To elevate our understanding of red-state politics, American scholar Robert Wuthnow, a native Kansan who teaches sociology and directs the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, has penned one of the most insightful political histories of the year. An elegantly written and impressively researched new title, Red State Religion is a real triumph.
Wuthnow explores the economic, political, and social complexities of the Sunflower State, which today is a fortress of unbreakable Republican rule.
"Only two states voted Republican in at least thirty of the nation's thirty-eight presidential elections. One of those two voted Republican in every presidential election from 1968 through 2008. That state was Kansas," Wuthnow writes, adding, "In 2008, when Barack Obama beat John McCain by seven points in the popular vote nationally, McCain won Kansas by 15 percent."
Despite this seemingly unvarying Republican voting record, including years of GOP governors, representatives in Congress, and Republican-led legislatures, Kansas is a more nuanced beast, as Wuthnow informs us.
One of Wuthnow's central ideas is that the conservatism of Kansans is less ideological than pragmatic. Rather than thinking of Kansas as synonymous with the Christian coalition of 2011, Wuthnow urges upon readers a further-reaching view of religion and public life in the state.
Instead of simplistically deeming Kansas the birthplace of unhinged conservatism, Wuthnow portrays a state that is home to intricate rivalries between moderate Methodists and Catholics as well as among pro- and anti-civil rights factions of both major parties.
Yes, Christian evangelicals have determined much of the modern Republican agenda within the state. Yes, believers still campaign steadfastly to replace Darwinism with creationism in science classes. And, yes, the religious right has voted to ban abortion and gay marriage.
