Griper Blade: In Wisconsin, the Evangelical Right isn't the Problem...

Luckily for us, the evangelical right doesn't really have much of a toe hold in Wisconsin. We've got a few nuts -- Ralph Ovadal comes to mind. But he's such a minor player in the religious right movement that he barely even counts. He has pretty much zero influence in a state with a Republican legislature. He's just so bad at PR that he makes more enemies than friends.

So it's always sort of a shock when religious politicking shows its head in any organized way here. This year saw the founding of a group to push an amendment to the state constitution banning anything at all similar to a civil partnership -- gay or otherwise. But the Coalition for America's Families is pretty much an astroturf organization -- it doesn't represent a groundswell of support for evangelical values in Wisconsin. Blatant politicking in the name of God is rare here, because it doesn't really work all that well. Most churches have learned that the best way to turn off wisconsinites is to try to strongarm them.

Not so the Catholic Church. Like most of flyover country, Wisconsin is largely protestant. But the church is large enough that if it were able to influence the vote, it could throw an election their way.

Enter Bishop Robert Morlino of the Madison diocese. Morlino is a hardliner -- authoritarian and right wing -- making him a very poor fit for his openminded and thoughtful community...

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Tags: news politics religious right elections gay science Wisconsin Bishop Robert Morlino