|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Prayer controversy jeopardizes same-sex amendment vote
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Container
|
| Contributor | Homegrown Democrat |
| Last Edited | Homegrown Democrat May 21, 2011 06:26am |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | News |
| Author | RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER and BOB VON STERNBERG |
| Media | Newspaper - Star Tribune, The (Minneapolis - St. Paul) |
| News Date | Saturday, May 21, 2011 08:35:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | A controversial pastor delivered a prayer that left House members - of both parties - shocked and incensed.
An opening prayer that shocked Minnesota House members on Friday may have unintentionally derailed a key goal of social conservatives this session: a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
As protesters packed a hallway outside the House chamber in anticipation of a floor vote, controversial pastor Bradlee Dean stood at the House rostrum to offer an invocation.
Wearing a black-and-white track suit and sporting a ponytail, Dean offered a prayer that in part implied that President Obama was not a Christian. Dean referred to Jesus Christ as the "head of the denomination ... as every president up until 2008 has acknowledged. And we pray it in Jesus' name."
That prompted an immediate outcry from some lawmakers and a statement by House Speaker Kurt Zellers denouncing Dean, which he followed up with an emotional apology on the House floor.
Dean, who heads a ministry he calls "You Can Run But You Can't Hide," has caused uproars before, saying homosexuals should be jailed and making comments that appear to support their execution.
Friday's bombshell arrived just as legislators were prepping for a vote to put the amendment question on the 2012 ballot. While the vote had once seemed a certainty for this session, by Friday afternoon it was in serious doubt. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
