OUT OF THE WILDERNESS:

Once without a prayer, faith agenda emerging: Special prison dorms, gay-marriage ban advance in GOP-led legislature, but other bills languish. (Robert King, March 13, 2005, Indianapolis Star)

One state lawmaker who says he promotes Christianity whenever he gets the chance wants to bring elective Bible courses into the public schools.

Another seeks special prison dorms that immerse inmates in Bible study and Christian counseling.

And a third says an "In God We Trust" license plate would serve as a good reminder of "what separates us from the animals."

Religious beliefs influence Indiana lawmakers of both parties. And laws with a Godly flavor are nothing new. But with Republicans controlling the General Assembly and the governor's office for the first time in 16 years, the faith agenda is advancing further than it has in years.

With their political base built solidly on religious conservatives, Republicans are giving hearings to faith-oriented bills that previously had languished in Democratic-controlled committees. And some measures -- including faith-based prison dorms and a ban on same-sex marriages -- have advanced further through the legislative maze than ever before.

It reflects a trend seen in other states where Republicans have gained control of legislatures after long periods in the wilderness, said Tom McClusky, director of government affairs at the Family Research Council, a socially conservative policy agency based in Washington.

MORE:
Bush working to fund 'armies of compassion': Executive order used on behalf of faith-based groups (BENNETT ROTH, 3/12/05, Houston Chronicle)

The city council of Janesville, Wis., said last year that it would approve federal funds for a Salvation Army housing project only if plans for Bible study there were abandoned.

In response, the Bush administration swung into action.

Federal housing officials informed the city that taxpayer dollars could be spent on the project for the homeless as long as religious services were voluntary. So the council awarded a $250,000 grant to the Salvation Army without stipulations.

President Bush recently seized on the city's reversal as evidence of his determination to give so-called faith-based groups a better shot at government funding.

"The city had no right to tell the Salvation Army that the price of running a center was giving up its prayers," he told a conference of faith-based providers this month.