Along with more young people embracing Christian values, so is the Republican party increasing its ranks.

Popular opinion suggests the effects of emotionally-charged debates over gay rights, gambling and abortion are leading to a more conservatively-minded country. State Rep. Bob Pritchard (R-Hinckley) and others commented on how this development affects the legislative process.

He said Illinois has a wide range of views. In order to represent the best interests of the people, one must look at the long-term welfare of Illinois.

In other cases, personal religious beliefs may be what is in the best interest of the people, he said.

For example, the Christian belief of family corresponds with the survival of Illinois, Pritchard said. Illinois is based on family units. He feels it’s when an individual is raised in a stressful and unbalanced environment, with the lack of a loving unit, that problems occur in society.

With the issue of same-sex marriage, a public servant must predict how this will affect the balance of the family unit. Is it possible for a same-sex married couple to bring the same amount of balance to their child and family as a heterosexual married couple could, he asked.

Another example is the issue of gambling. Gov. Rod Blagojevich proposed a state-sponsored gambling game, Keno, to raise money for school construction.

The Research 2000 Illinois Poll stated 66 percent of Republicans oppose the proposal.

There is opposition because the game, along with other electronic gambling games, is flashy and sucks consumers into spending hard-earned money, Pritchard said.

Such growing conservative values may scare away important moderate republican votes, he said, but he has not noticed any strong changes in moderate voting in the Republican Party.

Even within the political structure it’s hard to categorically cast people.

Moderates listen to the people and think through social issues just as the rest of the party does, Pritchard said.

Aaron Funfsinn, a junior political science major, only sees a win-win situation out of the pairing.

“Any losses the Republicans may have received from their conservative views outweigh the losses the Democrats received for shunning those views,” he said.

The growing religious community among today’s American youth will vote for the more conservative candidate, Funfsinn predicts.

According to a 2005 survey by Leadership Network and The Hartford Institute for Religion Research, U.S. Protestant mega churches also draw in large amounts of younger crowds.

The weekly attendance of these mega churches has doubled in the past five years because of more active youth groups.

John Acardo, College Republicans chairman and a moderate, said conservatism and the Republican Party also have become increasingly stronger. The party is made up of both traditional Republicans, now popularly called moderates, and religious conservatives.

The party holds many different beliefs, including those holding religious value, but the reason the party is becoming increasingly stronger is because of the effectiveness of the party’s message to the people, he said.