CHRISTIAN COALITION TO PRESENT CANDIDATES

MARBLE HILL -- They aren't pushing agendas or asking for votes. The Bollinger County Christian Coalition simply wants people to be informed before they head to the polls.

The coalition is hosting a candidate forum next week for school board candidates from the Leopold, Meadow Heights, Woodland and Zalma school districts. The meeting will be at 6 p.m. March 11 at the Senior Citizen Nutrition Center in Marble Hill.

The candidates each will have an opportunity to make some remarks and then answer questions from audience members. Not every candidate has agreed to come, but a majority are expected.

"We'd like to see more people of faith involved in the political process," said Rod Jetton, a founding member of the group. The Christian Coalition isn't a right-wing radical group. It is nonpartisan and nondenominational and doesn't endorse candidates.

Forming such a group was fairly easy, said Jetton, a county commissioner. "I thnk it goes a long way to showing people that character and personal convictions are important, not just in the president but in school boards too."

The coalition held its first meeting in October and has been building up its ranks ever since, Jetton said. Membership applications have recently been mailed and are beginning to return with dues payments, he said.

Too often people complain about the political process or candidates but never do anything about it, Jetton said. The coalition lends itself to members who are ready to take action.

The group often quotes Edmund Burke, who said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." If people have the right information, they can make the right decision, Jetton said.

Prior to the April 6 municipal election, the coalition will print a voter's guide to be distributed to area churches.