Minn. archdiocese plans anti-gay marriage committees in every state Catholic church
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Archbishop John Nienstedt sent a letter to every priest in the state at the start of October urging them to put every Catholic church in Minnesota to work passing a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
“It is imperative that we marshal our resources to educate the faithful about the Church’s teachings on these matters, and to vigorously organize and support a grass roots effort to get out the vote to support the passage of the amendment,” the letter read. It went out on Oct. 4 to every priest in the state.
The archbishop said it wants priests in every parish to identify a “church captain” in order to create an “ad hoc committee” in every church in the state. The “church captain” is a component of the Schubert Flint strategy used in 2008′s divisive Proposition 8 battle in California.
The strategy mirrors a similar one used by conservative Christians in California to pass Proposition 8 and end marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Schubert Flint was a public affairs firm at the heart of California’s successful push by conservative Christians to repeal marriage rights for that state’s same-sex couples. In a post-mortem, the firm wrote about it’s use of church captains:
“We built a campaign volunteer structure around both time-honored campaign grassroots tactics of organizing in churches, with a ground-up structure of church captains, precinct captains, zip code supervisors and area directors; and the latest Internet and web-based grassroots tools.”
Schubert Flint has been active in Minnesota, in particular during the 2010 gubernatorial election when it created a series of ads attacking DFL and Independence Party candidates for their support of rights for same-sex couples.
According to Nienstedt’s letter, the church captains will be organized by the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic church, which will in turn report to the Minnesota for Marriage coalition for statewide efforts. Minnesota for Marriage is made up of the Minnesota Family Council, MCC and the National Organization for Marriage.
“A major issues will be placed before the State of Minnesota in the November 2012 election. a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Nienstedt wrote. “The sanctity of marriage and vital role of the family is at stake. It is a firmly-held teaching of our church that a marriage is a union of a husband and a wife, and that they together are the ones suited to be a father and a mother.”
He added, “To define it otherwise is a detriment to the common good of society.”
Here’s the full letter from Nienstedt:
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I think Catholic leaders who use their time, money and influence to fight the happiness of gay couples in love who want to marry should BURN IN HELL for it. How dare they! Get your filthy pedophile-enabling church out of our system of secular laws!
IF THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO INTERFERE WITH SECULAR POLITICAL MATTERS, THEY MUST LOSE THEIR TAX EXEMPT STATUS.
“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” — Christ Jesus
I think that’s a pretty clear endorsement of the separation of church and state (or the material and spiritual, if you prefer). What part of this don’t Catholics understand?
Again the Catholic Church is Not in touch with reality. An Archbishop in a dress represents a religion that protects pedophiles wants to deny the privilege of marriage for loving gay couples. I think they would be imbarrassed to even approach the subject as they house the largest collection of homosexuals then any organization on earth. Pride is one of the 7 deadly sins Archie baby!
Chruches who dictate political policy should LOSE THEIR TAX EXEMPT STATUS.
More proof of the moral corruption of the catholic church! They should be spending money on all the needy families, some of which they have created spending money on anti-abortion legislation. Obviously if they have money to spend buying politicians, the hypocrisy and greed of both tells us the church can not only afford to pay taxes but should DO So in the spirit of helping humanity!
Thank God most gay people have more sense than to live in Minnesota.
“No people will tamely surrender their liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and virtue is preservd. On the contrary, when people are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their manners, they will sink under their own weight without the aid of foreign Invaders.” –Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, 1775
America;s founding fathers built a nation of free men on religiously inspired morality, both personal and civil, and with its destruction the very fiber of our nation’s character and strength is diminished. The union of a man and a woman in marriage is the core of the family, and the family is the core of civil society.
Whatever erodes that chips away at the essentials of this nation which have stood it well for 235 years. It was in the churches that liberty was taught and from St. John’s Church that Patrick Henry said, :Give me liberty or give me death.” It was in the churches that the battle against slavery was initiated. It will be in the churches that the battle to save America from becoming a rotten egg of immorality and corruption will be fought.
The Catholic church has been persecuting minorities for centuries. Witness the religious wars against non-believers, the second class status of women even today, the enslavement of American Indians in Catholic Missions, the complicity of Pius XII with Hitler to exterminate the Jews, gypsies, gays, and other “undesireables.” So, this is nothing new for Catholic bishops. My advice: Do not associate with Ctholics, do not employ them, do not allow them in your home or near your property, never vote for them, do all that you can to damage and harm them. Why? because these hate filled bishops would have no power if it were not for the support given by the unthinking sheep in the pews. The Catholic bishops have only one agenda: total control – political, economic and cultural – of every country on the face of the earth. The hate, prejudice, and discriminatory practices of nuns, priests, and bishops has been a scourge on the entire western world.
The Church was the key civilizing force in a barbarian world, where it fought tribalism and encouraged nation building including minorities. It led the way in equality for women, from arranged marriages to bridal choice. Progress is slow in all societies, but the Church has led the way over the centuries, no more importantly than in education.
One can go back in history, because Christians are also people of their times. While one can point out many errors of the Roman Catholics, history tells us that Protestants like Washington and Jefferson owned slaves. It was whites in the psuedo-Christian KKK who terrorized the South. But in America we have moved on.
We cannot squander out nation’s religious heritage except at our peril. Our Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish communities need to lead the way, rather than listen to the hate-filled voices of immorality who would divide us – and we have one biblical message of moral truth.
[...] there is another issue in this situation that needs more attention. The American Independent writes: According to Nienstedt’s letter, the church captains will be organized by the Minnesota [...]
