June 19, 2013

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Iowa Catholics holding “Fortnight for Freedom” prayer event

June 17, 2013 By

Iowa Catholics who are concerned about the federal government challenging their religious freedoms are planning a two-week-long prayer effort that begins this Friday. Ann Marie Cox, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Des Moines, says they’ll be concentrating on issues like life and marriage.

“Fortnight for Freedom is an opportunity that the U.S. bishops have created for folks to really focus on prayer and action regarding threats to religious liberty in our country,” Cox says. “They’ve planned a two-week period for this prayer in action. It begins on June 21st and runs through July 4th.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s expected June ruling on marriage could have “grave implications for religious freedom,” she says. The decision is expected during the Fortnight event. Through prayer, study and peaceful public action, Cox says they hope to remind themselves and others about the importance of preserving the constitutional, fundamental right of religious freedom.

“We’re concerned about a number of threats to religious liberty,” Cox says. “We want to raise awareness, have people learn about it and talk to their legislators about what could be done about some of this. A primary concern is the upcoming August 1st deadline for the HHS mandate.”

She says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is demanding religious organizations comply with the federal health care law.

Cox says, “They’re mandating that Catholic organizations like hospitals, Catholic charities, outreach services, be required to provide health care that we believe is morally wrong, like birth control, sterilization, things like that.”

The Diocese of Des Moines includes 81 parishes in 23 counties in central and southwest Iowa. The two weeks of events will be capped by what’s being called the “Independence Celebration: Pray for Life, Marriage and Religious Liberty” on Sunday, July 7th, at St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines.

Learn more at: www.dmdiocese.org

Filed Under: News, Religion

DMACC student groups hosts event as counter to LGBTQ conference

April 25, 2013 By

A group of Des Moines Area Community College Students that criticized the school’s administration for providing support to the Iowa Governor’s LGTBQ Conference is holding their own event today on campus. Jake Dagel is the president of the DMACC group.

“Our student group, Young Americans for Freedom is bringing in pro-family, pro-life, speaker Bradley Dean from Minnesota to send a message to Iowa that pro-traditional marriage and pro-life issues matter to Iowans, and that’s why we’re bringing him in,” Dagel says.

Dagel protested D-MACC’s contribution of $1,000 that paid for some students to attend the conference, saying some sessions of the conference bullied Christians and conservatives. “DMACC used taxpayer money to support that conference and so just as an alternative for people who hold the opposite views, this is the event we are hosting for them,” Dagel says.

He says their guest speaker is a good one to support their message. “Bradley Dean is an activist from Annondale, Minnesota. He’s spoken all across the county. He spoke in Dunkerton, Iowa last year where he was kicked out of a public high school for speaking the truth about homosexuality, abortion, the constitution,” Dagel says.

“Those are the same issues we expect him to address when he speaks to us.” A spokesperson for DMACC said at the time the school was not trying to promote any particular lifestyle, and was just trying to raise awareness.

DMACC president, Rob Denson, told Radio Iowa that is still the case, and the school will provide the same amount of support to this event as they provided for the LGBTQ conference.

“Because they are a student organization, they are allowed to use the FFA center for free. That’s a 400-dollar value. And DMACC is providing another 600 (dollars) for students,” Denson says. “We are not sponsoring their speaker, we are not sponsoring meals, we are supporting DMACC students who want to attend.”

Denson says they try to be open about all points of view. “The same rules apply, I’ve said this throughout this entire incidence. We want to support our students to give them an opportunity to be exposed to different views. We supported 50 students to attend the governor’s conference, and I told Mr. Dagel that we would provide the same support,” Denson says.

Dagel and Denson traded emails about how the school would support the Young Americans for Freedom event. Denson says both are ending up with equal support. “It’s a little different here, only because the governor’s conference was not on the DMACC campus. It was at Prairie Meadows, so the facility use was not calculated there because they were not using our facility,” Denson says.

“Dagel is using our facility, the FFA facility. Part of the value he receives comes from that, but it’s the exact same amount of money. The event with Bradley Dean is tonight at seven o’clock at the FFA Enrichment Center on the DMACC campus in Ankeny.

Filed Under: Education, News, Religion

Church effort aims to wipe out malaria

April 22, 2013 By

Malaria kills a child somewhere in the world every 60 seconds and an effort underway in Iowa this week aims to help bring some relief from the mosquito-borne disease. Reverend Katie Dawson, of Cedar Rapids, is one of the state’s organizers for the United Methodist Church’s “Imagine No Malaria” campaign.

“We are very active in Africa and our brothers and sisters there have asked us to join them in this fight,” Reverend Dawson says. “As the Iowa United Methodist Church, we are trying to raise $2-million to save 200,000 lives from malaria.” This week’s effort revolves around a statewide pancake breakfast, being served in dozens of churches and community halls across Iowa.

“We know it’s very simple to make a difference,” Dawson says. “Ten dollars buys a net that will cover and protect a family or $10 can also provide the funds to diagnose and treat malaria. A very little amount of money makes a huge difference.” About 120 Methodist churches across Iowa are taking part in this week’s pancake breakfasts in 87 locations over four days — Thursday through Sunday.

“This is the kickoff for our Iowa effort,” she says. “We’re going to be working on this for the next year as churches across the state get involved. This is one way we can make a big impact and let the whole state know that we are engaged in an effort, we’re committed to it and we’re going to make a difference.” Learn more about the project and find a pancake breakfast location near you via the website: www.inmiowa.org/pancake

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News, Religion

Iowa ACLU files lawsuit on behalf of Westboro Baptist Church

April 18, 2013 By
Randall Wilson

Randall Wilson

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three members of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. The class action suit seeks to defend the Westboro members’ rights to desecrate the U.S. flag in demonstrations.

ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Randall Wilson says he’s not concerned about his organization being aligned with the church known for it’s anti-gay protests at military funerals and other events that garner media attention.

“We are very strong opponents at either end of the spectrum on many issues, including LGBT rights,” Wilson says. “However, the ACLU believes strongly that the rights of one group, with respect to free speech and expression, define the rights of all of us.”

The lawsuit contends that various Iowa law enforcement officials wrongly ordered Westboro members to stop dragging or stomping on the U.S. flag at protests in Des Moines, Red Oak, and Council Bluffs.

“The most outrageous groups, sometimes, are the first that are censored and the ones which generate the cases,” Wilson says. “We believe very strongly the Westboro Baptist Church has a right to use the flag expressively in whatever way it wants, as everyone else does.” Wilson says law enforcement officials at the Iowa protests cited their duty to enforce the state’s flag desecration laws because the laws were still on the books.

But, Wilson notes those laws were ruled unconstitutional in 2007. Many Iowans are strongly opposed to both the desecration of the flag and the tactics employed by Westboro Baptist Church members, but Wilson doesn’t believe that will spark a big “backlash” against the ACLU.

“I think there will be some backlash, but typically most Iowans understand the principles of free speech – if not the other constitutional rights – and I think many people will understand why we are representing the Westboro Baptist Church (members),” Wilson said.

The Westboro Baptist Church is led by Fred Phelps and consists primarily of members of his large family.

See the lawsuit filing here: Westboro suit PDF

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Military, News, Religion

Structural problems force the closing of Muscatine church

April 16, 2013 By

An historic Muscatine church has closed its doors to regular services. The Muscatine Journal reports that structural problems — including a sagging floor and deteriorating brick exterior and roof — have prompted officials to discontinue regular services at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

The Reverend Jason Crossen told the paper an early estimate of repairs was more than $1 million. Crossen says parishioners feel strongly about maintaining the church, which was built in the 1800s.

By Phil Roberts, Davenport

Filed Under: News, Religion

Speaker tells LGBTQ conference the “right wing” is losing influence

April 3, 2013 By
Matt Sinovic

Matt Sinovic

One of the sessions that got a lot of attention at the Iowa Governors LGBTQ Conference Wednesday focused on what was called the “extreme right wing.” Matt Sinovic, the executive director of a group called Progress Iowa, led the session.

Sinovic says the right wing includes the Family Leader group, conservative radio talk show hosts and Fox News. He says polls showing an increasing approval of gay marriage are proof that the right wing is losing influence.

“We need to remember that the right wing is just wrong. They’re just wrong. It’s been four years since all Iowans have had the freedom to marry — and what has happened? Gay people got married, that’s it. More people have rights, none have less,” according to Sinovic.

Sinovic also cited a poll showing the influence of Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats has declined. He tried to show several videos of statements made by Vander Plaats against gay marriage, but technical problems prevented him from playing of most of the videos.

Sinovic told the session members that the best way to counter the “propoganda” of Vander Plaats and others is to use their own words against them. “There’s no question about what these folks are saying. It’s not like it’s taken out of context, it’s not some sort of twisted around agenda, it’s just literally video and audio of what they believe, and that is in itself the best attack, is just showing these quotes…for what they really are,” Sinovic says.

He said the difference between progressives and conservatives is that “conservatives are usually on the wrong side of history and progressives are usually on the correct side of history.” Sinovic made reference to a news conference last week where members of the Family Leader and 16 legislators spoke out specifically against this session of the conference and its attack on them.

He says gay advocates should fight back when they see the media covering such events. “You can write letters to the editor when your local paper gives credibility to this type of bullying language…I would have loved it is the press conference last week, nobody covered it. Because why are we listening to these people. The real reason that I think it got so much coverage is that there were 16 legislators there,” Sinovic says.

He says advocates should write to “right wing” legislators and complain. Sinovic also says the best way for gay advocates to sway opinion it to talk with their relatives and friends.

“There’s tons of research to back this up. If I talk to my brother and sister about this — my friends, my family about this — that’s going to be the most credible because they know me, they know you,” Sinovic says. “So, talk to your family, talk to your friends, if you hear them repeating some of the things you’ve heard here today or some of the things you might hear on the radio or news later on, or from Bob Vander Plaats later on, push back, don’t let them repeat it, challenge them on it.”

Sinovic says Progress Iowa is a “progressive” group because it is willing to change its views as issues evolve, but he says the extreme right wing sticks to its views no matter what happens.

You can listen to the presentation from Sinovic below.

Audio: Sinovic part 1 21:00

Audio: Sinovic part 2 26:00

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, Religion Tagged With:

LGBTQ conference host responds to conservative group’s criticism

March 28, 2013 By

The leader of a group that’s hosting the Governors Conference on LGBTQ Youth says concerns raised by a conservative group are “ludicrous.” Members of the FAMiLY LEADER were joined by 16 legislators today to reiterate concerns raised earlier in the week about tax dollars being spent on the conference. The legislators threatened to pull funding from Des Moines Area Community College which is hosting the event.

The group says sessions in the conference are bullying conservative media members and those who believe in the bible while the conference is supposed to be against bullying. Nate Monson is the executive director conference host Iowa Safe Schools.

“I think their news conference was frankly sad and very disheartening, that they would resort to bullying an event that is focused on supporting kids and providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students no matter who they are,” Monson says. “The event has a lot of great workshops and sessions on bullying and prevention and how students can advocate against that, and resources for teachers — that’s the real heart and soul of the event.”

One of the sessions criticized by the FAMiLY LEADER is called “For the Bible Tells Me So.” Monson says it is based on an Oscar-nominated documentary.

“And it’s about you can be Christian and LGBT too — like you don’t have to pick one or the other — which is what their press conference is frankly all about, is that you have to choose. And you don’t you can be both. And so it goes through loving families and faith leaders, including Nobel Prize winner Desmond TuTu and Harvard theologians, and they talk about that you can be both and it is okay,” according to Monson.

“And so the message is for these kids who sometimes are rejected by their families their peers and their schools, you can still have faith and it’s okay,” Monson says. The FAMiLY LEADER group says the conference bullies conservative media members in a session that calls it propaganda.

Monson says speaking out against them is not bullying. “Actually the definition of bullying is it always involves this idea of a power imbalance, anyone who works with bullying work 365 days a year knows that there has to be that power imbalance that happens,” Monson says.

“And frankly their press conference with legislators and an organization as big as the FAMiLY LEADER attacking our event and attacking an organization our size which is a much smaller group of people who plan this event every year — that’s the definition of bullying right there — going after us just to have a conversation about their language.”

The executive director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, Connie Ryan Terrell, also spoke out today in response to the FAMiLY LEADER’s news conference. Terrell says the language used by the group was inappropriate. “Words such as evil and other demeaning and derogatory words, there’s just no place for it. And certainly as an adult, we need to be role models on how we treat each other,” Terrell says.

“And using such language as that to describe an entire group of people is really beyond the pale and I don’t understand why leaders would ever use that kind of language.” Terrell takes issue with the threats legislator’s made against conference host D-MACC and the governor.

“That if the governor doesn’t remove his name and if the community college doesn’t remove their name from the conference run by the Iowa Safe Schools that they will in essence go after them and the money that the community colleges get from the state, that just is simply inappropriate,”Terrell says. Terrell says the argument that the conference is bullying Christians by targeting them is a false one.

“We know that conservative religious traditions have long since demonized people who are gay and lesbian. That is part of the reason of the conference is because it has been done so much in history and also currently. So to turn that argument around and to say that as a Christian that they are being bullied is simply inaccurate,” Terrel says.

Terrell is a past board member and treasurer of the Iowa Safe Schools Task Force for LGBT Youth, and the Interfaith Alliance will receive the “Advocate of the Year” award at this year’s conference.

The governor is not commenting on the conference or any gay issues because of a lawsuit that claims he discriminated against the openly gay workers’ compensation commissioner.

Radio Iowa first reported Monday that the D-MACC Young Americans for Freedom Chapter was speaking out against the conference as bullying those who didn’t support the LGBTQ views. The group’s president, Jake Dagel, said they were trying to get the university officials to withdraw the tax dollar support of the conference.

Dagel says university security officers have since stop students from handing out flyers on the issue.

You can see the lineup for the conference here: iowasafeschools.org/content/view/190/118

 

Filed Under: Education, Featured Story, News, Religion Tagged With:
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