Posts on West Virginia

Back in October we noted that the Family Policy Council of West Virginia was pressing the Governor and state legislature to put an anti-gay marriage amendment on the next ballot based entirely on a poll they took that reportedly showed that more than 70% of voters would support such an amendment.  Shortly thereafter, the call was seconded by the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists and now the Family Policy Council is starting to mobilize right-wing support in order to force the Governor and legislature to place an amendment on the ballot  

Members of West Virginia's religious communities are mobilizing to protect traditional marriage.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia has taken the lead in asking Democratic Governor Joe Manchin and the legislature to let voters decide whether to change the state's constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage." Jeremiah Dys, founder of The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, explains the apparent conservative viewpoint.
 
"They do not want their government setting a policy, and they especially do not want courts imposing a system that...deprives children of a mom or a dad -- and so we're simply asking our legislature, we're asking our governor especially, to lead the effort to allow West Virginians to do what they want to do," he notes.

As we noted last time, West Virginia does not have a petition process allowing citizens to gather signatures and place a constitutional amendment on the ballot so any such amendment must first pass through the state House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Democrats, so it is up to the Family Policy Council to pressure them into letting West Virginians “do what they want to do” and pass an anti-gay constitutional amendment so as to ensure that the courts don’t “deprive children of a mom or a dad.”

After last week's election, the Christian Coalition announced that one of its primary goals for the short-term future was seeing that the 20 states that do not currently ban gays from getting married do so and that those states that do allow marriage put an end to the practice.  

Presumably, the first step in that battle will take place in West Virginia. The Family Policy Council of West Virginia is already threatening the Governor that if he doesn't call a special legislative session to put an amendment on the ballot, he'll face the wrath of the voters and now the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists has joined the call:

The resolution, adopted at the 38th meeting of the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists, passed unanimously.

"As citizens of West Virginia, we avail ourselves of the opportunity to affirm the historic, legal, and reasonable definition of marriage by supporting and promoting a marriage amendment to the state constitution," the resolution states. "... [W]e will strongly encourage Christians throughout West Virginia to engage in the civic process in defense of marriage and in support of the government's leadership in defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman (Romans 13)."

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The resolution commits to praying regularly for the governor, legislators and judges. It also makes it clear that West Virginia Southern Baptists believe "same-sex unions are not the same as opposite-sex couples."

"[T]o believe otherwise is to ignore the uniqueness of each gender's design and undermines marriage (Genesis 2:18)," the resolution reads. "The break down or weakening of the institution of marriage has devastating moral, spiritual, economic, and social effects on the whole of society. Marriage protects children by giving them an opportunity to grow up in the ideal environment: with a married mom and dad. Knowingly depriving children of that opportunity exposes our children to a great social experiment that is in no one's best interest."

As the Baptist Press article "West Virginia does not have a petition process allowing citizens to gather signatures and place a constitutional amendment on the ballot" so any such amendment must first pass through the state House and Senate, both of which are controlled by Democrats.   But seeing as passing anti-gay amendments seems to be the only thing the Right has been having any success with in recent years, it is probably safe to assume that West Virginia leaders are going to be coming under increasing pressure to put one on the ballot there as well.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia, which is affiliated with Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council, and the Alliance Defense Fund, commissioned a poll of registered voters that found, lo and behold, that they would vote for an anti-gay marriage amendment:  

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia has released the findings of a new poll it commissioned on the issue of marriage in West Virginia.  The poll reveals significant support among West Virginia voters for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage.

“West Virginians want to define marriage for themselves,” said Jeremy Dys, the FPC’s president and general counsel.  “They do not want their government to set a policy – and they especially do not want a court to impose a system – that knowingly deprives children of a mom or a dad.  The results of this poll demonstrate that now is the time for a marriage amendment in West Virginia.”

The poll, commissioned by the FPC and performed in late July by Advantage, Inc., found that 73% of the more than 500 registered West Virginia voters surveyed say they would support an amendment worded, “Only the union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

The findings of the poll, available at www.familypolicywv.com, suggests that an additional 73% of West Virginia voters would be “more likely” to vote for a candidate who favored an amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

It is pretty common for right-wing groups to commission polls that just happen to “prove” that the population at large shares their agenda.  But in this case, the FPC was so taken with the findings of their small poll that they are demanding action from the Governor … and now:

As the general election approaches, a Christian evangelical group has issued an ultimatum to Gov. Joe Manchin: call a special session to pass a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, or face the wrath of voters.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia told the governor on Oct. 9 that he had until Wednesday to agree to call the Legislature into session. The conservative group, formed in March, cites polling it commissioned of around 500 registered voters that it says found 73 percent supporting an amendment defining marriage as a "union of one man and one woman.''

"The donors to this organization, as well as my board, are asking -- rather stridently -- that we release the poll to the public as soon as possible,'' Jeremy Dys, the group's president, said in a letter to the governor's office. "If he has determined that the timing is not right, the duty I have to our donors and the Board of Directors requires that I release this as soon as possible.''

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Amending the constitution would also require a statewide vote. Dys said such a vote should take place next year, when no legislative seats are up for election, so "no politician should fear displacement from their current position, should that be of any concern,'' his letter said.

But Dys also called for a special session this year, arguing "the current legislature is a known quantity and our analysis shows strong support for the passage of such a resolution.''

Last week we wrote about Gordon Klingenschmitt’s – or, as he’s known to his allies, “Chaps” - latest crusade to save the jobs of several police chaplains in Virginia who, he says, were forced to resign by Gov. Tim Kaine after they refused to stop offering prayers in Jesus’ name.  Of course, that was not the case at all, as both Kaine and Virginia State Police Superintendent Steven Flaherty pointed out – but that doesn’t matter to Klingerschmitt who knows an opportunity for self-aggrandizement when he sees one and has now organized a press conference with a variety of other Religious Right C-list activists who are threatening to hold a rally and swing the election if they don’t get their way:  

PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS:

WHO: Bishop Gerald O. Glenn (Apostle, Church of God in Christ, Who's Who In Law Enforcement), Victoria Cobb (The Family Foundation of Virginia), Mark Goodell (Christian Coalition of Virginia), Rev. Rob Schenck (National Clergy Council), Former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt (The Pray In Jesus Name Project), and all pastors in Virginia are invited to attend and briefly address the media.

WHEN: 1:00 pm EST, Wednesday, 1 October 2008.

WHERE: General Assembly Building, 1000 E. Broad St, Richmond, Virginia (First Floor Press Room near House Room C).

WHAT: Prominent Christian leaders in Virginia will address the media, revealing a letter they presented to Gov. Kaine last Friday in which 86 Virginia Pastors vowed to mobilize their people to vote, in response to the Kaine Administration’s verbal ban on public prayer "in Jesus' name," which forced 6 State Police Chaplains to resign.

Copies of the letter, with the names of 86 pledging Virginia Pastors, (and the details of what they want), will be available to all press or media personnel who personally attend on October 1st. All others may view the letter (on October 2nd) at www.PrayInJesusName.org. 

Depending on Gov. Kaine’s response to this letter, the unified Pastors are contemplating bringing their churches together for a state-wide prayer-rally to honor the chaplains, entitled "Virginia, Stand Up For Jesus," on November 1st at 10am at the Capitol Square Bell Tower, (900 Bank Street), Richmond, within earshot of the Governor’s Mansion, just three days before the election.

"This could impact the national election, since Virginia is such a close race," said Former Navy Chaplain Klingenschmitt. "These 86 Pastors pledged to mobilize their people to vote accordingly, so the courage of these six Police Chaplains who were forced to resign because they prayed 'in Jesus name,' could turn America's head on November 4th. Just imagine if all churches in Virginia united at a prayer-rally to Stand Up For Jesus on November 1st, near the Governor's mansion. But first, we'll wait to see how Gov. Kaine responds to our letter."

I can tell Klingenschmitt that Kaine will probably say what he’s been saying all along: that he “gave no directive to the state police; there is no mandate prohibiting police chaplains from mentioning Jesus Christ. No one has lost their jobs or positions because of this.”  

So Klingenschmitt, Schenck, and the others ought to just save themselves the trouble of hosting their little press conference and get right to work on planning their extremely influential rally.

Following the rejection of the Right’s political agenda in the last election, there have been a number of news articles written in recent months about a potential split emerging within the evangelical political community, with newer leaders pushing to incorporate issues such as the environment and poverty into the agenda, while old-school leaders seek to quash any efforts to dilute their traditional anti-choice, anti-gay message.  

From this split, some new right-wing leaders appear to be emerging, such as Richard Land who seems to be attempting to position himself as the Right’s new powerbroker, seemingly at the expense of James Dobson.  For his part, Dobson has been keeping something of a low profile, perhaps chastened a bit by the controversy he generated when he suggested that presidential hopeful Fred Thompson was not a Christian.   

Other than appearing from time to time to declare that he won’t support or vote for Rudy Giuliani or John McCain, Dobson has been relatively quiet as of late – but that doesn’t mean that his organization, Focus on the Family, has become any less influential or involved in politics, especially at the state level. Just in the last two days, it has been reported that FOF has hooked up with a new “state policy council” in Washington and is affiliated with a similar organization in West Virginia, both of which have a similar goal:  pushing the right-wing agenda at the state level and energizing right-wing voters ahead of the upcoming elections. 

“Victims R Us” hoped groups would take up their cause.

Glover says senator lost because he didn’t “stick with [his] base.” (Allen cosponsored a federal constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.)

For 43 states.