Alan Keyes to speak in Kalispell
Alan Keyes will deliver his pro-life and pro-family message to a Kalispell audience on Feb. 18.
Stillwater Christian School will host Keyes for a dinner and speech in the Christian Center that evening.
The columnist, author and former talk-show host ran for president twice and for the U.S. Senate in Maryland and Illinois three times, served 11 years in the U.S. State Department and was Ronald Reagan's ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Through his visit, the school is hoping to foster community awareness of Stillwater Christian and a unified discussion on conservative Christian morals which Administrator Dan Makowski and Director of Admissions Craig Hunnicutt are convinced undergird the Flathead.
"He stands for the things and the values we would share," Makowski said.
"We wouldn't just bring in somebody - it's not just a speaker's forum. But we want to bring in [audience members] who know Keyes and would come in line with us, support us" as a result of Keyes' visit.
To bring out that audience, the school is planning "For Such A Time As This."
It will be an evening of dining and hearing what Keyes has to say, as well as a request for support of the school.
The event begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 18, in the Activities Center of the Christian Center Assembly of God, Kalispell. The $40 tickets for a prime rib dinner catered by Vista Linda are available at Stillwater Christian School and Christian Book Supply.
Call 752-4400 for information.
The admission cost covers only the expense of Keyes' appearance and the dinner itself. There will, however, be an opportunity to offer support for the school during the evening.
Hunnicutt said Keyes' biblically based message links well with the school's educational mission.
"His convictions are not from a political standpoint first, but from morals and faith," Hunnicutt said. "You can't separate education from God and faith and morals and values. God is the beginning of knowledge. That starting point is what we share."
Keyes, an articulate speaker and veteran debater, then carries that to the political arena. He argues for U.S. leaders to read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other founding documents with an eye for the original intent of their authors.
In the same way, "we can't just take the words of Scripture and put our meaning on them," Hunnicutt said. "They have an original intent from the author. [Keyes] sees the high court as hijacking the original intent of the Constitution.
"We hope a lot of people will identify with Keyes, that they will hear his voice and say, 'That's how I feel.'"
The theme, For Such A Time As This, is taken from the Bible's book of Esther in which Esther thwarts a political official's plot to do away with the Jewish people.
"One people's faith and protection of faith is being jeopardized by the political structure. This shows each person has a part to play," Hunnicutt said, whether in the voting booth or writing letters to legislators and editors or deciding where to send their children to school. "We're kind of in crisis mode."
"Keyes is a man who is speaking at a time like this," Makowski said.
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com