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News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyMay 6th, 2013
Rev. Tim Faust is the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in rural Minnesota. Faust is also the local representative to the Minnesota House. And he’s been one of the DFL (Democratic) reps from a conservative district about which there has been uncertainty as to how he will vote on marriage. His district supported the (failed) anti-gay marriage amendment last year by about 60%.
Now Faust has decided that it is important to consider religious freedom in the upcoming bill: (SeattlePI)
“We have churches that want to bless legal gay marriages. The only way to give them that option is to pass this bill,” Faust said.
So Faust will be siding with religious freedom and supporting equality. I don’t know if Faust’s church will be one that blesses legal gay marriages, but he is affiliated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and ELCA gives its member churches that choice.
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David
May 6th, 2013
Bravo to Rev. Faust!
(And a minor correction: In Minnesota, the Democrats are the DFL: Democratic-Farmer-Labor party.)
Jim Burroway
May 6th, 2013
I’ve corrected the headline.
Bose in St. Peter MN
May 6th, 2013
That strikes me as refreshingly consistent with the small-town Minnesota experiences I had growing up. In a town of 1,800 like Hinckley, you tended to know which families were connected with which of the handful of churches in town. People knew that baptisms played out differently across town, that windows-open summer services could be heard a couple blocks away, and that if you got down to the nitty-gritty, a lot of folks sincerely doubted their neighbors from other denominations were Christian at all.
And yet, there were ecumenical events a couple/three times a year that brought people together. Pastors were on friendly terms with each other. “Minnesota Nice” was and is a thing.
(Minor edit: The MN Dems are the Democratic Farmer Labor, DFL, instead of DLF.)
Timothy Kincaid
May 6th, 2013
Alas I went from memory. Sigh. I must be getting old.
Jim Burroway
May 6th, 2013
I just figured you had DILFs on your mind. Or maybe I’m projecting…
David
May 6th, 2013
Rest assured there are lots of DILFs here in Minnesota, too!
Hunter
May 7th, 2013
It’s refreshing to hear the religious freedom argument made on behalf of religious freedom, rather than religious supremacy.
revchicoucc
May 12th, 2013
The Iowa Supreme Court made this very argument in its ruling on marriage equality. The court commented on religious freedom issues even though they were not at issue in the case. They said it was a violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment for the state to prohibit religious bodies the supported marriage equality from being allowed to hold same-gender wedding.
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