Catholics in Minnesota are being asked to support Marriage with their time and treasure -- as 32 states have done:
Minnesota Roman Catholics will receive a letter this week from the state's bishops, urging them to donate money for television ads asking voters to say yes to a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
For many of the more than 400,000 Catholic households expected to get the letter, it marks the first time they've been asked by church leadership to make a financial donation to Minnesota for Marriage, the chief group campaigning for passage of the marriage amendment Nov. 6.
... Besides asking Catholics to make contributions, bishops are encouraging them to vote yes on the amendment, according to a letter sent to priests and church administrators last week from Jason Adkins, executive director of Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in the state.
The mailing "gives Catholics an opportunity to support the passage of the amendment and asks them to send a contribution to where it will be most effective," Adkins' letter states. -- Star Tribune
According to the 10-day post primary filings with the state Board of Elections, McDonald spent more than $200,000 in the latest period, which is on top of $647,000 spent in the three other filings this summer. This total was four times what the winning campaign of Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione spent. Her latest filing, which showed spending of about $60,000, brought her campaign's total slightly above $200,000.
The Golden Valley-based packaged foods giant has been the most prominent Minnesota corporate voice opposing the November ballot amendment, which would recognize marriage only as a union between a man and a woman.
That meant the McDonald campaign had to close the gap in Saratoga County and Columbia County, which tallied absentee ballots on Monday.
"...Full disclosure: I am gay. A few years ago, I was on the other side of the fence on this topic. But the more I read, thought, investigated and attempted to defend my position, the more I realized that I couldn’t. I feel very strongly that gay relationships should be supported by society. I have grown convinced, however, that the term “marriage” should not be altered or adjusted in any way.
"...This comes in the context of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designating FRC a “certified hate group” because of our biblically-based beliefs regarding marriage and human sexuality. We encourage love and respect for all people including those seeking to redefine marriage, and we have made clear we abhor and reject all violence directed against anyone for their sexual behavior.Yet some associate “hate group” with advocating physical harm or other deplorable actions. As we work with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we now know that the man who shot our employee was also targeting at least one other organization labeled a “hate group” by SPLC.
Six weeks before Election Day, slightly more Minnesotans favor the amendment than oppose it, but that support also falls just short of the 50 percent needed to pass the measure.
A few years ago, when the gay-marriage bandwagon got rolling, some of us argued that “
