Fucking hypocrites.
Among the donors to the Minnesota Family Council’s efforts to get a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2012 is a slew of churches and religious leaders. Some of the churches and pastors who have contributed to the successful seven-year campaign are opposed to homosexuality and advocate “ex-gay” therapy, a controversial faith-based type of counseling that attempts to change gays and lesbians into heterosexuals. The therapy has been condemned by most major medical associations. Among the donors are churches in Minneapolis and greater Minnesota, and, in one case, a large Minnesota financial institution.
The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board merely lists donors that have contributed more than $500 to lobbying groups such as MFC. The board also tracks donations to ballot campaigns such as Minnesota for Marriage (M4M), and those donations have been noted where available.
Jim Anderson, The Harbor, Hastings
Pastor Jim Anderson of The Harbor, a church in Hastings, is a financial backer of the Minnesota Family Council‘s successful lobbying campaign to put the amendment on the ballot next year. Anderson spoke out in favor of a DVD campaign released by Archbishop John Nienstedt during the 2010 election that urged Catholics to vote for candidates who oppose rights for same-sex couples.
“We stand in support of the recent efforts to protect and strengthen marriage by the Catholic Archdiocese,” said Anderson at a Minnesota Family Council event in 2010. “We agree that marriage is between one man and one woman and that the church and it’s leaders should lead the way in protecting and strengthening marriage. We call on other pastors and all Christians leaders to join us in protecting and strengthening marriage.”
Anderson is also president of Harvest Impact Ministries and a board member for the Minnesota Family Council.
In addition, Anderson gave $250 to M4M in 2005.
Steve Goold, New Hope Church, New Hope
Pastor Steve Goold of New Hope Church in the Minneapolis suburb of New Hope is also a contributor to the Minnesota Family Council’s lobbying campaign. In 2008, his church hosted Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, an organization that was recently listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Goold is strongly opposed to marriage equality. “Marriage is under great attack. As pastors of Minnesota churches and citizens of this great state, we find it necessary to voice this concern to you the citizens of Minnesota,” said Goold in a 2010 press release from the Minnesota Family Council. “We cannot state strongly enough the importance and value of marriage for the social good and the potentially dangerous ramifications of a social experiment such as legalizing same-sex marriage.”
The church also advocates that gays and lesbians can change their sexual orientation, a therapy almost all major medical associations have condemned.
A pamphlet for the church’s Release ministry describes the church’s views:
It’s easier to believe this lifestyle is merely about two loving people sharing their lives together. The truth is that homosexuality is clearly warned about in the Bible. And a closer look at the lifestyle also unmistakably reveals that it is not only sinful, but derives out of unhealthy responses to hurts and voids in a person’s life. This way of life leads people away from a loving God and His protective truth… We do not care about individuals when we endorse or ignore a lifestyle that has such high percentages of depression, alcoholism, promiscuity, sexually-transmitted diseases and drug use.Grace Bible Chapel, Grand Rapids
Grace Bible Chapel in Grand Rapids contributed to MFC’s lobbying efforts in 2010. In 2005, the church hosted a S.O.S. “Save Our Students” seminar in Grand Rapids put on by MFC which invited attendees to “hear the reality of the gay agenda in your schools and the risks to your children.”
Pete Scharber, Marksman Metal, Rogers
Pete Scharber runs Marksman Metal in Rogers, Minn., and was a contributor to the Minnesota Family Council’s lobbying effort. He is also an organizer for the Northwest Christian Network Teams a St. Paul–based Christian network for CEOs. In its mission statement the group says it “enhances the spiritual development of today’s business leaders by facilitating an environment where practical business applications are combined with solid Biblical values.”
John Roise, Lindsay Window and Door, North Mankato
John Roise, owner of Lindsay Window and Door of North Mankato, also contributed to the lobbying campaign in 2010. Roise sits on the board of Minnesota Teen Challenge, an Assemblies of God drug treatment center that has received state and federal funding. Roise, a contributor to Rep. Michele Bachmann, took a $150,000 stimulus tax subsidy this year.
Roise is also on the board of Bethel University and the Bethel University Foundation board. Bethel tells its students not to engage in gay and lesbian relationships. From the university’s student handbook:
“The Bible also identifies character qualities and actions that should not be present in the lives of believers. For example: destructive anger, malice, rage, sexual immorality, impurity, adultery, evil desires, greed, idolatry,slander, profanity, lying, homosexual behavior, drunkenness, thievery, and dishonesty.”He’s also a donor to Rep. Michele Bachmann and to the Republican Party of Minnesota.
Steve Hilde, Salem Lutheran Church, Osakis, and Steve Moen, Living Hope Ministries, Minneapolis
In 2004, Pastor Steve Hilde of Salem Lutheran Church in central Minnesota gave $200, as did Steve Moen of Living Hope Ministries in northeast Minneapolis.
Lutheran Community Foundation, Thrivent Financial, Minneapolis
In 2004, the Lutheran Community Foundation, a foundation of Thrivent Financial, gave $500 to the Minnesota Family Council. The foundation also gives annual grants to Focus on the Family of which MFC is affiliated. In 2009, Thrivent’s foundation gave Focus on the Family $5,774.
The Minnesota Independent will continue to analyze the funding behind the successful seven-year push by the Minnesota Family Council to get a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2012. Read part one in this series, on individual donors who gave the most to the campaign.
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