Division of Church and State

I've found it interesting to follow the news articles, the posts, the photos of Pope Francis's recent trip to the USA. It seems many people had expectations of what the Pope should stress while he was a guest on US soil.

Prior to Pope Francis's arrival, I was curious how he would proceed; and found it interesting and compassionate. I liked this quote a friend put as a reply to a meme with the Pop's photograph and the caption: "Went to Congress to give a Speech... who was he representing?: 

"The Vatican as a STATE, a country, which it is. Other religious leaders who speak before Congress don't do those things either, because of current interpretation of what is "too religious". (The banners of Catholic schoolchildren at the airport saying "Jesus loves you" were removed by US authorities before he landed as being too religious for a government event.) In his homilies at the Vatican, speaking as the leading spokesperson for the Catholic church, his approach is different. He was speaking as a head of state addressing the US Congress."
 
Thus, an analogy would be if the Queen of England visited the USA, would we be disappointed if she acted and spoke as the head of state rather then as her position as Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Another example would be if the USA had an official visit from the General Leader of Tibet who has the religious title of Dalai Lama. He would be invited to State functions in his government capacity as General Leader of his (exiled) country; however, he might schedule some non-state meetings in the function of his religious office.

That's part of the separation of church and state. People with both religious and state titles, must have to be very careful to walk a fine line I think the Pope did well.

Admirable Kansas Women, especially Beth Clarkson

This morning, a not-so-new news story, that I just discovered,  had the gears in my head going so fast that smoke was streaming out of my ears - sort of like some geo-engineering jets flying around my pink matter with a fog streams of ideas.... but much less toxic. ;-)

I'm not homesick for Kansas right now, but I was thinking about the mark that strong Kansas women have had on my life. Like my mother who fought legally and financially to keep us together as a family after Dad died; my paternal grandmother who homesteaded and raised 8 children on the prairie in a 2-room limestone home; to a high-school teacher I admired who had given up her dream of living a monastic life to come to our WASP school and pour her encouraging words and engaging style of teaching into our lives. There is my sister, who's a strong, compassionate woman who's always been there for me to laugh with me, cheer me, be a sounding board and just be an awesome woman.  There's my niece who was born in Kansas but moved as a toddler to Georgia; She's amazing and like a fishing bobber, no matter what huge waves of life try submerge her - she pops to top with a huge smile; plus she's an awesome hairdresser - a people artist who not only works miracles with hair but works miracles in people's lives by her compassion, encouragement and ability to listen from deep inside. 

 

Below is a short list of notable Kansas women.  I could have extended the list with the many Kansas women writers, journalists, educators, artists, musicians, and singers, such as Martina McBride, ZaSu Pitts, Marilyn Maye, Kirstie Alley, Vivian Vance, Laura Ingles Wilder, etc. I could have pointed out Kansas is the home of beautiful women since three Miss Americas were from Kansas (1966, 1968, 1997).  Since it's my blog, I didn't add them to my list. The joy of being my own blog author and editor!

Distinguished Kansas Women Who Set Records:

Amelia Earhart - first woman to become an NIAA pilot and first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. There is a statue of her about 18 miles from where I live in Newfound; a tribute to where her plane took off for that historic solo journey that was dangerous because her altimeter didn't work and she had no idea of her altitude.  A gutsy Kansas who was not only setting records but breaking gender roles.

Bernadette Gray-Little become the first woman and first African American to hold the position of chancellor at University of Kansas.

Elizabeth Hoisington - First Woman Brigadier General (I think I met her as the guest speaker when I graduated  WAC Basic Combat Training in Fort McClellan, Alabama).

Elizabeth Wooster - Educator and first Kansas woman elected to statewide office.

Hattie McDonald - first black woman to win an Emmy Award.

Hilda Clark - First woman to appear in a Coca Cola advertisement.

Julia Ann Beauchemie Stinton - 1850 her wedding photo was first photo taken West of Missouri River. She was also pro-slavery.

Kathryn O'Loughlin McCarty was the first Kansas woman to be elected to a federal position. she had three strikes against her. She was a single woman, a Catholic, and a Democrat in a primarily Republican district that encompassed 26 counties in northwest Kansas. She overcame these obstacles to win by approximately 143,000 votes.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor - first American woman to earn a Doctorate in Dental Surgery.

Lucy Tayiah Eades was the first woman to serve as principle chief of the Kaw (Kansa) Nation. After her tribe was sent to the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma, she was elected to her position in 1922. In 1929, She was invited to the presidential inauguration for Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis, vice president from Kansas, and fellow Kaw. I found her interesting because both her parents starved to death when she was five; yet she managed to become a nurse trained at the Haskell Institute, a well-traveled woman, a wife and mother, and eventual head of her people. A woman who apparently didn't believe in letting potential excuses hold her back.

Lynette Woodard - first woman to be a member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Mildred Axton was the first woman to fly a B-29; she was a military test pilot.

Nellie Cline - in 1918 was the first woman to present oral arguments before the Kansas Supreme Court. After the Suffrage Amendment, Cline became was among the first four women to serve in the Kansas House of Representatives from 1921 to 1924.

Susanna Madora Salter - first elected woman mayor in the USA at Argoia KS in 1887

Other Distinguised Kansas Women:

Ann Dunham - Barak Obama's mother

Barbara Ehrsam was born in 1848 and became an international leader of the Ba'hai faith.

Carrie Nation - Well-Known Temperance Activist

Ellen Goodnow along with her husband raised funds, spoke, entertained, and helped Kansas to join the USA as a free state. Kansas earned the name "Bloody Kansas" because of the battles and murders of Kansas abolitionists by Missouri slaveholders trying to stop Kansas from joining as a free state.

Erin Brockovich - Environmentalist and has had a movie (starring Julia Roberts) about her first environmentalist discovery.

Grace Bedell, as a young child she wrote Abraham Lincoln and told him if he'd grow a beard he'd have a better chance at a successful campaign. He wrote her a thank you and after elected, he visited her to let her see his whiskers.

Laura M. Johns - advocate for women's suffrage. After getting the vote, she continued to advocate for women to educate themselves to cast informed ballots.

Olive Ann Meller Beech - helped found and later became CEO of Beech Aircraft that had 14,000 employees during WWII. She was the first woman to receive the National Aeronautic Association's Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.

Shelia C. Blair - lawyer, professor and banker. Forbes magazine ranked her as the second most powerful woman in the world after German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2009).

Susan B. Anthony - founded the National Woman's Suffrage Association, and women were given the right to vote in Kansas school elections in 1861; right to vote in municipal elections in 1887, state voting rights in 1912 and full voting rights in 1920. A huge gain in rights without any bloodshed, battles or revolution.

ZaSu Pitts - Pitts has been recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a U.S. postage stamp, and a star tile at the entrance to the Parsons (Kansas) Theatre.

So why did I start thinking and studying about Kansas women today?

Beth Clarkson.  What more can I say as I read about this phenomenal woman who is not only taking on city hall, but legally fighting for her and all our rights to be assured that elections are legal.  For those who don't know, she is a Ph.D. in statistics at Wichita University. Her website states:

My statistical analysis shows patterns indicative of vote manipulation in machines. The manipulation is relatively small, compared with the inherent variability of election results, but it is consistent. These results form a pattern that goes across the nation and back a number of election cycles. I’ve downloaded data and verified the results from several states for myself. Furthermore, the manipulation is not limited to a single powerful operator. My assessment is that the data reveals multiple (at least two) agents working independently to successfully alter voting results.

No matter why she was willing to figure out what is going on, I greatly admire her for her tenacity to search the legal channels to discover the truth.  I am grateful for this Kansas pioneer who is either purposely or inadvertently setting legal precedence that hopefully will keep the USA transparent enough to be honest. As the US citizen, I watch our once democracy become entrenched as an oligarchy  and sliding towards fascism; it makes me grateful this Kansas woman is pulling the brakes to stop or slow that descent.  I pray for your safety, your success and godspeed as you move forward.  Congratulations to Attorney Randy Rathbun for donating his time pro-bono; may your name go down in history as the successful advocate of the US people and Ms. Clarkson.

I admire Ms. Clarkson and wish her case had more national and international coverage because I feel this is a very important lawsuit - maybe not as big as Brown vs the Board of Education but not far behind.

Main Site for Information:

http://showmethevotes.org/

Articles:

http://bethclarkson.com/?page_id=46&paged=2

http://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article32685087.html

Videos:

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/09/409547-kansas-statistician-suing-audit-recent-elections-thinks-gop-stealing-votes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOHj-D8ouS8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX9rMQMlDgE

http://www.kshb.com/news/state/kansas/kansas-statistician-suing-the-state-to-obtain-election-records-says-voting-results-dont-add-up

Legal Records:

http://showmethevotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-08-21-Answer-of-Defendant-Kobach.pdf