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Key segments of GOP, Democratic Party convene in Des Moines

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Bob Vander Plaats and Kellyanne Conway,

Two organizations that often represent polar opposites on the political spectrum held events in the same convention complex in downtown Des Moines today.

About a thousand evangelical Christians gathered for the Family Leadership Summit. Late this morning, Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to President Trump, asked the crowd to “pray for the mockers” in the media.

“As the person in the West Wing who does not say: ‘fake news, enemy of the people, opposition party’…my grievance is not biased coverage, it’s incomplete coverage,” Conway said. “Biased coverage people can see for themselves…I think part of becoming civil is making sure people are connected with the relevant information that they need and they deserve.”

Bernie Sanders

About three hours later, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders addressed about 1,100 gathered at the annual convention for the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund. Sanders also criticized the media, but for a lack of “progressive voices.”

“People are paralyzed,” Sanders said. “…People don’t think their voices matter and your job, in and every way you can, is to bring people together, raise issues that other people are not talking about, force discussion and create the kind of vibrant democracy that we need to see.”

Sanders is the independent who nearly tied with Hillary Clinton in the Iowa Democratic Party’s 2016 Caucuses. Sanders urged the crowd in Des Moines today “not to fall for the bait” that divides American against American.

“Don’t believe everything you see on the TV. Yeah, you can get pretty depressed,” Sanders said. “…Of course there are racists and sexists and homophobes. You’re going to see ’em on TV every night, but they are not the majority of the American people.”

As Conway stepped on stage at the Family Leadership Summit, she immediately mentioned Trump’s “nine and a half point’ victory in Iowa last November and told the crowd Trump is “keeping faith with people of faith.”

“When President Trump said ‘the forgotten man or the forgotten woman,’ he didn’t mean forgotten in your communities, forgotten in your churches or synagogues,” Conway said. “He meant forgotten by the swamp, the system, the special interests and that’s why we’re there.”

That message resonates with people like Curt McNew of Cresco. McNew said it seems to him that more people are engaged in politics these days.

“Some for good reasons and some for not,” McNew said during an interview this morning. “The Trump Administration shakes things up. A lot of it’s for the good and I think he also arouses a lot of snakes out of the swamp.”

Conway also lamented the tone employed by her critics.

“If they’re going to criticize policy, that’s terrific,” Conway said. “But criticizing, I mean, how I look or what I wear or how I speak — it’s really remarkable and it totally undercuts modern feminism.”

Conway didn’t give a speech at the event. She was interviewed by The Family Leader president Bob Vander Plaats. Vander Plaats told reporters his goal for the day was to focus on “a message of civility” and to “raise the bar” in the midst of the maelstrom in the media and on social platforms like Twitter.

“When you start going personal and attacking…I think you’ve lost the argument,” Vander Plaats said.

From the stage, Vander Plaats urged the crowd to “put principle over politics” and to greet “friends and neighbors” in the same building at a convention featuring Sanders with respect rather than scorn.

“It’s two different world views,” Vander Plaats told reporters shortly before his event began, “but yet we can co-exist together.”

Paula Friend of Des Moines said during an interview early this morning that came to the Family Leadership Summit “with an open mind.”

“I prepared by praying first because I really want everything that’s done or said to glorify God,” Friend said.

Linda Michels of Zearing attended the Iowa CCI Action Fund convention and she said the “separation” that’s going on in the country will be its “undoing.”

“Peace is the answer and talking together is definitely the way to go,” Michels said.

Long-time Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement organizer Hugh Espy delivered a similar message from the stage, arguing political action should be “firmly rooted in love.”

“But that doesn’t mean we’re not angry. It’s what we do with that anger that defines us,” Espy said earlier this afternoon. “And what we do with it is we turn it into powerful, inspiring, forward-thinking action — action that takes us to higher ground.”

Sanders delivered a speech for nearly an hour and used a good share of his time to critique what he called the “horrific” health care bill Republicans intend to bring up for a vote in the Senate next week.

“To Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst, please take a hard look at what this disastrous legislation will do to the people of Iowa and the people of Iowa and I say to them, I beg of them: ‘Please vote no,'” Sanders said, to cheers.

Conway spoke for nearly half an hour to about 50 people at a private fundraiser for the Republican Party. One of the people in the room told Radio Iowa Conway delivered a “very detailed” and “passionate” defense of the health care legislation. Neither Conway nor Sanders spoke with Iowa reporters while they were in the state today.

Iowa atheist leader gets death threat prior to Oskaloosa invocation

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Despite last week’s death threat, the founder and director of Eastern Iowa Atheists says he’ll continue his mission.

Justin Scott, from the Bremer County town of Denver, says he seeks out city councils that open their meetings with prayer and asks to be allowed to give a secular invocation instead.

Scott says all went relatively smoothly at last Wednesday’s city council meeting in Oskaloosa.

“They were very welcoming and really appreciated my request,” Scott says. “I got no push-back from the city. They definitely made sure their meetings were absolutely inclusive to everybody which is exactly our goal in our efforts. We want to make sure if cities are doing this, that they are including all voices and all world views.”

Scott says his invocations are centered on the power of humanity and not of any type of deity.

A U.S. Supreme Court case in 2014 made it clear that prayer is allowed before city council meetings, but he wants to make sure everyone is being invited to the table. Scott says he’s been giving invocations all across the region.

Scott says, “We’re less focused on doing any kind of prayer or séance or ritual and more focused on just reminding elected officials why they are there and who they’re representing.”

Prior to last week’s Oskaloosa city council meeting, Scott was told by a local reporter that someone had threatened to kill Scott if he gave his atheist invocation. Scott applauds the city and the police department for making him feel very safe.

“Thankfully, there was a very calm, mature response to my invocation,” Scott says. “Even those that were not pleased with me being there were respectful. They came up during public comments, made their opinions known but for the most part, it was ‘Iowa nice,’ if you will.”

In April, Scott says he became the first atheist to deliver an invocation before a regular session of the Iowa House of Representatives.

 

Class teaches Muslim women how to protect themselves

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A self-defense class for Muslim women will debut in Iowa City today that’s meant to help them protect themselves from attacks based on their religious clothing.

Miriam Amer , executive director of Iowa’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, says Muslim women wearing headscarves have been targeted across the country in recent months.

“I’m not going to focus on the rhetoric and I’m not going to focus on the attacks,” Amer says. “We are going to be proactive and teach these women from vulnerable populations how to take care of themselves and how to deflect anything.” She says women from at-risk populations need to be able to defend themselves from violence.

“Attacks have been happening across the country and it’s majority against Muslim women because we cover,” Amer says. “Most of us wear the headscarf and modest clothing, so we’re the targets, basically.” Amer says anyone, Muslim or not, is welcome at the free self-defense class. She plans to offer classes throughout the state.

(Thanks to Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)

Woman guilty of embezzling $70,000 from church gets probation

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A woman who embezzled $70,000 dollars from a small Des Moines church will be on probation for the next two years and a judge has ordered her to repay what she stole.

Carol Jean Padget pleaded guilty to swindling the Unity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Des Moines when she served as its treasurer. A judge sentenced her to prison, but then suspended those sentences and ordered two years of probation.

Padget showed up for her sentencing hearing with a $14,000 check according to the attorney who represented Unity Evangelical Lutheran Church. It could be considered the first installment in the tens of thousands of dollars she owes the church.

The pastor of the church gave a victim impact before sentencing, saying only God will ever know how much Padget really embezzled. Bank records were only found for six of the 11 years Padget handled church finances.

Kellyanne Conway to keynote summer conference in Iowa

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Kellyanne Conway

The first woman to successfully run a presidential campaign will be the keynote speaker at this summer’s “Family Leadership Summit” in Des Moines.

This will be the sixth summer in a row that the The Family Leader will host a day-long event for conservative Christians. The group has just announced Kellyanne Conway will be the keynote speaker at its 2017 event.

Conway is the long-time pollster hired last fall to manage the Trump presidential campaign. She’s now a counselor to the president. Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, — says Conway’s experiences “at the highest levels of leadership and government” will provide a valuable perspective to Christian conservatives in Iowa.

Conway, along with a San Diego pastor and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst are among the confirmed speakers at the Family Leadership Summit. It will be held Saturday, July 15th in Des Moines.

Conway made frequent media appearances in the lead-up to the election and during the first weeks of the Trump administration. She has reemerged this week to publicly defend President Trump’s firing of FBI director James Comey.

Planned Parenthood petitions delivered in statehouse

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Planned Parenthood supporters at the State Capitol.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland officials and supporters of the organization delivered petitions with more than 8,000 signatures to Republican leaders in the legislature today.

The activists are urging legislators to table a bill that would ban most abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. A separate still-expected proposal would cut off state funding of family planning and cancer screenings Planned Parenthood provides Iowa Medicaid patients.

Suzanna de Baca, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Planned Parenthood Voters of Iowa, spoke during a statehouse rally.

“We’re here today because in this year’s legislative session we have seen an unprecedented level of attacks against reproductive and sexual health here in Iowa,” de Baca said.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland CEO, Suzanna de Baca.

According to de Baca, taxpayers say $7 for every $1 invested in the Iowa Family Planning Network. Planned Parenthood is the primary network provider currently and de Baca said Medicaid patients who use the service get contraceptives and avoid unintended pregnancies.

“I want to say thank you to all our supporters and to those elected officials who have continued to show up, to speak out and to fight back against lawmakers bent on turning back the clock on reproductive health care in Iowa,” de Baca said, to applause from the rally crowd, many of whom were wearing pink.

The Planned Parenthood petitions were delivered to the offices of the top two Republicans in the legislature. Neither met with the activists and neither offered a comment in response to the petitions. Republican supporters of the move to “defund” Planned Parenthood say other health care clinics can provide prescriptions for contraceptives and conduct reproductive health screenings for Medicaid patients.

Earlier today, The Family Leader hosted a religious service in the capitol rotunda.

Bob Vander Plaats, the group’s president and CEO, said it was “an opportunity” during Christianity’s “Holy Week…for us to bless the staff and elected officials serving us at our State Capitol.”

Atheist urges House members to use ‘holy trinity of science’ (AUDIO)

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Justin Scott

An atheist delivered an opening invocation today in the Iowa House.

“Instead of closing your eyes and bowing your heads today, please keep your heads up and your eyes open to be fully alert in this moment,” Justin Scott of Denver, Iowa, said.

He’s director of the Eastern Iowa Atheists. Scott asked legislators to use “the holy trinity of science” in their decision-making.

“Made up of reason, observation and experience, this trinity has allowed humanity to explore the deep reaches of space, develop life-saving medicines and vastly improve the human experience,” Scott told legislators.

Scott said the “trinity” of reason, observation and experience can help legislators “do the most good for the most Iowans.”

“The trinity I invoke today isn’t rooted in any kind of doctrine or dogma. In its pursuit of truth, it doesn’t care what our feelings are or what our deeply-held beliefs are on a particular issue,” Scott said. “Truth can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it plays a large part in the evolution of our species.”

AUDIO of invocation, 2:33

Afterwards, Scott told reporters he had no reservations about delivering what’s called “the opening prayer” because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it’s legal for prayers to be said at the opening of government meetings.

“And so rather than picking a fight and saying: ‘Let’s get rid of prayer before statehouse meetings,’ we kind of just said: ‘The groundwork’s been laid. We need to play on that field,'” Scott said.

Scott, who is 33 years old, was baptized in the Lutheran Church. He works as a freelance photographer and social media consultant. Scott said he took great care in writing the invocation and “being professional” as he delivered the message.

“There’s already a negative connotation about the word atheist that we have to fight uphill against,” Scott told reporters, “but there’s another image of us being the angry atheist, the pissed off atheist and by coming in here and just being really calm, really happy, cheerful, smiling as we walk around, shaking hands, there wasn’t any pushback.”

It appeared as though about half as many people were present in the House for the opening prayer as normal, but that could be less about any boycott of Scott and more about getting to work late since last night’s debate lasted past 10:30 p.m.

The House begins each day with a prayer. Most are delivered by guests invited in by legislators. Scott was invited by Democratic Representative Timi Brown-Powers of Waterloo. Nearly two years ago, a Wiccan priestess who was a cabot witch was invited to deliver the opening prayer, but lawmakers believe Scott is the first atheist to kick off daily proceedings in the House with an invocation.

Scott also chose not to join in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with legislators, as a show of support for humanists who do not participate in saying the pledge.

Supporters gather around mosque in Cedar Rapids

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Supporters surround a Cedar Rapids mosque.

Hundreds of people gathered outside a mosque in Cedar Rapids Sunday to show support for the Muslim community. Event organizer Erin Bustin said she wanted the rally to show the world that Iowans stand for diversity and peace.

“Today, Iowans stand with, alongside, and later around our Muslim friends and neighbors to tell you that you are loved, you are welcome and you are part of us,” Bustin said.

The crowd formed a circle around the Mother Mosque of America as a symbol of support. Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, Native American and atheist leaders spoke about equality, acceptance and love. The interfaith rally was meant to counteract recent hate crimes and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Mother Mosque Imam Taha Tawil thanked the participants for supporting tolerance and religious freedom.

“We want you to know that your support and encouragement to your fellow citizens, your Muslim neighbors, are the fuel that keeps us going. It is like when the rain comes on the dry land and then causes it to grow again,” Tawil said. Speaking with KCRG-TV following the event, Tawil called it an overwhelming experience.

“Our God, the God that we worship, answered our prayers with a bright day,” Tawil said. The Mother Mosque of America is the longest standing mosque in North America. It was built in Cedar Rapids in 1934.

(Thanks to Iowa Public Radio’s Katarina Sostaric/KCRG TV)

 

Catholics in Iowa granted dispensation to eat corned beef

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Bishop Richard Pates.

Iowa Catholics can have corned beef today. This is the Lenten season and on Fridays, Catholics typically abstain from eating meat between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

The exception is St. Patrick’s Day. Bishop Richard Pates, the spiritual leader of the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines, says dispensation is being granted. “Our Catholics who want to really enjoy it, go on with the tradition which they’ve experienced and so, I think it’s noteworthy we’re able to grant this dispensation because of the two-fold thing, it’s both a religious and cultural kind of expression really of our tradition and heritage.”

Catholic bishops in the archdiocese of Dubuque and the dioceses in Davenport, Des Moines and Sioux City have all given a dispensation for the day to enjoy a corned beef meal associated with the holiday observance. While this is a day of celebration in the U.S. where everyone is considered Irish despite their ancestry, Pates says it’s a more spiritual experience in Ireland where many head to church.

Pates says, “It was St. Patrick who brought Christianity to Ireland and so he is seen as the founder of Christianity there and that’s why they celebrate it so significantly.” Bishop Pates says he plans a traditional Irish meal today as well.

“We’re having a meeting with our priests, we’re having a meal with about ten of our priests from the diocese,” Pates says, “and the menu includes corned beef and cabbage.” There are about 500,000 Catholics living in Iowa.

(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)

Iowa’s Catholic bishops: collective bargaining a ‘common good’

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Archbishop Michael Owen Jackels.

The state’s four Catholic bishops are at the statehouse this morning as legislators prepare to debate a bill that makes changes in Iowa’s collective bargaining law for public sector unions.

Archbishop Michael Owen Jackels of the Dubuque Archdiocese is Iowa’s top-ranking Catholic official and this is his message to lawmakers: “I would hope that they would follow reason and devotion to the common good. Personally, I don’t know how reason and devotion to the common good could lead you to do otherwise than oppose the bill limiting collective bargaining.”

The Iowa Catholic Conference issued an official statement late last Friday and sent it to Governor Terry Branstad, who is a Catholic, and every legislator. While the Iowa Catholic Conference is registered as “neutral” on the bill, “the bishops are concerned about provisions which limit the items that can be bargained as well as what an arbitrator can award for a pay raise.”

Archbishop Michael Owen Jackels talks with Senator Amanda Ragan.

“The Catholic Church has a very solid and old, if you will, body of social teaching and one of those principles is the right to do collective bargaining,” Jackels says.

The bishops say it’s important to remember the benefits many workers enjoy today “are the result of negotiations between unions and management.”

“There are two cardinal or hinge principles in our social teaching and one is respect for human life and dignity and the other is the common good,” Jackels says. “This whole issue’s solidly on the foundation of the common good because it’s for the good of all, not just for the workers, and not just for the increased profit or revenue for ‘the boss’.”

The archbishop says specifically targeting teachers is puzzling.

“It’s the most important profession and they should have the right to bargain all things,” Jackels says.

The Republican-led Iowa House and Senate are scheduled to begin debate on the labor bill this afternoon.

Jackels says the state’s four Catholic bishops are pleased GOP lawmakers are showing “respect for human life and dignity” by advancing another bill that would no longer allow Medicaid patients to get contraceptives or reproductive health exams at clinics where abortions are performed. The bill to “defund” Planned Parenthood cleared a House subcommittee late Monday afternoon. It passed the Republican-led Iowa Senate on a 30 to 20 vote earlier this month.

About half a million Iowans attend mass at the 473 Catholic parishes in the state.

Top photo courtesy of the Catholic Diocese, bottom photo courtesy of Rod Boshart.