JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Does the next director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services need to be a Christian? That is the question after Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement Tuesday that he would only choose someone for the job who shared the “same Christian values” as him. Parson, a Republican, was blasting conservative hard-liners in the Missouri Senate who had just jettisoned his pick for state health director, Donald Kauerauf, a pro-vaccine and mask public health professional with 35 years of experience. But in defending his pick, Parson’s statement, which his office also s…
