‘In God We Trust Rally’ Held at Kansas State Capitol - Part 2
Article - 9 minute read
This is part 2 of the ‘In God We Trust Rally’ article. To start at the beginning, click here.
Republican Candidate for Kansas Governor Derek Schmidt was off at two different parades during the rally, so speaking on his behalf was Chaplain Dave Depue. He highlighted Schmidt’s work as Kansas Attorney General protecting Kansas citizens “especially the most vulnerable,” stopping scam artists and abusers from preying on seniors, prosecuting crimes against children, among other things. He also highlighted Schmidt’s three wins on Kansas cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s sued the Obama administration many times and won, defended Trump’s America first policies, and Depue further spoke on Schmidt’s running mate Katie Sawyer and her background. Depue also listed those who endorse the duo including Kansans for Life, NRA, Kansas Fraternal Order of Police, Kansas State Troopers’ Association, National Boarder Patrol Union, Kansas Farm Bureau, former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and late Senator Bob Dole. He also made mention of their plan proposal for Kansans to retire tax free.
Representative for District 51 Ron Highland spoke on education, highlighting issues regarding steering children away from God, money, and the belief that every child deserves an education. He mentioned he will be handing a bill off to the Chairman of Education which will allow money to follow students to wherever parents would like for their children to go, including, in some cases, homeschooling. He followed this by speaking about the issue of water as the current Chair of the Water Committee in the Legislature. He explained the serious issues of water and how one county has less than ten years left before they run out. He also informed that a project is in the works for next year for Tuttle Creek in an attempt to save Tuttle Creek Dam.
Felita Kahrs, whose background is in education, spoke on the Kansas Supreme Court and Critical Race Theory (CRT). She sang the praise of Caleb Segall referring to him as the “lone star of our Supreme Court.”
When speaking on CRT, she mentioned how she is for restoration and reconciliation and her organization ‘Beyond the Color Line’ which emphasizes racial reconciliation and forgiveness through the love of Christ.
“Critical Race Theory… is an analytical framework that analyzes and reasons our institutions and our cultures,” Kahrs explained. “We have our education system, we have our government system, and all of our cultures—all throughout culture—that is what they’re trying to do. They’re trying to reframe and reshape things in our country. It has nothing to do with solving race relations even though that is the pretense they will try to tell you…. But in actuality it is about dividing and spreading a victimhood message, and they are really very good at that.”
Kahrs went on to explain how those who push CRT want to divide the world into oppressors and those that are oppressed and what that looks like. She also mentioned five euphemisms including equity, social justice, diversity, inclusion, and culturally responsive teaching and learning. Kahrs mentioned doing research to understand the language often uttered by the left and the importance of being able to find a way to bring up Black people, specifically children, without tearing down White people, specifically children.
Kaye Campbell spoke about the importance of going to school board meetings and focusing on what is good. She also talked on how people who are for providing porn to school children are saying that people on the right are trying to “ban books,” which she notes is not the case. She relayed her understanding that children will be exposed to unfavorable things at some point, but she asks, “what matters is are we giving it to them? Are we offering them an alternative? Maybe something good. Something that is lovely. Something that is right. Or are we offering them more ugliness? More degradation? More showing them that they are oppressed that they are a victim.”
Campbell urged that certain books in schools are normalizing rape, murder, incest, and pedophilia, and how she doesn’t want to be a part of that including not wanting her tax dollars to fund it. She wants to instead lift people up with what is good and right.
Tim Watts, who ran for Shawnee Heights School Board and lost this past election, was representing Kansas Caring for Kids which he said would be uniting across the state in hopes of getting likeminded groups together to go to the Legislature to ask them to change some of the laws regarding parental rights. He also spoke on State Assessments where, at least in Shawnee County, more than 50 percent of the students in public schools do not meet state assessment standards. Watts also revealed that when it comes to public school funding in Shawnee County, over $14,000 per student is spent. He further pointed out that over $55 million is spent at Shawnee Heights alone.
Watts continued speaking on sexual teachings in school, providing the link destiny.usd450.net where you can see all the books provided at USD 450. There, you can find books introducing transgenderism to elementary students. Shawnee Heights Middle School provides 40 books on the topic of sex and the Shawnee Heights High School provides 170 books on the topic of sex, 60 books on the topic of transgender, 40 on the topic of homosexuality, and 10 on the topic of transsexuality. These books do not have to be read by the librarian who brings them in, but rather must be awarded some awards or added to a list of approved books by certain groups and organizations. Watts further urged people to look up the graphic novel, ‘Gender Queer,’ which was challenged and approved for Shawnee Heights 4-3. He also mentioned a sexually explicit book that involves an elementary student getting raped by their 17-year-old cousin called ‘All Boys Aren’t Blue,’ which Watts personally challenged the school board on.
Former teacher for USD 450 and other states Heidi Pitman is working to help people leave the public education system and asking people to help her help parents leave for other viable options.
“I’m involved in a ministry in our community that helps rescue women that are survivors of sex trafficking,” Pitman said. “That’s exploiting vulnerabilities. We’re putting vulnerable kids in vulnerable situations and exposing them to some of this material that’s confusing them. I’m in a ministry that tries to help unravel some of that stuff, so I feel very strongly that this must be stopped, and this is very concerning.”
Pitman acknowledged that there are good people teaching and on school boards that need to be lifted up but affirmed that alternative options for learning must also be provided.
Republican Candidate for Kansas House District 55 Todd Staerkel also has a background in education teaching at Washburn University as a professor in music. He talked about his contemplations on what we are leaving our kids, both good and bad things. He claimed schooling to be a key thing all the way up to colleges and trade schools, admitting that taxes should follow kids to where we want them to go.
Republican Candidate for Attorney General Kris Kobach spoke next on his race, stating that he started it due to President Joe Biden initiating executive orders to open our borders, shutting down drilling on federal leases, and putting a 100 day pause on deportations. Looking to sue, Kobach couldn’t imagine things to get worse until Biden imposed 5 executive mandates forcing people to take the COVID-19 vaccine in the fall of 2021. Most of which he said were struck down in court. He is currently representing 36 members of the Air Force who are seeking a religious exemption from the vaccine mandate, pointing out that each of the pilots that he is representing costs 5.5 million tax dollars to train. Kobach also pointed out that Biden weaponized school lunches to push a pro-trans agenda and used the pandemic as an “excuse to unilaterally forgive student loans.”
Kobach warned it will get worse and so having Attorney Generals in red states who are willing to sue will be “absolutely critical to the defense of the Constitution.”
He further went on the attack of his Democrat opponent, saying, “The Democrats have put forward someone who is a supporter of Joe Biden…. He also said a few weeks ago—he was asked about what he thought about certain conservative laws in our Kansas statutes, and he said he isn’t going to waste the resources of the Attorney General’s office defending those statutes…. He’s not going to use the Attorney General’s office to defend Kansas law when it’s attacked. That’s the number one job of the Attorney General…. You defend every law whether you like it or not.”
Kobach ended by saying he believed a huge red wave was likely to occur with this election and to stay encouraged to vote.
After prayers led by Kobach and Linda Highland, Highland took to speaking on protecting children from Social Emotional Learning (SEL).
“Kansas was the very first state in the nation to adopt Social Emotional Learning,” Highland said. “At that point, we had our commissioner and the state school board state that 85 percent of the school day would be spent on Social Emotional Learning.”
Highland went through a list of everything this meant for Kansas students including consistent surveying and data collecting; expensive learning management systems used for online classwork throughout the day; data stored on students not shown to parents and the files are not secure by Kansas Department of Education; Parents and businesses told emotional intelligence is more important than academic; behavioral testing normalizing every possible bad behavior; survey questions worded assuming the student is guilty; sixth grade students are educated on all forms of drugs, sex, and illegal activity with hour long surveys; focus on the shortcomings of students as their mental health is measured by their teachers and themselves; lessons for students to prepare their funerals, suicides have risen to be the second leading cause of death among our youth in Kansas since SEL began; students are taught about transgender ideology and asked if they are gender confused and born in the wrong body; teachers are forced to comply with changing student gender pronouns and even students becoming “cat and dog-genders;” Title IX at risk affecting women’s sports, pornographic library books; CRT woven into classes along with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; assessments are showing students are testing at the lowest possible level in math and reading in recent history in Kansas schools; a high percentage of students advancing to higher education are in need of remediation costing students and families time and resources.
Highland pointed to the beginning of all this starting in 1994 where the term Social Emotional Learning was coined at the Fetzer Institute. Founder John Fetzer was into the “new-age and the occult,” Highland remarked. She also read a portion of the Fetzer Institute website, explaining the history of SEL and where Fetzer Institute is planning on going with education in the future.
