2021 was quite the year and throughout the ups and downs, Minnesota Family Council continued to stand for life, family, and religious freedom here in Minnesota and across the U.S.! As we enter a new year and look back on the year we are leaving behind, we are revisiting our top stories from 2021 here on the Family Beacon blog. We are so grateful for each one of our supporters for making our work possible and we are excited to continue fighting for families and keeping you informed in the new year!
10. The “Equality Act” is Back in a Big, Bad Way
The so-called “Equality Act” compromises the safety and privacy of women and labels Christian beliefs about marriage, sexuality, and family “discriminatory,” empowering the federal government to punish disagreement on this important issue. Similar laws have been passed in many states and municipalities and the results have been disastrous.
9. Austin City Council Removes Human Rights Commissioner for his Conservative Views
In July, Austin, Minnesota’s city council voted to remove Dan Mueller from the city’s Human Rights Commission, citing concerns over his views and his involvement with groups whose missions, according to the Human Rights Commission, do not align with the Commission’s values. One of the groups in question is Minnesota Family Council. Although members of the City Council and the Human Rights Council insisted that this is “not about politics” and nothing against Mueller personally, their interviews and statements to the press did not offer specific critiques but instead mentioned vague concerns about his social media involvement and his views not aligning with the Human Rights Commission.
8. The “Right to Die” Erodes the Right to Life
A culture that begins by accepting assisted suicide as an answer to suffering will eventually accept assisted suicide and euthanasia on demand for any reason. We must expose the lies behind this distorted view of autonomy and hopeless response to suffering and help people see the value of life, pointing them to the One who came that we may have life and have it abundantly.
7. Twitter Suspends Minnesota Family Council for Truth-Telling on Trans Issues
Minnesota Family Council was temporarily suspended from Twitter in January for telling the truth about President Biden’s pick for Assistant Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine. Levine is a man and his self-identification as a woman can never change that reality. Twitter claimed that MFC’s tweet was “hate speech.”
6. Radical Sex Education Does Not Belong in Children’s Classrooms!
As a radical sex education bill made its way through the Minnesota House in February, Minnesota Family Council pointed out the harms of “comprehensive sex education” and the inappropriate and agenda-filled content in CSE curricula.
5. Justice, Compassion, and Hope
As the Chauvin trial came to a close, Pastor Jeff Evans of Minnesota Family Council’s Church Ambassador Network encouraged readers to pursue justice, compassion, and hope.
4. Biden is Already Advancing the Trans Agenda
In one of his first acts in office, shortly after calling for national unity and healing, President Biden compromised the safety and privacy of women and threatened the conscience rights of faith-based organizations by signing an executive order advancing the transgender agenda.
3. Are Evangelicals to Blame for the Equality Act?
This spring Christianity Today featured an article arguing that evangelicals bear responsibility for the rise of militant LGBT activism. Minnesota Family Council’s Communications Director Moses Bratrud debunks this argument, reminding readers, “Our movement to show the amazing and life-affirming truth of God’s design for our bodies is done no favors by the unrelenting insistence that Christians must, in some form, be to blame for the shape the LGBT rights movement took, and its subsequent successes and failures. We need better and broader history, which acknowledges that Christians have fought for millennia for the dignity of the traditional family, and that this fight continues today.”
2. Why We Oppose Vaccine Mandates
It is not the role of the government to mandate that a person must put something into their body. Religious-based objections to vaccines have been around almost as long as vaccines have, and employers and the state alike must follow laws that require them to honor the religious freedom of those who have sincerely held beliefs that inform them of their conviction not to get vaccinated. Part of honoring and loving fellow members of the body of Christ is learning to love one another when our consciences differ. This means choosing not to pass judgement on those who decide differently from us, as well as fighting for the freedom of conscience of all Americans to make their own healthcare decisions without coercion.
1. Minnesota School District Agrees to Adopt Transgender Policies After Lawsuit
Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose School District agreed to adopt transgender policies in a settlement with a former student who claimed she was discriminated against when the school did not allow her to use the boys’ locker room. The school district had made accommodations for her, allowing her to use a single-occupancy bathroom and changing room, but she later argued that these accommodations were not sufficient because they did not affirm her as a member of the opposite sex.
