Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

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 this week's podcast! 
• Blog: Looking for Identity in All the Wrong Places
• Daily Citizen: Christian Florist Settles Lawsuit with Same-Sex Couple After Eight Year Legal Battle
• Minnesota Leadership Forum December 15th - Get Tickets NOW!

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

Looking for Identity in all the Wrong Places

A recent study released by George Barna found that 39% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 identify as LGBTQ and that 30% of adults under the age of 37 do. The study’s findings also point to a significant shift that is taking place in the worldview of younger Americans, especially when it comes to how they think about identity — the study reported that 75% of young adults are searching for a purpose and that, while over half describe themselves as religious, 74% believe that all faiths are equal.

While Barna’s numbers are significantly higher than those reported by Gallup earlier this year, both studies show that the number of young Americans who identify as LGBT has increased dramatically in recent years. Writers like Abigail Shrier have pointed out that social contagion plays a significant role in the number of young people suddenly identifying as LGBT, and especially in the rise of transgenderism. As school curricula, the entertainment industry, woke corporations, and other champions of the LGBT movement insist on reducing male and female to rigid and cartoonish stereotypes, young people are encouraged “to look constantly for landmark feelings or impulses, anything that might point toward ‘genderfluid,’ ‘genderqueer,’ ‘asexual,’ or ‘non-binary.’”

Additionally, recent years have seen the rise in an increasing number of “sexual identities” including, for instance, “demisexual,” which refers to someone who is sexually attracted only to people with whom they are emotionally intimate. As John Stonestreet commented, while reconnecting emotional attachment and sexual intimacy is an improvement, viewing it as an identity rather than simply a measure of relational maturity is not. With many young adults turning to sexuality as a source of identity and meaning, the number of sexual identities one may choose from to categorize oneself continues to grow.

We were not created to live meaningless lives, which is why, when we lose sight of what we were made for, we search for a source of identity elsewhere. For many younger Americans, that means attempting to find identity, purpose, and meaning in one’s sexual desires. Whatever “identity” one chooses to craft for oneself around his or her sexual desires can never satisfy as a source of purpose and meaning because God did not create us to find out purpose and identity in sex. He created us to find our identities in Him because He made us for Himself and nothing else can satisfy us.

This is not, by any means, to say that sex does not matter. Andrew T. Walker has pointed out that, “What we believe about sex has never been peripheral… God knit sexual design into the very fabric of creation, and it is our glad acceptance of that created order where humanity will prosper.”  

Daily Citizen: Christian Florist Settles Lawsuit with Same-Sex Couple After Eight Year Legal Battle

Via The Daily Citizen

After fighting for her free speech rights and religious liberty for nearly a decade, Barronelle Stutzman’s legal battle has finally reached its end. Sadly, it wasn’t the end that Stutzman and faithful Christians were hoping and praying for.

Stutzman’s legal fight began on April 9, 2013, when the Washington state attorney general filed a complaint against her for refusing to design and create a custom floral arrangement for a same-sex wedding.

The customer who asked Stutzman to create the arrangement was Rob Ingersoll, who Stutzman describes as a “dear friend” to this day.

Shortly thereafter, Ingersoll also filed a lawsuit against her through the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Notably, the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t decree same-sex marriage to be legal nationwide until 2015.

After more than eight years up and down the court system, including two petitions filed at the U.S. Supreme Court, Stutzman has reached a settlement with Ingersoll and the ACLU putting an end to the litigation.

The settlement requires Stutzman to retire and turn her business over to her employees. She also must pay a $5,000 fine to Ingersoll and his partner.

The fine is bittersweet since Stutzman was facing the possibility of paying millions of dollars’ worth of attorney fees. While $5,000 seems like a drop in the bucket compared to what she could have been forced to pay, forcing Stutzman to pay any fine in this case is unjust.

Stutzman has written a letter explaining her decision to settle the lawsuit, which she also shared on camera.

Minnesota Leadership Forum, December 15th - Get Tickets Now!

Tickets are NOW AVAILABLE for our gubernatorial debate on December 15th! Get your seats now!

Join Minnesota Family Council, and cosponsors AM1280 The Patriot, Freedom Club, and Alpha News, for the Minnesota Leadership Forum, an evening with conservative candidates for Governor of Minnesota.

Moderated by national radio talk show host and author Hugh Hewitt, the evening will allow the candidates to highlight where they stand on issues that matter to pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom voters.

The leading candidates will be on stage together for a forum with Hugh and Minnesota Family Council CEO John Helmberger in the beautiful environs of the Performing Arts Center at Providence Academy in Plymouth. We'll ask these candidates the tough questions that matter to conservative voters.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear Senator Michelle Benson, Doctor Scott Jensen, Senator Paul Gazelka, and Doctor Neil Shah all on the same stage as they speak on why they deserve your support at the February caucuses. A straw poll will be conducted at the forum.

WHEN: December 15, 2021. Doors Open 6 PM. Forum Begins 6:30 PM. 

VIP Reception Before Forum - 5:15 PM - 6:15 PM. VIP tickets available HERE.  Appetizers will be served 

Did you know that when you shop with Amazon Smile, Amazon makes a donation to Minnesota Family Institute at no cost to you? You can support LIFE, FAMILY, and RELIGIOUS FREEDOM while you shop by clicking here (smile.amazon.com/ch/41-1439560) or with AmazonSmile ON in the Amazon Shopping app and AmazonSmile donates to Minnesota Family Institute. Bookmark Amazon Smile in your browser so that Amazon will donate every time you make a purchase!

Thank you for sharing Minnesota Family Council’s vision for strong families, communities and culture through Christ. As we rise to meet challenges at the state and federal level, we need your support now more than ever. Click here to give now. We are grateful for your partnership with us through prayer and financial support.

For life, family, and religious freedom,