Shutterstock image
In a state where 70 percent of its residents profess to be Christians, a weekend workshop in several Johnson County meeting locales billed as “Mainstream Civic Engagement 2025” aims to give instruction to followers of leftist organizations on keeping Christian principles out of government.
Organized by United We Stand and sponsored by American Atheists and other left-of-center progressive organizations, the event offers instruction in combatting “Christian Nationalism,” – the idea that Christian principles on which America’s founding documents were heavily based should be extracted from the exercise of the United States’ Democratic Republic. The event runs Friday through Sunday https://www.uws-summit.org.
Key to the event’s sponsor list is American Atheists and the Southern Poverty Law Center, renown for progressivist stances for larger government control and confronting conventional Judeo-Christian morality on topics like abortion and transgender surgeries on minors. ACLU of Kansas and Planned Parenthood Great Plains are also listed as ” 2025 Community Partners.”
The individual histories of the sponsors conflict with a “mainstream” assertion of neutrality.
InfluenceWatch details the Mainstream Coalition as a left-of-center lobbying and electoral advocacy organization promoting public education, LGBT interests and abortion access in Kansas.
American Atheists defines itself as decidedly secularist and pluralistic which in practice often aligns with liberal causes like expanding LGBT rights, limiting religious-based exemptions and defending abortion rights.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) Americans United is pledged against the maintenance of Christian principles in public policy and priority LGBTQ+ equality.
The Southern Poverty Law Center famously describes its mission as “fighting hate and bigotry and seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Pledge+1, though its actual policy execution prioritizes routine character defamation against Christians, conservatives and their organizations. https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/commentary/conservatives-wrongly-demonized-hate-groups-may-get-justice-last
Planned Parenthood Great Plains claims to “Uphold the standard for providing high-quality sexual and reproductive health care … Provide education … Change the culture through proactive advocacy to ensure equality in reproductive and sexual decision-making.” They also run a 501(c)(4) affiliate – Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes – which directly “advocates … mobilizes more than 120,000 grassroots supporters” and lobbies lawmakers on sexual and “reproductive-rights” issues. plannedparenthoodaction.org+1. PPGP’s own abortion count is not publicly available, but Planned Parenthood nationwide provided more than 400,000 abortions in 2023-2024.
Pew Research findings show 70 percent of Kansans report some denomination of Christianity as their religious affiliation.
America’s founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—were famously shaped by a complex blend of Enlightenment rationalism, English common law, and Christian moral philosophy. While the Founders differed in denominational background and intensity of belief, the influence of Christian thought on their understanding of human nature, law, and liberty is historically accepted as profound.
“Mainstream Civic Engagement 2025” also offers “scholarships” for those wishing to attend but who lack financial resources to cover the $265 three-event ticket.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
