Victory for Families in Kansas: "God Has Done a Mighty Work in Protecting the Institution of Marriage in Kansas . . . Now It Is Up to Us to Strengthen that Institution."

Jenni Parker / Teresa Neumann reporting : Apr 7, 2005
Agape Press

On April 5, citizens in Kansas voted overwhelmingly to amend their state constitution with a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. It passed in 104 of the state's 105 counties. In Wichita, voters approved the amendment by a margin of 91 percent. And, as one Bott Radio Network report noted, voter turnout was even more astounding than the statewide 70%-29% margin of victory for the pro-traditional marriage measure.

Undoubtedly, there will be legal challenges. But, according to Agape Press, Rev. Terry Fox, senior pastor of Wichita's Immanuel Baptist Church and a leading proponent of the amendment, believes the marriage protection measure will withstand scrutiny and hold up against its opponents' legal attacks since the majority of Kansans have firmly established traditional marriage as the will of the people.

Fox is quoted by AP as commenting that he and other amendment advocates have long felt that "if Kansas were given an opportunity to vote, they would vote strongly to protect marriage and defend marriage in the way it has traditionally been defined."

"Many more battles are ahead," says Judy Smith, director of Concerned Women for America in Kansas, "but the stronghold of marriage is a safe refuge for our families, much as the forts scattered across Kansas in territorial days offered a safe haven for weary travelers looking for new homes. God has done a mighty work in protecting the institution of marriage in Kansas -- now it is up to us to strengthen that institution -- to make it a stronghold that will be a safe haven for our future."

Bob Knight, director of CWA's Culture and Family Institute, has been encouraged to see "pastors, especially African American pastors, drawing a firm distinction between real civil rights and the radical homosexual agenda." He contends that many pro-family Americans feel freer, as a result, to support traditional marriage and to ignore the name-calling that often comes from opposition.