Excerpt from Transformation Michigan/Oak Initiative conference call with MI State Senator Mark Jansen, May 17, 2010
6:05
Rich Warzywak: What about the aspect of traditional marriage in our state? I know this is important to a lot of people on this call, and - what is going on regarding that aspect, of traditional marriage. Is there anything, like, hidden, or is it pretty much protected at this time, or is this a federal thing?
Michigan State Senator Mark Jansen: That's a great question. I'm trying to think quickly on my feet here. I'm trying to think - we're always, it seems like, you know there's always this tension of, you know, one man-one woman and, you know, the biblical belief of marriage and there's always pressure to say it's OK to have gay marriage or it's OK to have a partnership or whatever it happens to be.
There's always that underlying tension and I think that happens at the local level, it happens at the state level. You know, things that happen among even state employees or public employees. They'll want their insurance to cover their partner. You know, there's always those kind of tensions that are going on. And so that's an issue that we all, we really all need to be fighting really in our own back yards and at the state level and at the federal level. `Cause they are aggressive yet quietly aggressive when it comes to things like that.
9:22 [Mark Janses, discusses tensions, battles in MI state senate and house]
Jansen: You know, we're also fighting off, kind of, the union thing, and some of those kind of things - I'm not going to get into that much here. But, you know, they're coming at it from a particular angle and, you know, pushing an agenda, and that's often a challenge when you have two houses like that [Jansen has previously discussed difficulty of Senate being Republican-controlled and House Democratically-controlled]
Warzywak: You know, we may have, you know, already covered this ground somewhat, but again I'll, I guess I'll rephrase the question here in another way, but do you see that there's any present threat regarding the Judeo-Christian biblical worldview that are pending in the legislative process in Lansing right now? I mean, maybe it has its head rising up a little bit, and we're trying to hold this back? I mean do you - is there anything there that we should be aware of as constitutents in this state?
Jansen: What came to mind when you asked that was kind of the whole stem cell discussion and, kind of, fight. There's - you know, obviously for me, the life starts immediately upon conception and, you know, they're arguing that stem cell is, you know, that's just a blob. And so what you're finding is - to me, that's an attack on what I believe is life. And so I think that's probably the most blatant attack on what I would consider, you know, respecting of human beings and so I think that one, in particular, is one that's out there and you're going to hear it, and it's going to be out there on a regular basis - which we all need to engage in that battle.
11:00-13:00 - Discusses home schooling
13:00-15:00 - Discusses effectiveness of calling legislators, Christian "mentoring" of legislators.
15:00-17:00 - What is most effective way for constitutents to influence legislators
18:17
Janses: I think all of us, at least I do, realize you can't do it on your own. You know, there's no superman or superwoman that's going to save this state. It's going to be where God's people, I think, come together and, you know, this state becomes obedient to God, and we get back on our hands and knees - I think that's where we're going to see God turn Michigan around and, until we get there, we're going to keep stumbling away. But I think these [new] legislators and this new governor, and all these people - we're going to need friends, if you will, like people on this phone call, who are being obedient to God, and are walking in God's ways, and then I think we're going to see that this state can be blessed by God.
20:55
Jansen: Some folks prayed for me, the other day, on the National Day of Prayer, and I truly believe that we need to be praying for, a little of everybody - that we need godly solutions to Michigan's problems, and I just pray that God will bless the hearts and the minds of everybody in the state - whether they're Christian businesspeople or whether they're leaders of some other form or fashion - we do need God's solutions to get Michigan out of here, and I believe that's what we ought to be praying for.