Religious Fighters Claim Victory After Kansas Gambling Vote

Sedgewick County, Kansas voters rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed a state owned and operated casino at Wichita Greyhound Park. The vote against the casino guarantees that the track will have to shut down within a short period of time.

Chad Hills, gambling analyst for Focus on the Family Action group claims that such measures can be defeated nationwide to curb the expansion of gambling. Hills stated that "The Gambling Goliath can be defeated, and Kansas citizens just proved it," adding that "I hope other states and counties are paying attention - you can defeat gambling."

Hills and FOFA are on a mission that if successful, would limit personal freedoms of Americans and further grant the religious right wing conservatives more power to control the future of this once great country. Their unstated goal is to make ALL Americans live by their rules. Currently there are millions of Americans that blindly follow FOFA and its parent organization Focus on the Family.

Sedgewick County is the only county thus far in Kansas to vote against the casino measure, four other counties have approved the expansion of gambling as voters in those counties have recognized the benefits that will be realized and the economic impact that gambling would provide its citizens.

Donna Lippoldt, director of operations for No Casinos in Sedgewick County is praising god and offering glory for his assistance in bringing together voters to defeat the bill, claiming "We had over 100,000 people turn out to vote. That is a large turnout. We did a lot to mobilize the churches. I know the people, the grassroots people, that got out there and really worked hard to defeat this."

Allowing religion to dictate public law is a dangerous step that conservatives are taking. To see exactly what religious leadership can do, one need only look at the Taliban and their hard handed rule of Afghanistan as a very good example of what leadership by religious zealots produces. Citizens that allow this type of rule are suppressed and forced to live their lives according to the interpretation of religion by a few people that seek total control over the masses. All over the world there is compelling evidence that leadership given to those that profess strict adherence to religion to control a population, are keeping their followers and others in poverty, restrict their rights as individuals and punish harshly those that do not obey.

Over the past six years, America has been moving in the same direction as many less progressive countries. If this is allowed to continue, the American people will find themselves, in short order, to have even less freedoms, and less rights, and unique individualism will be compromised.

Gone will be the days when free-thinking people will be able to express themselves. Already there are many more prisons being constructed in this country. People are denied liberties and rights that have been established for hundreds of years, and the government of today has been instilling fear in its population to enact laws that are contrary to freedom, and this is being done by those pious individuals that are more righteous than thou. Government leaders are given a free pass to act above the rule of law and to not be accountable for their actions.

Americans need to take a breath, sit back and analyze for themselves how they wish to be governed. Given the advances this country has made since its inception, and the detrimental effects that have caused it to regress over the term of the current administration, it is imperative that action to stop this be taken quickly.

Gambling in this country is not the issue. The gambling issue is only one area of American life that is being threatened by religious leaders. Women's rights, civil liberties, gay rights, monetary issues, health, security and many other areas of our freedoms are being attacked by FOFA and their religious constituency. It is time for Americans to rise up and take action to support their rights and freedoms. For America to continue to be a world leader in human rights and social issues, Americans need to get up, get organized and stand up to those that wish to take those liberties away.

August 9, 2007
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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