To the editor:

How can our representatives in Kansas governing bodies act in ways that are so counter to the needs and wishes of the vast majority of Kansans? I believe that their actions have nothing to do with their belief that they are acting in a fiscally conservative manner, against judicial activism or within the Christian tradition. I think that our representatives live in the fear that the people of Kansas will wake up to the lies, posturing and bigoted actions, and rid our governing bodies of their “conservative” majorities.

The key to the continued control of any institution by a cadre of reactionary fear and hatemongers has to be the perpetuation of ignorance. Populations that are poorly educated and are never taught to think are easier to manipulate.

Just as extremists of the past targeted minorities as objects of fear and mistrust or used religious dogma to maintain control, our representatives have used failure to provide the funds to properly educate our youth and have put in place curriculum requirements based on myth and passing worthless tests as means of control.

As long as demagogues in Topeka control school funding and curricula, the future of the state is assured and bleak. Soon, we will no longer look down our noses on the education system of the Deep South, a region that has long used ignorance and fear to maintain a structure of elitist power. Rather, we will be looking up and wondering how we slipped so far.

David Bishop,

Lawrence