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Welcome to the Family Beacon, your source for news and commentary on life, family, and religious freedom in Minnesota and beyond! 

• Watch or listen to the podcast! 
• Blog: What a Yale Professor's "Pronoun Policy" Gets Wrong About Human Dignity
• Blog: Read our brief in the Dobbs v. Jackson case at SCOTUS
• Event: JonJust Motorcycle Ride
• Event: Freedom United Conference from Agape First Ministries
• Join the #HelpNotHarm Campaign!

One quick note: If you have friends and family who want to get pro-life, pro-family news every week, click to get a shareable link so they can sign up.

What a Yale Professor's "Pronoun Policy" Gets Wrong About Human Dignity

“Until I’m told otherwise, I prefer to call you ‘they,’” wrote a Yale Law School professor in a Washington Post op-ed this week. Professor Ian Ayres explains that his new “default rule” of using gender-neutral pronouns until told otherwise keeps him from “misgendering” students. “I would never intentionally misidentify someone else’s gender — but I unfortunately risk doing so until I learn that person’s pronouns. That’s why, as I begin a new school year, I am trying to initially refer to everyone as ‘they,’” he explains. He goes on to encourage readers whose “preferred pronouns” are either he or she to adopt “he/they” or “she/they” instead “because it would give others the freedom not to specify your gender when referring to you.”

In other words, at one of the top universities in the world, a law professor would like all of his students, and for that matter, the population at large, to join him in a daily denial of the reality of male and female. To refer to someone as “they” until you have learned his or her “gender identity” is to pretend that humans are fundamentally gender-neutral. This denies an essential reality of what it is to be human. As Carl Trueman recently remarked in First Things, “when we decry pronouns that assume the reality of bodily sex, we are coming close to denying the universal truth that all humans are embodied beings.” To be human is to be embodied, and to be embodied means that we are either male or female — “he” or “she,” not “they.”

In addition to being a ridiculous attempt to ignore a fundamental reality of humanity, Professor Ayres’ pronoun policy is offensive. Is it really polite or respectful to pretend that you cannot tell if someone is a man or a woman? “Having to guess at someone’s gender” is only difficult if you’ve tied your brain in knots by attempting to abide by the cognitive dissonance of the sexual revolution’s increasingly radical gender ideology. Progressive pronoun games are nothing more than an attempt to force this ideology on the entire population.

The Supreme Court will Take Up Dobbs v. Jackson on December 1 - Read Our Brief to the Court

The Supreme Court has set a date for oral arguments in the potentially ground-shaking Dobbs v. Jackson case, which could throw out the Roe v. Wade standard that states cannot restrict abortion before fetal viability.

The court will hear oral arguments in the case starting December 1, with a decision expected early next summer.

That means it’s a great time to read the great brief submitted by our own Renee Carlson of True North Legal, along with Professor Teresa Collett of the University of St. Thomas, and Vice President Mike Pence’s organization Advancing American Freedom.

Read it here.

JonJust Memorial Ride - September 26, 2021

From JonJust Memorial Ride:

REGISTRATION

Begins at 12:00 pm with the bike ride beginning at 1:00 pm Sunday, September 26.

In place of a standard registration fee, freewill donations will be taken. For additional donations, please visit the website www.jonjust.com

ROUTE

Ride will leave from McKnight Park,
110400 Pioneer Trail, Chaska, MN 55318
(just west of the intersection of Hwy 41 and Pioneer Trail)

DINNER

People who are unable to attend or participate in the ride are welcome to join the group for dinner at McKnight Park at 4:00 pm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Please contact [email protected]
• David or Cindy Just (Jon’s parents) 952-368-4241.

The Backstory

Last year, at the height of COVID restrictions, Renee Carlson of our True North Legal initiative was able to help the organizers of the Jon Just Memorial Ride, which raises money for transportation for pastors in African countries, fight unjust rules that would have prevented this safe outdoor event from happening. Renee was able to use her expertise to ward off this challenge to religious freedom, and last year's ride was a great success! We're so grateful for Renee and True North Legal and the legal help we are able to offer Minnesotans!

Pictured below: Renee with the organizers of the Jon Just Memorial Ride at our 2021 Annual Dinner.

Freedom Unites Conference from Agape First Ministries

From Agape First Ministries:

We want to make the name of Jesus famous as we declare His transforming power through our worship, testimonies and teaching. This conference is for EVERYONE who desires to be encouraged in their faith and empowered to stand for the truth of the Gospel:  
Jesus Transforms. 

When:         October 8 (6:30pm—9:00pm)
                    (DOORS OPEN AT 5:30pm)
                    October 9 (9:00am—9:00pm)

Where:        Plymouth Covenant Church
                    4300 Vicksburg Ln N
                    Plymouth, MN  55446

Cost:           FREE

Click the link below to get more information and register online!

We're Hiring!

Come work for Minnesota Family Council in our exciting LEAD program for young adults as a Program Assistant! If you're interested in getting more information on this part-time position, email LEAD Minnesota Program Coordinator Patience Griswold at [email protected].

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For life, family, and religious freedom,