Topeka ? Emboldened by their success getting a proposal to ban gay marriage before Kansas voters, some clergy leading that fight say they will tackle other issues, including the teaching of evolution in public schools.

On evolution, the clergy coalition would face a State Board of Education with a conservative majority, expected to review revised state science standards in April.

“The creationism-evolution debate is one we intend to weigh in on,” said the Rev. Terry Fox, pastor of Wichita’s Immanuel Baptist Church, a leader of efforts for the marriage amendment.

The desire of Fox and other clergy to take on evolution and other issues doesn’t surprise political scientists or opponents of the gay marriage ban.

Paul Osgood, a 58-year-old Shawnee resident, views the marriage proposal as a “slap in the face” for him and his longtime male partner. A middle-school science teacher, he’s also concerned about evolution.

“I sure think there’s a conservative agenda at work here,” he said. “It’s to control minds and thinking.”

The proposed marriage amendment, on the ballot April 5, would declare that only married couples of one man and one woman would be entitled to the benefits associated with marriage, effectively banning civil unions for gay couples as well.

Last year, the Kansas House rejected a similar proposal. Several hundred clergy mobilized, traveling across the state, registering new voters and getting congregation members to the polls.

“A thousand Kansas pastors realize we can now multiply ourselves and get things done,” said the Rev. Jerry Johnston, senior pastor at Overland Park’s First Family Church. “It’s a new day for evangelicals.”

Fox, Johnston and others said their agenda included restricting abortion and preventing the expansion of gambling. It concentrates on social issues — as opposed to tax or budget issues — where congregations are united, said the Rev. Bo Graves, senior pastor of Haysville’s First Baptist Church.

‘Giddy’ with power

Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said conservative Christians nationwide were “feeling oats, real or imagined” from the last election. Voters re-elected President Bush and in 13 states approved constitutional gay marriage bans.

“They’re absolutely giddy over the power they think they have,” Lynn said.

The Rev. Lou Sheldon, leader of the Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition, said conservative groups were driven by concerns about the nation’s future.

“Rome fell because of its immorality,” he said. “Moral anarchy will pull down any kind of a republican government, and that’s where we’re headed if we don’t turn things around.”

Next stop: schools

And evolution — which describes species changing over time to adapt to their environments and avoid extinction — is a perceived threat.

“Same-sex marriage, abortion are symptoms of the cause of rejecting a Supreme Being, taught through evolution,” said Pat Bullock, missions director for the Heart of Kansas Southern Baptist Assn.

With the Board of Education, evolution critics aren’t yet seeking equal status for creationism, which declares God created the universe, or intelligent design, which says evidence suggests change can’t be attributed only to random chance.

Instead, critics want to encourage more criticism of evolution in the classroom.

Bill Harris, a University of Missouri-Kansas City professor of medicine, a leader of the effort, said clergy’s support could cloud the issue. People don’t have to be religious to see validity in intelligent design, and the goal is a balanced teaching about evolution, he said.

“Clearly, the question of what you teach about origins has religious implications,” said Harris, who helped found the Intelligent Design Network.

What about 1999?

An attack on evolution also risks a political backlash. In 1999, a conservative-led board removed most references to evolution in the science standards. Voters then elected less conservative members, resulting in the current, evolution-friendly standards.

“There’s a core of people who oppose same-sex marriage who would like to leverage that into a less mainstream agenda,” said Evan Gerstmann, an associate political science professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.