As the country becomes more and more divided by polar-opposite politics, a surprising effect has created an even bigger separation. A recent report revealed that some Americans are moving to entirely different states purely due to their politics. People are looking for communities that align with their own personal beliefs, resulting in massive cross-country moves that broadens “the greatest divide between the states in modern history,” according to AP News.

Federalism — allowing each state to chart its own course within boundaries set by Congress and the U.S. Constitution — is at the core of American government. It lets the states, in the words of former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, be “laboratories of democracy.” However, this can often result in states becoming pockets of conservative or liberal communities, swaying the votes and dominating certain areas of U.S. Government.

American Family Association (AFA, www.AFA.net) Executive Vice President Ed Vitagliano commented on this new trend, noting that the trouble is not that people are looking for communities of like-minded individuals, but rather the vast grip certain political parties can hold on regions of the nation, resulting in an unbalanced government.

“Our Founding Fathers would not necessarily be alarmed to see individual states becoming majority red or blue, because they designed our republic to invest the majority of political power in the states,” said Vitagliano. “But what would undoubtedly cause concern would be the vast power that has been aggregated in the federal government. Especially as exercised by the current administration, it appears that so-called ‘progressives’ believe there is no area the federal bureaucracy cannot control. Perhaps more than anything, it is federal overreach that has sparked the political backlash driving our polarized discourse.”

For over 40 years, AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission.  Founded in 1977, AFA has long been on the front lines of America’s culture war. Today, AFA is one of the largest and most effective pro-family organizations in the country, with nearly a million online supporters and approximately 110,000 subscribers to The Stand (formerly known as the AFA Journal), the ministry’s monthly magazine.  Find AFA Action Alerts here.  In addition, AFA owns and operates nearly 180 radio stations across the country under the American Family Radio banner. 

View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.       

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To interview an AFA spokesperson, contact [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.  