Walker...a matter of faith. JS reviews Scott's connection to conservative congregation

[HereSince1628]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/on-campaign-trail-walker-sheds-light-on-influence-of-faith-b99483387z1-301175401.html

On edit...I changed what is posted so as to not bury the lede

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Walker has undergone two significant faith-related shifts in his recent adult life.

A lifelong American Baptist, Walker transferred his membership from Underwood Memorial Baptist Church in Wauwatosa to Meadowbrook just about a decade ago. A center-left congregation in a mainline denomination, Underwood took a sharper turn to the left beginning in 2003 with the arrival of the Rev. Jamie Washam, a female pastor who spoke out against the war in Iraq and Wisconsin's gay marriage ban.

In 2004, the church voted to affiliate with the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, a coalition of churches and organizations that welcomes gay and lesbian people and works to end discrimination against them.

The Walkers left for Meadowbrook the following year, about four months after he announced his first gubernatorial bid.

Washam declined to be interviewed for this story.

The governor and his wife switched churches because they were looking for more activities for their two sons, who were then nearing the end of elementary school, campaign officials said.

"From what I can gather having spoken to a couple of people in the Bible study in addition to the first lady and governor, they left because of the youth group," said Kirsten Kukowski, spokeswoman for Walker's political action committee.

While the move to Meadowbrook might have reflected Walker's family needs, it also didn't hurt his political aspirations to be affiliated with a congregation that is connected to Elmbrook, arguably one of the most influential churches in southeastern Wisconsin, said Laura Olson, a political science professor at Clemson University who has written extensively on the intersection of faith and presidential politics.

"The charitable interpretation would be that he decided that 'This doesn't square with my belief system,'" Olson said of Walker's departure from Underwood. But, she said, it also could be useful for him politically "to be part of a large network of people who all speak the same language religiously."

In transferring his membership to Meadowbrook in 2005, Walker chose a church that is more theologically and politically conservative.

[rurallib]

1. using his religious affiliations to further his political career?

how very republican.

[HereSince1628]

2. Since the time of the "moral majority" that's been important for r's.

I don't think it was very important to governing in WI for the 50 years before Walker became governor.

But the his integration of conservative yeoman 'work ethic' and 'family values' associated with American protestantism are a feature of him that has to be grasped to understand the man.