It's no wonder that Pat Robertson, who has long advocated a "Christian America," describes Duke Aiona as an "attractive" candidate for governor of Hawai`i. Robertson notes on his Web site that Aiona is a leading member of Transformation Hawaii, a branch of the International Transformation Network, whose stated mission is "to win all nations for Christ." Fair enough, if "nations" means "peoples," but that's not what ITN is talking about.

...ITN holds up [Uganda] as a shining example of Christian-dominated government. As documented by journalist Bruce Wilson, ITN members there support a law that would execute gays and imprison people who fail to report them. In the U.S., allied with similar groups, ITN is attempting to take over the governments of Orlando, Newark and other cities with their brand of Christianity. Street by street, they seek to expel the "demons" that they say account for social problems. They target not only gangs and drugs, but also Hindus and Buddhists, Jehovah's Witnesses, gays, practitioners of new age spiritualities -- in short, anyone who opposes their Christian theocracy.

So if you care about the Constitution, Aiona's involvement with Transformation Hawai`i and the ITN is not "attractive" at all. Both the federal and Hawai`i Constitutions prohibit any "law respecting the establishment of religion." That means, at the very least, that our governments may not endorse one particular religious viewpoint over others...

What message did Aiona send on Dec. 8, 2004 at Castle High School when he claimed Hawai`i's public schools for Christ and prayed that Hawai`i would become the nation's "first Christian state?" (Honolulu Advertiser, 05/18/05) This was an elaborately orchestrated event, simulcast to thousands in 77 locations -- many of them other pubic schools. It was exactly the kind of school-sponsored prayer that's repeatedly been forbidden by the Supreme Court, and Aiona led it in his capacity as lieutenant governor...

...The Constitution does not require the removal of religious life from the public sphere. But it does prohibit the government from endorsing a particular religious viewpoint or agenda. When government officials cross that line, religious liberty slides into religious tyranny. Hawai`i voters should be concerned about Aiona's active participation in Transformation Hawai`i and the ITN global network and should ask him to explain how he reconciles his activism in those organizations with Constitutions he has sworn to uphold.

Kathleen Sands is currently an associate professor at the University of Hawaii. The following is her current bio:

Kathleen Sands was educated at Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S.) and Boston Kathleen SandsCollege (Ph.D.). She previously taught at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, where she directed the Religious Studies program and was jointly appointed in American Studies and Women's Studies.

Professor Sands' areas of specialization include: religion in America, religion and law, women in religion, Christian history, and theory of religion. She is author of Escape From Paradise: Evil and Tragedy in Feminist Theology, and editor of God Forbid: Religion and Sex in American Public Life. Her published articles have appeared in New Literary History, The Journal of Theology and Culture, The Journal of the American Academy of Religion, The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and in several anthologies and encyclopedias. They cover a wide range of topics, including humor ("If, Ands, and Butts"), tragedy ("Feminist and Theology in the Time After Time"), sexuality ("Homosexuality, Religion and the Law," "Sexual Dissent," "Sex and Eros in Feminist Theology"), Native American rights ("A Property of Peculiar Value: Land, Religion and the Constitution"), women and religion in the U.S. ("Feminisms and Secularisms in the U.S.), pedagogy "Coming Out and Leading Out"), and even an occasional foray into film ("Still Dreaming of a White Christmas: War, Memory, and Nostalgia in the American Christmas).

Professor Sands has served on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Religion, and the editorial board of The Journal of Feminist Studies of Religion. Currently, she serves on the editorial board of The Journal of Law and Religion, and is an active member of the Workgroup on Constructive Theology, and the Theology and Culture Group. She has been a research fellow at Harvard University's Center for the Study of Values in Public Life, and at the Radcliffe Center for Advanced Studies.
Presently, she is at work on a book about religion and law in American public life.