Congress to force this on the people.

Talk about being religiously incorrect! If only more representatives had the backbone to stand up to the bullies in the House but sadly, they dare not if they want to keep their seats in Congress. This pandering to religious beliefs when the going gets tough, has been a hallmark of politics since Washington took office. Until men and women of BOTH parties have the courage to denounce it, the trivialization of religion and the real threat to freedom of conscience for all Americans will continue.

Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said he voted against the resolution because Congress already reaffirmed the motto back in the 107th Congress . He noted that the resolution has no force of law. Bobby Scott (D-VA) voted no because "when we were sworn in as members of Congress, we took an oath to uphold the Constitution. This resolution is inconsistent with that oath."

ELLIS, Kan. - The marriage controversy is not new - not simply a controversy, but a battle. The issue is framed in such an "either-or" way that the public is tricked into taking positions that are neither kind nor logical. A commentator on NPR mentioned the other night that President Obama could see a case for a strong civil union arrangement for same-sex partners, but was having trouble coming to terms with the idea of same-sex marriages. So, even the president has fallen for the "straw man" tactic.

The solution has been available all the time the battle here in the United States has been raging. Civil governments should not be in the marriage business at all. Marriage is a religious matter. If a church, or denomination, or other religious body finds that applicants meet that religious body's criteria for marriage, then let that religious body marry the applicants according to its own rites and procedures. Marriage, as such, should have a moral, religious, even sentimental standing, but not a legal standing.

COLBY, Kan. - Congratulations to Vickie for her recent article. She may have set the record for motivating response to opinion articles here at Kansas Free Press (KFP).

Our editor-in-chief says we have over 332,000 people who came in and browsed the menu at KFP in the month of January 2011. Our editor also tells us that from 11,000 to 17,000 unique visitors come to KFP's website every day! We all appreciate those who take the time and effort to join in the discussions, both pro and con to our articles. We also appreciate that our regular contributors and visitors show courtesy and respect, even for those with quite differing opinions.

When we look around the world and observe the conflicts between people and nations, we can't help but notice that religion is a major contributor to the world's conflicts. I don't think any single brand of religion is free from radical extremists. All religions and non-religions (Judaism, Muslim, Christian, atheists, humanists, naturalists, etc.) have those who wish to dominate society around them.

WICHITA, Kan. - Throughout our political history politicians have accepted the wise imperative that one's personal faith should be separate from politics. As President Kennedy took great pains to explain to a nervous, protestant majority back in the sixties, his faith as a Catholic was not a factor in his role as an elected official. Kennedy explained that he would be president of all the people, not a Catholic president with a hotline to the Pope.

Our Constitution prohibits any religious tests for office. What did this mean beyond the obvious? It meant our Founders were clearly trying to avert a situation where government might be torn apart by sectarian violence. The Founders clearly understood that one's personal faith should have no bearing on the day to day business of government. Religious dogma was dangerous to good government. If public officials were to promote their own personal doctrines into public policy for all citizens to obey, such as the abortion issue, it would have the affect of destabilizing government.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - Hope is a powerful word, perhaps one of the most powerful in the English language.

Hope can keep a person in a bad relationship. Hope can cause people to end long term relationships. Hope can fuel wars. Hope can win elections. Hope can even force us to go to a menial job every day.

I have a long list of hopes for life. A never ending list, things are added to this list quicker than can be checked off.

Hope is a symbolic word for social workers and teachers. As Dr. Matthews, a Social Work Professor I once had in college stated, "Social work is not what we do, it is who we are."

How true that is, we trade in money and a comfortable living for hope.

HAYS, Kan. - William Herzog's slim volume, Parables As Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed (Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), is deceptively heavy in concept at points, and deceptively heavy in implications.

At first glance, a treatment of the parables of Jesus would seem to be of interest only to Christian persons of theological inclination. Of course it would be of interest to that sector, at least to those who are willing to ponder an alternative understanding of Jesus' meaning in certain parables and, by extension, an alternative understanding of what Jesus was about in his earthly ministry. The volume might be also of interest to Jews and Muslims, the other two "religions of The Book." They might be interested to know that the Christianity that has impacted them is not the Christianity that might have been, or the Christianity that might come to be.

COLBY, Kan. - Let us, for this season, forget our differences over the proper definition and way to celebrate.

For my Christian friends: May you have a blessed and merry Christmas as we celebrate our Saviour's birth, exchange gifts, and gather family and friends. For my non-Christian friends (and, yes, I have many) may this be a rewarding and happy season as you celebrate in your own way.

Peace. How do you define peace? Is it simply the absence of conflict?

MCDOWELL CREEK, Kan. - Here at the Christmas season it is so wonderful to spend time with family and friends -- to share the beauty. But the season also makes us miss even more the family members who are not here. In particular, I miss my mother, who died in 2008.

I thought of my mom last week when the movie my husband and I were watching was interrupted by breaking news: "The Senate has repealed Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell." I felt a surge of exhilaration: We as a society were rejecting one more form of discrimination!

Still, I could not help but wonder at the euphoria I felt. It was as if I had been suffering from an ache I wasn't aware of until it went away. I guess I was discovering that the adage about "an injury to one is an injury to all" can be literally true. I had been painfully aware of the injustice of allowing gays to risk their lives for our country, to offer us all their gifts and talents, only to be dismissed from service if their identities were revealed. Now it was like the old joke: "Why are you hitting yourself on the head?" "Because it feels so good when it stops." By ending anti-gay discrimination in the military, our country had stopped hitting itself on the head. And it felt so good!

But my joy came also from my mother.