Americans United, Greater Kansas City Chapter
Serving eastern KS, western MO
Action (Legislative and Media Information)
Concerned about what's going on in schools? Check out our School Boards page.
Legislative Information
Americans United has a page for legislative alerts and updates where you can send a pre-written email on the latest church-state related legislation.
To write your own email or letter, you can use AU's legislative lookup page.
We also have our own sample letters and talking points below.
Letters to the Editor and Blogs
Newspaper letters to the editor are a great way to help educate the public on church-state issues. Be sure to include your name address and daytime phone number. Keep the letter short. (The Kansas City Star in particular allows a maximum of only 150 words.) Also, it helps if your letter is commenting on something published in that particular newspaper.
You may also want to consider online alternatives such as blogs where your entries are less likely to get rejected. The Kansas City Star also has an unfettered letters blog where anyone can post, not just write comments.
The Kansas City Star
Email: letters@kcstar.com
or mail to: The Kansas City Star, Letters, 1729 Grand Blvd.,
Kansas City, MO 64108.
Voice Comment Line: 816-234-4497
KC Star blogs:
Unfettered Letters
Midwest Voices
Ad Astrum
The Pitch Weekly
Letter to the Editor Form
Plog (Pitch Blog)
The Examiner (eastern Jackson County)
Letter to the Editor Form
Blogs
The Call
Send letters to the editor to kccallnews@hotmail.com
Sample Letters and Talking Points
Below, we also have sample letters and talking points on various issues that you can use and edit as you see fit. Also check the national Americans United website for more information on issues.
- Talking points for evolution in public school science class
- Religious favoritism in issuing government license plates
Narrow religious agendas can interfere with a good education. Evolution is the cornerstone of modern biology. Students who don't understand sound science, including evolution, may have a harder time entering college. Such students would not be able to pursue science careers. They could not compete academically and professionally with students in other countries.
In addition, anti-evolution legislation or school board decisions often have economic consequences. Scientific conferences or corporations in high tech industries have been known to boycott cities or states engaged in such activity in favor of localites that are evolution-friendly.
Religious favoritism in issuing government license plates:Gov. Sebelius,
I urge you not to sign Bill 2134, which would exempt promoters of the "In God We Trust" license plate from the requirement that they pay the usual fee of $10,000 before the plates are manufactured. This legislation singles out one particular license plate, and in doing so displays favoritism toward religious messages in general and one religious message in particular. This is unfair to other groups who are still required to pay the fee upfront.
It also violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment in that it helps spread one particular religious message without providing similar aid for promoters of competing views. It is also improper use of taxpayer money because Kansas citizens of all religions (or none) pay taxes.
Simply put, this is a special interest bill with no legitimate purpose. Please do not let it become law.
Thank you!