The Family Beacon

Holding the Line: Minnesota Family Council at the Capitol

This week was a busy one for our policy and legal team at the Minnesota State Capitol. Rebecca Delahunt, our Director of Public Policy, and Renee Carlson, General Counsel of our True North Legal initiative, testified in several committee hearings, submitted written testimony, and brought expert testifiers to still more hearings!

Why such a busy week? Unfortunately, it’s because the pace of bad bills we’re seeing at the Capitol is increasing. Here’s everything that we engaged in at the Capitol this week.

I'm an IVF Baby. This Is My Story.

You may have seen news stories in the last few days in reaction to an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in a case involving in vitro fertilization (IVF). It’s an issue that impacts a lot of sensitivities and brings up significant ethical questions. And, it is something that I, as an IVF baby, am deeply invested in. But my opinions may surprise you. 

First, before we can talk about IVF, a quick word on what it actually is. Simply put, IVF harvests a mature egg and artificially fertilizes it in a lab with sperm. That fertilized egg, now an embryo, is transferred to the uterus of the mother or a surrogate. 

Now, back to my story. I am incredibly thankful to be alive. I grew up with wonderful, loving parents and never doubted for a second that I was wanted and loved. 

Why Should I Participate In My Caucus on Tuesday?

On Tuesday, February 27th, 2024, you have a chance to impact our state by participating in party caucuses. This is a wonderful opportunity to love our neighbors and to be "salt and light" for the direction of a political party and the selection of candidates for office at the most basic level. When we as Christians bring our convictions of life, family, and religious freedom to the caucus process, we have a real chance of improving the political discourse in our state - and I think we can all agree that it must be improved! 

This year, your participation is crucial. You have a chance to influence the choice of candidates for local and statewide office, and the direction of your party for years to come.

Are you ready to learn more about caucusing? Let's get started!

The caucus should convene promptly at 7 p.m., and as things begin, don’t be shy about asking questions – everybody is a volunteer and, often, half the people in any given precinct are there for the first time.

There will be somebody who convenes the meeting in your precinct, and the first order of business is to elect somebody to run the caucus – it may or may not be the convener. Then there will usually be some precinct organizing done, such as electing a “precinct chair” who will be active for the coming two-year cycle (or longer).  This is also the time and place to submit a resolution to influence your party’s official platform with caucus resolutions.

Okay, let's talk about how to create a caucus resolution.

They often start with “Whereas…” “Whereas” is a way to introduce a reason, or a series of reasons, supporting the action item. They’re a form of persuasion or logical argument; the whereas parts let somebody make the case.

You fill in the form and present it to your precinct caucus chair (or some other volunteer) the particular rules and procedures for adopting them will be made clear by your caucus chairperson, but you can start filling out the form at any time.

Here are three resolutions that will help your party move toward more strongly protecting life, family, and religious freedom:

Combating Physician-Assisted Suicide

Preserving Religious Freedom

Recognizing Pornography as a Public Health Crisis

When presenting your resolution, make sure to use the correct form for your party:
GOP Resolution Form (Updated 2024)
DFL Resolution Form (Updated 2024)

Finally, it's important to note that though caucusing is not difficult, it requires patience and perseverance while everyone gets a chance to have their say, and to follow procedure for an orderly process. Besides voting, it's the most basic level of political involvement; it will take thousands of Minnesotans working together at this level to achieve the changes we want to see in the party platforms - changes that would benefit all Minnesotans who value life, family, and religious freedom – and to choose candidates for elected office who will champion those values if elected!

So, don’t be intimidated or discouraged from attending because you’re uncertain how it will work! Let’s exercise “citizenship worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27) and boldly let our voices be heard and our light shine in the 2024 caucuses! 

Parts of this caucus participation explainer have been adapted with permission from the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

Want to get our regular updates on life, family, and religious freedom? Make sure you're on the list by clicking here.

Your Legislators Return To St. Paul on Monday - Where Do They Stand on the Issues?

The 2024 Legislative Session begins in St. Paul on Monday. With so many important and controversial issues due to be discussed and voted on this year, it's crucial that you know where your legislators stand on the issues that matter.

We’re thrilled to announce that we are now able to tell you exactly where your legislators stand, with Minnesota Family Council's 2023 Legislative Scorecard.

The 2023 Legislative session included votes on a host of controversial issues, so seeing how your legislators voted last year will be a good indicator of how you can pray for and engage with them this year.

For some, this scorecard will be encouraging as you will see that your legislators voted with your values. Please send them a note thanking them, and telling them you will be praying for them through the 2024 session.

Others will see that your legislators did not vote with your values in 2023. Please get in touch with them and ask them to vote to protect life, families, and religious freedom in 2024. Make sure to thank them for serving in the Legislature and, despite your differences, assure them that you will pray for them through the 2024 session.

Please use the button below to receive your free, printable PDF of the scorecard by email. Please share it with friends, family, and pro-life Minnesotans. For this free resource to be valuable, it needs to reach as many people as possible!

Click here to watch this quick video overview showing you how to use the Legislative Scorecard.

Note: two legislators on the 2023 scorecard have resigned from the Legislature and will not take part in the 2024 session. These are Rep. Kurt Daudt (R-Crown) whose resignation goes into effect today, and Rep. Ruth Richardson (D-Mendota Heights), who resigned last fall. Her successor, Rep. Bianca Virnig (D) was elected in special election in December.

The Only Death Minnesotans Should Choose is Death to Sin

From the desk of the Church Ambassador Network

Yesterday at our Capitol, there were gut-wrenching stories told by supporters of assisted suicide. These stories tugged at our heartstrings--one reason being that these testimonies were driven by fear of death and fear of not being able to control death.

At the Church Ambassador Network (CAN), we know that the love of God casts out all fear. Our desire for all Minnesotans, including our legislators and all the testifiers, is for them to come to possess the only thing that can provide a bulwark against this Spirit of fear.

While the Spirit of God is not compatible with the Spirit of fear (Romans 8:15,2 Timothy 1:7), in the Spirit of the Lord there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). Are our decisions especially towards the end of life driven by fear or love? There is no fear in love for love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). The only fear that is acceptable to the Lord is a God-honoring fear that looks to His wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, Psalm 147:11) and not the wisdom of our times that does not value life or the thoughts of God.

When we look at the perfect love of God that that drives out fear, we see Jesus Christ, the only one who had the right and authority to choose death, and even in his death he shows his perfect love and gives life. (Romans 5:8, John 6:40) And he rose from the grave and defeated death. He gives many life so that we would honor him with our lives and when it is his appointed time, we honor him with our deaths. He chose death so that we would choose life. The only death Minnesotans should choose is death to our sin that we might be united to Jesus' death on the cross so that we would be raised up with Christ, by the Spirit, in newness of life in soul and have abundant life, even eternal life through the freedom of his love.

God gives us freedom to choose life and love. Minnesota, let us not mock God and sow seeds of death that only can reap corruption and more death but let us sow to the truth that leads to life. This life that we write of is driven by love, perfectly displayed by Christ and his perfect love. Therefore, even those who are in suffering towards the end of life that have the Spirit can say along with the Psalmist, “this is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

From the beginning, people have been tempted to act like God and try to take control of their lives. It's a temptation as old as time, stemming from Adam and Eve, but as we can see from the hearing yesterday, we must continue to fight against it. Our hope is that Minnesotans will put sin to death and will choose abundant life in Christ. 

What We Saw Fighting Assisted Suicide at the Capitol

Friends, we’ve alerted you that physician-assisted suicide was on the progressive agenda for 2024, and this week’s unprecedented pre-session hearing shows how high it is on their priority list!

On Thursday, January 25th 2024, progressive legislators held a hearing before the beginning of session in an attempt to get a head start on pushing assisted suicide.

The proposed assisted suicide bill (HF1930) would legalize physician-assisted suicide in Minnesota.

Rebecca Delahunt, MFC’s Acting Director of Public Policy, and Renee Carlson, General Counsel of True North Legal submitted a written testimony urging our legislators to vote against this deadly legislation. You can read that testimony here.

During the hearing, MFC staff live-tweeted on X. Let’s highlight some of the things that were stated, either in opposition or support of the bill.

SUPPORT -

  • The first testifier lives with incurable brain cancer. She stated that when no more treatment options are available, "there should be more death options."

  • The next testifier was a doctor with Compassion and Choices, formerly the Hemlock Society. He argued that "medical aid in dying laws are working as designed." He also said that "having the option" itself improves quality of life among very ill patients. He further asserted that he has prescribed the medication nineteen times in Colorado and watched the patients die "bathed in love.”

  •  One testifier, Thaddeus Pope, a Mitchell-Hamline School of Law professor, asserted there has never been a case of abuse in American assisted suicide cases. That’s an outright lie. Here's just a short list of assisted suicide abuses recorded by a disability-rights group.

  • The Minnesota Libertarian Party Communications Director (who is also an ordained minister) testified in support of the bill. In his support, he argued that on the cross, Jesus on the died in several hours instead of a "normal crucifixion which takes several days." The Libertarian Party of Minnesota should be ashamed. This is blasphemy. If the MN Libertarian Party stands by their director’s claim that God offered "assisted suicide" to Jesus on the cross then we sincerely hope that's the end of their support in Minnesota faith communities.

OPPOSITION -

  • The bill requires someone to have a 6-month terminal illness diagnosis. As medical doctors made clear in a press conference before the hearing, a 6-month diagnosis is wrongly made in at least 17% of cases (in other words, the patient lives longer, sometimes much longer, than six months).

  • Anita Cameron, a disability rights activist testified against the bill based on the fact that it would only worsen existing racial disparities in health care outcomes for black and minority Minnesotans.

  • Jean Swenson, who has lived for decades as a quadriplegic, gave compelling testimony against the bill. Jean explained that she is grateful to be alive. When she was first injured in a car accident and fell into deep depression, friends and care providers offered her love and support, instead of assisted suicide. Jean is forever thankful for this.

  • Chris Massoglia of Americans United for Life testified against the bill because it is always wrong to intentionally end an innocent human life. He encouraged the state to work on suicide prevention instead of suicide assistance.

  • A college-aged Minnesotan who experiences daily migraines, Blessing Griswold, asked the committee: "can a life, even the remainder of a life, be expendable?" This is one of the strongest flaws in the argument for assisted suicide. Why are some lives more valuable than others? Why do progressives (rightly) grieve over suicidal teens yet (wrongly) celebrate assisted suicide for the terminally ill?

  • In line with the above point, Dr. Charles Dennis O'Hare, a hospice director, testified that this bill requires "physicians to become the gatekeepers of which suicides are socially acceptable." This is exactly right--we should not put Minnesota’s medical professionals in a position where they become agents of death.

You can watch the full hearing including all the verbal testimonies here. Ultimately, there were stories that tugged at heartstrings on both sides of the issue. Each individual’s experience is different and one’s personal reaction to facing terminal illness varies.

But we must be crystal clear. All life is inherently valuable, from womb to tomb. Furthermore, assisting a hurting individual in murder is not a form of healthcare. Healthcare seeks to care not to kill. Therefore, assisted suicide is the opposite of compassion because it abandons the patient.

At Minnesota Family Council, we say no to assisted suicide. But we’re also saying yes to innovative and compassionate end of life care. We say yes to human dignity and flourishing. And we say yes to God’s sovereign ordering of our lives.

So, let’s have conversations about how Minnesotans can help support one another and celebrate a life well-lived in our last moments. Let’s promote policy that improves end-of-life services such as palliative care. Together, we must speak the truth that when we are dependent on others it doesn’t make us less valuable or our lives not worth living.

Changing our culture starts today and it starts with you boldly speaking up in your community for LIFE.

Here's What to Expect in the 2024 Legislative Session

When it comes to what our elected leaders are doing in St. Paul, there’s a lot of noise out there. Our job at Minnesota Family Council is to cut through the noise and give you the facts so that you can stand for truth. We defend your values at our Capitol, in the courts, and in our communities. We also report on the latest wins and attacks on parental rights, the family, children’s bodies, religious freedom, and human dignity.

Due to a small progressive majority in the Minnesota House and Senate, we can expect dangerous pushes for physician-assisted suicide, mutilation of children through so-called “gender-affirming healthcare,” and the erasure of women’s sports. That’s why our policy team is already tracking the bills that progressive legislators will likely try to pass starting this February.

That's where you come in. Together, bold families and individuals in Minnesota can make a difference. Making a difference starts with knowledge. Without further ado, here’s what to expect in the 2024 legislative session.

Equal Rights Amendment HF173/SF37:

  • The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed the Minnesota Senate by 43-23 in 2023. If it were to pass the House and be approved by a majority of voters in November, the ERA would privilege males who “identify” as women at the expense of the safety and dignity of women and girls.

  • Males would have a constitutional right to women and girls’ private facilities, prisons, and athletics.

  • In addition, the passage of the ERA would further erode the right to life of the unborn beyond state statute and into our state constitution, ensuring that abortion until birth is Minnesota constitutional right.

Gender-Affirming Rights Act HF2280/SF2236:

  • By stating that ‘every individual has the right to determine their own gender and related gender-affirming healthcare,’ this policy exposes children to the gender medical industrial complex by claiming that those children, regardless of age, have the right to make their own healthcare decisions without parental or guardian input

Physician-Assisted Suicide HF1930/SF1813:

  • Permits doctors to prescribe a lethal drug overdose when an adult patient has received a diagnosis of 6-month terminal illness.

  • The language does not require a mental illness evaluation, a family notification, or a witness to the event.

  • Neither are there safeguards against elder abuse or abuse of patients with disabilities. Because healthcare is expensive, and death is inexpensive, at what time does ‘right to die’ become ‘duty to die’? 

Comprehensive Sex Education HF174/SF662:

  • Requires the Minnesota commissioner of education to create a model policy of comprehensive sex education for school districts in the state and for school districts and charter schools to implement a comprehensive sex education program for students starting as young as elementary and middle school.

  • This program can be taught by individuals from “community organizations” who are not licensed teachers (i.e., employees of Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of comprehensive sex education in the state of Minnesota,) on concepts such as consent, relationships among “diverse sexual orientations and gender identities,” and role play.  

Minnesota’s 2024 legislative session begins on February 12th - that’s less than a month away! Now is the time to share this post with your likeminded friends and family, subscribe to our email list if you haven’t already and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter @mnfamilycouncil. Remember, proposed bills such as the above are subject to change—which is another reason for you to stay plugged in with our team. Every time there’s a way for you to take action against a harmful bill or support a good one, our team will swiftly alert you on all platforms.

Minnesota Family Council has defended life, family, and religious freedom for over forty years. By God’s grace, we are firmly committed to putting winning messaging in the hands of our allied legislators, championing strong, godly candidates, and partnering with bold Minnesotans like yourself to win for our state for generations to come.

Will you join us?

What You Cared About Most in 2023...

As we hit the ground running this New Year and our team prepares for the 2024 legislative session, we wanted to take a moment to highlight our top content from 2023.

Thank you for your support and for courageously acting with us in faithfulness and shrewdness at our Capitol and in our communities. We’re grateful to partner with each of you—bold individuals and families who speak up and enable us to magnify your voice about the issues that matter most. Together, we are shining the light of Christ throughout Minnesota. And when we’re shining, we’re always winning.

If you find these highlights insightful, please share with your friends and family. Help us get the word out that life, family, and religious freedom are worth protecting in our North Star State! Without further ado, here’s what you cared about MOST in 2023.

Most-Viewed Family Beacon articles:

Most Reached Social Media Post:

“Majority of MN Legislative Committee Votes to Legalize INFANTICIDE” (Instagram)

Most Viewed Youtube Videos:

Top Podcast Episodes (data taken from all platforms):

Top Legislative Testimonies:

This Thanksgiving...

On this Thanksgiving, as I reflect on my twenty years at the helm of Minnesota Family Council, I’m so grateful to God for His many blessings to this ministry over the years. But there’s one defining blessing that stands out among them, that I’d like to share with you.

On an otherwise ordinary day early in my tenure as CEO of Minnesota Family Council, I received a message from our attorney that left me stunned.

 

I promptly called the chairman of our board to inform him of what I’d heard. Getting his voicemail, I left the following message: “You know the expression, ‘If you were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?’ Well, I was just told by our attorney that there isn’t enough evidence to convict MFC.”

Almost immediately, the board chair called me back, exclaiming, “You’ve got my attention!”

Passing the Baton

From the desk of John Helmberger, CEO of Minnesota Family Council & Institute:

The United States track and field teams have a long history of success at the Olympics and in other world competitions, but they have had one consistent Achilles’ heel over the past 18 years: the baton hand-off. 

It seems like such a simple thing to pass a hollow aluminum tube from one person to another, but since 2005 the U.S. men’s 4x100-meter-relay team has either failed to finish or been disqualified from races due to bungled baton hand-offs eight times, including at the most recent Olympics.

The moral of the story? A good transition is harder than it looks.

At our 40th Anniversary Dinner on September 8th, we announced that MFC’s Church Ambassador Network Director Jeff Evans will succeed me as Chief Executive Officer of Minnesota Family Council and Minnesota Family Institute effective January 1st. I will continue to be an integral part of the organization in a part-time advisory role.

I am so excited about this new chapter for MFC, despite all the challenges ahead with our radicalized state government, not only because we have planned it carefully, but also because of who Jeff is and how he will lead this ministry into the future. This is truly God’s faithful answer to many years of prayer.

As Jeff takes on this leadership mantle, I am reminded of the words God gave Moses to commission his successor, Joshua, who would lead Israel across the Jordan to take possession of the land God has promised them:

Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:7b-8)

While this was a particular call on the life of Joshua, the themes fit with where we are right now. God is calling Jeff to be strong and courageous as he takes the baton from me and carries forward with the race.

This race isn’t a sprint – it’s a marathon. We’re in it for the long haul, to fight for life, family, and religious freedom year after year, as long as they are challenged by those who choose darkness over light, selfishness over compassion and pride over humility.

Each new year feels like entering into a new land, held by those who have aligned themselves against the Lord’s commands. Each new legislative session is a challenge to take back ground that has been lost … and the Lord knows we lost a lot of ground earlier this year.

That’s why it’s so important for Jeff to be strong and courageous. But not just Jeff – all of us who want to shine a light for Christ in Minnesota. Each of us must be strong in our own communities, to have courage to speak for what is right and good.

As I hand over the reins, I want to remind both Jeff and you of who you are in Christ, of the promise of His presence, His protection, and His victory. So while the name on emails from us will soon change, what matters most never will. We have a firm foundation, a sacred calling to do this work, and a certain future.

We are also blessed to have an amazing team of co-laborers who will work alongside Jeff to carry on the fight for life, family and religious freedom into our next 40 years, and a broad network of friends and supporters who make it all possible.

I am so thankful for how generous you have been during my time as CEO, and with so much at stake, I ask now that you continue that generosity into Jeff’s tenure with a gift of $50, $100, $150, or even more as God leads. Will you encourage him right now, showing him that you will stand behind him just as you’ve done for me?

For Life, Family, and Religious Freedom,

John Helmberger

The Hard-Earned Lesson of the Summer: Go Woke, Go Broke

It’s always been true—pride comes before the fall. This summer, companies proved it like never before. The people spoke, voted with their dollars, and chose family values over corporate America’s virtue signaling. We witnessed companies that went “woke”—from Target to Anheuser-Busch—instantly regretting the backlash they caused and taking backward steps. People are tired of the nonsense, especially when marketing departments promote things like gender ideology that actively targets our children. Let’s review the corporate wokeness we’ve seen in recent months, and what happened next. 

Let’s start local: Minnesota’s own Target Corp. You’ll recall that controversy erupted when Target stores set up LGBTQ displays in late May to prepare for the celebration of “pride” in June. They featured a variety of pride merchandise, such as a kid’s swimsuit labeled as “thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions,” “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for men identifying as women, and children’s books titled “The Pronouns Book” and “Bye Bye Binary” among others lining shelves. Last but not least, Target partnered with a “queer” satanic clothing designer, Abprallen, who previously sold “Satan respects pronouns” t-shirts and “Trans Witches For Abortion” badges. The pride merchandise sparked a large flurry of anger from concerned parents and shoppers, leading to mass boycotts across the nation. 

The pressure from its once-regular customers led Target to have an emergency meeting, and some locations removed certain pride products and moved displays to the back of the store. This was just the beginning as Target failed to hit its revenue goal in the second quarter, which ended July 29, for the first time in six years. Compared to the same quarter last year, sales sank 5.4%. As a result, Target lowered its sales and profit forecast for the rest of the year. In addition, online sales had decreased 10.5%, and the average number of dollars spent per transaction fell. Total revenue decreased by 4.9% compared to last year, falling to $24.8 billion. 

On August 16th during an earnings call, Target admitted its mistake. Target’s CFO, Michael Fiddelke, credited backlash to the pride collection as a significant contribution to Target’s negative “traffic and top line trends.” CEO Brian Cornell concurred, acknowledging that the pride campaign led to a “negative guest reaction.” He also mentioned other factors that may have contributed to Target’s unsatisfactory financial performance, including inflation and theft. Walmart on the other hand, saw sales increase 6.4% and beat expectations substantially in their second quarter, leading them to increase their anticipated profit forecast for the year. 

As of this writing, the price of Target’s stock has fallen 20% since the start of the controversy, resulting in almost a $15 billion dollar decline in market value for the Minneapolis-based company, and has shown little signs of recovery. This led JP Morgan to downgrade Target for its stock’s “longest losing streak” in 23 years. The devastating loss also led American First Legal to sue Target on behalf of investor Brain Craig earlier in August, who holds 200 shares, arguing that Target misled shareholders and did not fulfill its obligations to them, instead occupying itself with advancing leftist agendas. Last week, Target’s chief growth officer, Christina Hennington indicated that Target may have learned its lesson in all of this, stating, “The reaction is a signal for us to pause, adapt and learn,” and Target plans to change things for next June. 

Target, however, was not alone in its pride “festivities” as Kohl’s put out pride displays in their locations as well, receiving similar backlash from customers. They too featured LGBTQ onesies among other pride-themed merchandise. One user even tweeted, “Another Company needing Bud-lighting.” This brings us to the most famous brand that went “broke” by going “woke” over the summer—Bud Light—and the numbers show it all. 

It all started when Anheuser-Busch, makers of America’s formerly most popular beer, Bud Light, thought it was a good idea to market its brand by partnering with Dylan Mulvaney—a man identifying as a woman—to celebrate his “365 days of girlhood.” Mulvaney posted a video April 1st of him promoting Bud Light while holding a special beer can sent to him by the company with his face printed on it. This was not intended as an April Fool’s joke. This caused Bud Light customers to question why the company would insert sexuality into its products, leading many to boycott the brand. 

Like Target, Anheuser-Busch saw its stock plummet immediately following the negative response to the Mulvaney partnership. Within six weeks of Mulvaney’s viral post, the stock price fell nearly 25% compared to the same time in 2022, and by mid-June, Anheuser-Busch’s market value remained at that level, a $35 billion decrease from $134.5 billion to $99 billion. Over the same time frame, Bud Light’s competitors saw a boost. Miller Lite sales increased by 21.4%, and Coors Light saw a 25.8% increase. Bud Light was also booted from the pedestal as America’s No. 1 selling beer, with Modelo Especial taking the cake as the most-sold beer by early June. 

After the Fourth of July, Bud Light’s popularity continued to drop, achieving the dismal title of 14th most popular beer. Bud Light practically paid customers over the July 4th weekend to drink their brand, offering $15 dollar rebates to customers who bought a 15-pack of Bud Light or Budweiser. Some 15-packs of Bud Light were being sold for less than $15, so the company basically gave out free beer, presumably to lessen the blow of its declining sales. 

At the beginning of August, we saw the damage that promoting the LGBTQ agenda did to Anheuser-Busch’s earnings in its second-quarter report. In the months of April through June, its U.S. sales dropped by nearly 11% with total profit falling by nearly 30%, and the brand experienced a 34% decline in drink orders. On the flip side, sales for Molson Coors (the parent company of Miller Lite and Coors Lite) were 50% greater than Bud Light’s during the same quarter. Gavin Hattersley, CEO of Molson Coors, stated, “Coors Light and Miller Lite are now 50% bigger than Bud Light by total industry dollars… Last year, Bud Light was bigger than both. Retailers are making space for our brands as demand increases.” Worst of all, the boycotts of the once-iconic brand resulted in the company laying off hundreds of workers

Now, according to a new survey from Deutsche Bank comparing results from August and July, “The proportion of former Bud Light drinkers who say they are very unlikely to buy the brand in 3-6 months time has reduced from 18% to just 3%.” However, they also found that 19% of beer drinkers, down from 21% in July, still said they would still not buy Bud Light. Evidence of Anheuser-Busch’s continuous unpopularity was discovered at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, where the Budweiser booth was seen completely deserted. Although the demands for boycotts appear to be cooling off this August, and some die-hard customers may be returning to the beer, the brand’s negativity has likely left a permanent stain on the minds of consumers, which may take years to recover from. 

And then we come to Disney. It’s no secret that Disney has been actively promoting progressive cultural values over the last decade and alienating Christians and conservatives from its fanbase. On Disney+ for instance, back in February of this year, The Proud Family cartoon featured an episode of kids demanding reparations for slavery through a musical number, and in 2022, an obtained video recording of the show’s executive producer, Latoya Raveneau, exposed her explicitly stating she’s pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” with the show, saying she sprinkles in “queerness” wherever she can. 

This summer, Disney bore the fruit of pushing away customers. Disney’s Pixar released Elemental, an animated kid’s movie that includes a non-binary character, which flopped at its opening, raking in only $29.5 million. To put that in perspective, this was the second-worst opening in Pixar history. Other movies fumbled, including the remake of The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and the remake of The Haunted Mansion. 

Then Disney’s third-quarter report came out. According to Forbes, “Disney+ subscriptions fell from 157.8 million worldwide to 146.1 million, a loss of 11.7 million — more than doubling last quarter’s record decline, and it included a decrease of 300,000 in the U.S. and Canada where subscribers fell to 46 million. It’s just the second time Disney+ has taken a hit in North America; last quarter was the first.” Most of the decline in subscribers came from Disney+ Hotstar in India, where it lost 24% of subscribers largely due to Disney losing rights to a popular cricket league. However, India is still very much a traditional country, and it’s hard to believe Disney’s woke trend hasn’t gone unnoticed internationally, so it’s plausible some in India are also becoming weary of Disney’s progressive direction. 

As of late, some are predicting a “Bud Light” scenario for Disney’s Snow White remake. The actress for Snow White, Rachel Zegler, made headlines over her recent comments about the original film, calling it “weird” and the film’s prince a “stalker.” There are concerns her negativity towards the classic film will tank the remake’s success at the box office, not to mention the fact that she revealed massive changes to the plot, most prominently that Snow White is “not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.” Some are predicting that this situation, along with Disney’s new partnership to promote girls’ clothing with a gender-fluid influencer, may continue to hurt the company’s bottom line. 

But it’s not just Target, Bud Light, and Disney. Countless other companies this summer have proven “wokeness” is not good for business, contrary to Mark Cuban’s take. Thousands of people protested outside Dodger’s stadium for hosting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag queen group that mocks the Catholic faith. Skittles sparked online backlash over its “Black trans lives matter” packaging along with more boycott calls. And there are many, many more examples. 

We often don’t realize what we have until it’s taken away. Concerned parents, Christians, and Americans are waking up to the fact that once-beloved brands have become hostile to their values. But it doesn’t matter how big a corporation is. Ordinary God-fearing and family-loving people are choosing to stand for their values in large, unprecedented ways and measurably impacting corporations’ bottom lines. That’s what this summer has shown us.  

I appreciate the words of Matt Fradd, who summed up what I believe many consumers were thinking as they engaged in boycotts this summer: “Our primary purpose in doing this is not to make [companies] hurt financially, but to not participate in evil.” It’s not about deepening the division in America or seeking revenge, as some may see it. It’s about concerned consumers uniting around Christian and family values that corporations have deemed “unprofitable” or “unimportant”—and actively doing something about their convictions by aligning their wallets with their hearts to choose alternatives. 

The lesson companies should learn from the summer of 2023 is greater than “go woke, go broke.” The lesson is this: the myth that traditional values no longer play a large role in American life is busted. Moreover, shoppers, parents, Christians, conservatives, and everyday Americans are not simply standing against something, but they’re now striving toward something: a brighter future for our families established on the bedrock of the truths and values emanating ultimately from the gospel, which brings blessings to everyone. Anyone who tells you otherwise has been drinking too much Bud Light. 

 

While President Biden Establishes a New National Monument, a Forgotten One Holds the Answer to Our Cultural Crisis

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation at Red Butte, Arizona, on Tuesday creating the fifth national monument established during his presidency. Titled Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon—it expands the conserved Grand Canyon region by 1 million acres. While the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas are important, President Bidens proclamation reminded me of an underappreciated and neglected monument, which was created to help Americans understand how and why our nation came to be. This is the National Monument to the Forefathers, a monument most Americans have not heard of, that just turned 164 years old on August 1st.

This solid granite national treasure stands in a quiet neighborhood in Plymouth, Massachusetts, not far from Plymouth Rock. It commemorates the Puritans’ quest for freedom and their godly vision for human civilization, which laid the groundwork for America becoming a nation, and I believe it contains much we can learn from in our modern, upside-down culture.

You may recall multiple Old Testament instances of the patriarchs and other Israelites erecting monuments, including Jacob (Gen. 35:14), Joshua (Josh. 24:26-27), and Samuel (1 Sam. 7:12). Monuments combat humans’ natural tendency to forget significant historical events, people, and ideas by using a physical landmark. As scripture and history showcase, they often do one of two things: recall and display God’s glory or that of men. I use the word “often” because while monuments can be harmless when they simply showcase historical events and people, there are a plethora of examples where, instead of honoring God, humans showcase their own supposed greatness, including the city of Babylon (Gen. 11:4), Saul (1 Sam. 15:12), and Absalom (2 Sam. 18:18), which resembled idols more than memorials.

This is what I believe you’ll appreciate about the National Monument to the Forefathers: like those of the Old Testament patriarchs, this monument highlights a crucial period in human history—the early Puritan settling of America over 400 years ago—but ultimately recognizes God as being critical to human freedom. If there was a “capstone” to the founding era of America, this is it. It shows us, as David Hinton puts it, “how we can preserve America as a shining city upon a hill, an example of liberty to the world,” and teaches us a vital truth our nation is forgetting: Faith in Jesus Christ is the key pillar upholding a free society.

The Truth About Pregnancy Resource Centers

By Serene Cerankosky - Special to the Family Beacon

Minnesota has defunded pregnancy resource centers (PRCs), leaving droves of vulnerable women and families out to dry. With proponents celebrating the blow this strikes to PRCs, it is important to distinguish the reality of what these centers offer from the fantasy that they are “fake clinics.” This is best done by people who have actually set foot in a center.

While engaged in pro-life political and legislative work, I believed this was the most crucial way to advocate for women and unborn children. I believed the legal restriction of abortion led to the most sweeping pro-life results. However, through working in and with pregnancy resource centers, I realized that while legal restrictions on abortion are necessary and important, the unique work pregnancy resource centers do is in many ways the compassionate bedrock of the pro-life movement.

PRCs are crucial because they provide truthful and thorough counsel during life-changing events. When a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy enters a PRC, she is often being pressured to abort her baby by the male partner or parent accompanying her, so a staff counselor takes her into a room individually to discuss her options. Despite pro-abortion activists’ claims about PRCs manipulating women into a pregnancy decision, the very first step we take clients through is a literal insulation from subjective influence. In the counseling room, the staff member takes time to thoroughly learn about the client’s circumstances. This is a consequential difference from the way abortion clinics rush their clients through an abortion counseling appointment with one destructive aim in mind.

One Simple Way to Strengthen Relationships: Check Your Phone Less

Researchers Wendy Wang and Michael Toscano recently found that 44% of married adults under the age of 35 say their spouse is on their phone too much, as do 34% of married adults between 35 and 55.

Technology overuse use among children and teens is generally acknowledged as a problem, especially amid growing evidence of the link between an alarming decline in adolescent mental health and smartphone and social media use. But as adults, we often tell ourselves that we are immune to the problems that plague younger generations. The reality is that our collective overuse of technology, especially smartphones, is taking a toll not only on our attention spans and our mental health, but also on our relationships. 

Wang and Toscano observed relationship problems created by phone overuse among couples across the political spectrum and among religious and non-religious couples alike. They also found that problem phone use was present in all socioeconomic brackets, but that it is especially prevalent among lower income couples — a demographic that is already at high risk for marital collapse.  

What is a Family?

You’ve likely heard about or watched Matt Walsh’s film What is a Woman? In light of the dramatic shift in the cultural wind on sexuality, gender norms, and men breaking records in women’s sports, it is an important question to ask. Yet there’s another question that has come about amidst our cultural chaos that is less talked about: What is a family? This question was the topic of interest in a recent conversation I had with a friend from church—who also happens to be a state representative—Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville).

From our conversation, it is clear that nothing is more important in Rep. Hudson’s life than faith and family. He recently celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary, which he highlighted on Facebook: “My wife Carrie and I have had a rocky journey. But we've kept it together, and the reward for such endurance is an irreplaceable legacy of living memory and solidarity. Nothing can replace that. Nothing.”

Given his passion for family and unique position, I thought it would be valuable to sit down with him and get his perspective on the impact our progressive state and culture are having on our families.

The overarching theme of our conversation was his diagnosis that progressives are seeking to redefine what family means. Just like with gender and other formerly well-understood words in the English vocabulary, there is an ongoing effort to change how you view and think about family and the implications associated with it by removing its divine origins—that God established it as the original institution of humanity. In Rep. Hudson’s words, the term “family,” meaning a married father and mother engaged in rearing children, has now been appropriated to “describe the community of Sodom.”

It's a bold statement, but I encourage you to think about it. What have we witnessed over the last few years? He pointed out that often LGBTQ events will be labeled as “family-friendly”—from drag shows to pride parades to transgender meet and greets—but they are anything but. This past June, a pride event featuring a “pornographic drag performer” in Hopkins, Minnesota, was advertised as “family-friendly,” and later in July, a Chaska children’s boutique hosted a drag queen story hour marketed for young children. Similar events have happened throughout the last half decade in Minnesota and the nation, and the frequency of these events is only increasing.

In fact, the whole progressive agenda in Minnesota has been labeled a “family” movement by Governor Tim Walz. In January, Walz outlined his One Minnesota Budget as a way to make Minnesota “the best state for kids” and tweeted messages along the same vein in May and June. Most recently in July, his wording shifted to include “family” in a tweet where he said, “We’re working to make Minnesota the best state to raise a family—no matter where you live. This is what good government can and should do.” This appears to be a worthy goal, but progressives’ redefinition of family and accompanying values—which includes any combination of parents, full affirmation of a child’s false identity, and childhood exposure to sexualized content—is completely different from Rep. Hudson’s, yours, and mine.

Yet this rebranding of the family is not entirely new. “We first saw it in the debate over gay marriage,” according to John Helmberger, Minnesota Family Council’s CEO: “LGBTQ activists countered our argument that kids need a mom and a dad with the lie that any combination of loving ‘parents’ is equally good. But they certainly are taking the redefinition to new heights now.”

The God-given roles of men and women and divinely established family unit were good (Genesis 1), but our secular culture believed they needed to be reinvented. Why? Mr. Helmberger put it this way:

When people exchange the truth of God for a lie, they are compelled to redefine institutions that God created, but without God, because they need what the institution was created to provide. Though they reject the truth, that’s still how God created them. So they create counterfeits that can never meet the need for which God created the institution they reject.

This trend in modern America has resulted in a divided culture that has progressives—those wanting to leave the truths of Scripture behind—attempting to upend our societal bedrock on one hand; on the other, those who had no intent of joining this revolution (and didn’t ask for it) are wondering how we got here. This confusion culminates in the need to ask basic questions our society has never had to ask before, like “What is a woman?” or “What is a family?” When you attempt to remove dross from pure gold— remake something that doesn’t need to be remade—the only thing you can ever end up removing is gold, and that is exactly what’s being done. When our culture rejects God, instead of pursuing the ideal of raising a family and upholding traditional family values, there is no alternative but to tear the whole thing down and establish a human-instituted community unit.

We’ve often heard about the “march through the institutions” and tend to think it’s far from over. But the family is the final institution—there are no more to take over. Once the norm of the traditional family has fallen, Minnesota and the rest of America will have lost the fundamental building block of human society. Nothing else will be able to stand.

Well, there is one final institution that the Left can never conquer. That is Christ’s bride, the Church. The Church is a family, ruled by a divine Father. We have all been brought into that family through repentance, faith, and Baptism. Certainly, some churches have been conquered and colonized by the doctrines of men. But the invisible Church instituted by Christ can never bow the knee to worldly powers.

The left has already made huge leaps towards conquering the family, including the collapse of responsible and virtuous parenting. We often complain about drag queens at grotesque events, but what about the parents? How can they possibly think bringing children to sexualized events is appropriate? As Bill Walsh states in his recent article,

… in [parents’] quest for tolerance, they’ve lost track of something equally important to teach young people: the truth.”

The fact this is happening shows how far the family unit has eroded and how many people have exchanged the truth about gender, marriage, and family for lies. And, because we have become so desensitized to the rainbow tsunami washing over America, we haven’t realized how much of a crisis this is. Thankfully, my discussion with Rep. Hudson was not all doom and gloom. We both concluded that there is hope for Minnesota’s families, and Rep. Hudson laid out two different approaches to this. One way, and the most lasting way, would be to see revival of faith in our state. This is the long-term goal and the most effective because it tackles the core issue: the condition of man’s heart. This requires everyone, no matter where God has called us, to continue testifying before our friends, family, and coworkers about the truth of the gospel. And this is ultimately our core earthly purpose as Christians—to spread the Word to the world.

The second path requires a change in strategy. Christian conservatives, myself included, are often great at complaining and highlighting the harm of progressive policiess, but if that’s all we do, we fail to create a movement people want to join, even if we win politically. This is why we need to refocus our efforts on offering a positive alternative for Minnesota. Without getting into the weeds, we need to explain the nuances of the left’s terminology—how it’s deceptive, doesn’t mean what people think it does, and how progressive values eventually lead people down the road of self-destruction—but we cannot stop there. We must show our neighbors that God’s way is better, and how pursuing His values and vision for our lives will allow society to truly thrive. Showing why we value what we do—the truth and emotion behind it—will be far more effective than simply pointing out the vices of leftism.

Like men winning women’s competitions, progressive family “values” are counterfeits—they’re not the real deal, and any hope that they can be will eventually come crashing down. Redefining a wrong will never make it right, and God’s design for family leads to a happier and more fulfilling life because He created the family, and His rules are “house rules.” Family is not just a label that can be applied to a policy or lifestyle to make it more “Minnesota nice” or acceptable. So the true answer to “What is a family?” must begin and end with God’s Word – which speaks clearly and offers hope to everyone it touches.

Editor’s note: this article was written by Minnesota Family Council’s 40th Anniversary intern.

The Blueprint: Progressive Activists Reveal Plans to Transform Education

Recently, Marvel Studios released a new show on Disney+ titled Secret Invasion. It’s a tale of alien shapeshifters attempting to take over the Earth, but I’m not writing to inform you about the latest in pop culture. What if I told you that there’s a real invasion, a secret war going on against our children in some American schools? Thanks to a report from the UK’s Daily Mail, plotters of this war here in the Midwest were recently exposed working on transitioning our kids “subversively and quietly,” as one progressive educator explicitly put it. The wagers of this war are not aliens—they’re activists disguised as friendly teachers and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officers, and their often-subtle agenda of “gender affirmation” in classrooms is but one front of the larger war destroying our children while pitting them against their parents. 

Earlier in June, the Daily Mail obtained access to an online private workshop attended by dozens of teachers from states including Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and more. The federally funded four-hour event was hosted by the Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center (MAP), a subgroup of the Great Lakes Equity Center, and focused on how teachers can further push LGBTQ doctrine on students amidst recent red state policies on “gender, pronouns, parents' rights, bathroom access, and sports teams.” Also, as MAP specialist Angel Nathan said during the seminar, the group discussed ways to “remedy” what they believed to be the policies’ “marginalizing effects” on transgender students.

Reading the report, it’s clear that this wasn’t a vague discussion about these teachers’ general convictions or support for the LGBTQ movement. This workshop was more akin to creating battle plans for introducing young people to progressive ideas about gender and sexuality- without informing parents.

How Roe v. Wade Poisoned the Abortion Debate for Fifty Years

A few days ago, we celebrated one year in a post-Roe America. As we acknowledge this important milestone, it’s worthwhile to look at how a decision handed down by a Supreme Court Justice from St. Paul, Minnesota, still shapes the way our nation thinks about the humanity and rights of the pre-born after five decades — especially since a closer examination of the standard the Court offered reveals it to be capricious and arbitrary at best.

In the Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Blackmun’s opinion presented “viability” as the cut off for when an abortion ought to be legally and morally accepted. He also presented a trimester framework for thinking about abortion and its limits. In the first trimester, “the abortion decision and its effectuation must be left to the medical judgment of the pregnant woman's attending physician,” Justice Blackmun wrote. The state could offer restrictions in the second trimester that were “reasonably related to maternal health." For Justice Blackmun, the beginning of the third trimester—28 weeks—was the point of “viability.” At this point, the state’s interest in "the potentiality of human life" allowed for abortion to be banned, as long as it allowed for exceptions for the life and health of the mother .

This framework was offered not by medical experts or in consultation with them, but by the judges of the Roe majority.

Land of 10,000 Blessings: Why Minnesota is Worth Fighting For

This task is daunting, but now is the time to get in the game, get serious, and be willing to do whatever it takes to not only protect this land from the works of darkness but also to promote a better vision for Minnesota’s future and our children. Good things are never achieved without toil and sacrifice, and the enemy only wins when we surrender. Let’s radically love our Minnesota neighbors according to God’s standards, not those of the world, by staying in the battle and striving for what’s good. Let’s glorify God by remaining faithful in our state. This state is a wonderful gift worth fighting for and has so much potential, during the fight and until God gives us victory. I am more than ready to win for our state, and I pray you are too.

The Rampant Pace of Legislative Change is Not Inevitable

Former President Barack Obama recently highlighted the rampant pace of legislative change in Minnesota so far this year to point out that elections have consequences. This is absolutely right – the narrow wins for progressives in the 2022 elections did have consequences. And those consequences are having reverberations for our entire state. This year, we saw a party with a one-seat majority disregard Minnesotans’ values to advance a radical agenda. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the legislative session, the majority of Minnesotans said they believe the state is on the wrong track.

  • The first bill passed and signed into law this year was the “Protect Reproductive Options” or “PRO” Act, establishing a “right” to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, as well as a “right” to sterilization. Senate Democrats rejected over 30 amendments to the PRO Act, including amendments that would have banned late-term abortions, partial-birth abortions, and abortion on the basis of sex, race, or disability; protected children from sterilization; and required abortion facilities to comply with basic health and safety measures.

  • The legislature also passed a law that allows the state to take custody of children with gender dysphoria whose parents refuse to subject them to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones—treating concerned, loving parents as if they are abusers, simply for refusing to subject their children to risky treatments that are not evidence-based. 67% of Minnesotans oppose sex-change surgeries for minors.

  • Minnesota’s so-called “conversion therapy” ban intrudes on the counselor-client relationship, restricting the First Amendment rights of licensed counselors and therapists and preventing young people and vulnerable adults who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria from receiving wanted counsel and therapy.

  • In addition to these individual bills, the omnibus Health and Human Services bill repealed Positive Alternative Grant program, which funded life-affirming alternatives to abortion, gutted the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and repealed significant portions of Minnesota’s abortion reporting requirements.

  • The omnibus education bill included language excluding colleges and universities that hold to a statement of faith from participating in the PSEO program. Families affected by this new law are already challenging it in court.

Progressives also passed laws protecting abortion providers facing criminal charges in other states, legalizing recreational marijuana, and removing language from Minnesota law stating that pedophilia is not a sexual orientation.

As we look at the results of this legislative session, it’s important to keep in mind that the majority held the Senate by only one seat—a seat which was won by a mere 321 votes. This means that things do not have to stay this way in Minnesota. After all, elections have consequences and it is the role of voters to keep our elected officials accountable when they act against the best interests of our state. It’s time to start thinking—and praying—about 2024.