| Welcome to the Family Beacon, your source for news and commentary on life, family, and religious freedom in Minnesota and beyond! This week: One quick note: If you have friends and family who want to get pro-life, pro-family Minnesota news every week, here's a shareable link so they can sign up. |
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| Minnesota Leadership Forum Makes Waves in Governor's Race |
|  | PLYMOUTH, MN - Before a sold-out crowd, five leading conservative candidates presented their vision for Minnesota at Minnesota Family Council's Minnesota Leadership Forum in Plymouth on Wednesday, under the watchful eye of moderator Hugh Hewitt. Thousands of Minnesotans tuned in through a live YouTube stream by Alpha News and radio feed on AM 1280 The Patriot, in addition to the nearly 600 conservative voters and activists in the seats at Providence Academy’s Performing Arts Center. The Leadership Forum, the largest event of the 2022 gubernatorial campaign so far, brought a focus on social issues that was missing in earlier events. “On behalf of the millions of pro-life voters in Minnesota, I was incredibly pleased to get strong assurances from the five candidates that each of them pledges, if elected, to use the ’bully pulpit’ of the governorship to protect life from conception to natural death,” said John Helmberger, CEO of Minnesota Family Council and principal organizer of the event. “We also heard strong commitments from the candidates supporting increased protections for religious freedom and better school choice options. The advantage of an event like this, early in the campaign, is that it allows conservative voters to hear from all the candidates as we approach the party endorsement process. As Minnesota’s largest Christian education and public policy group dedicated to life, family, and religious freedom, we feel it’s crucial to give conservative voters all the facts as they make their personal choice as to which candidate to support,” Helmberger continued. The five leading candidates who participated were Senator Michelle Benson, Senator Paul Gazelka, Doctor Scott Jensen, Mayor Mike Murphy, and Doctor Neil Shah. Approximately 1/3 of participants chose to participate in a straw poll held at the end of the event, in which Doctor Neil Shah came out with a strong lead. “It was really interesting to see Dr. Shah come out ahead in the straw poll” said Moses Bratrud, Director of Communications at Minnesota Family Council. “There were a lot of Shah supporters in the room, so this speaks more to his ability to mobilize supporters for events like this than to his appeal with undecided voters, but I think everyone agrees he had a strong showing on the debate stage. We heard from one prominent conservative activist who voted for Shah in the straw poll simply because he was the most entertaining candidate on the stage. That’s not something to discount." Helmberger concluded: “We’re thrilled at the level of energy among pro-life and pro-family voters. We think all of these candidates are ready for a strong showing in 2022. I’m particularly grateful to Hugh Hewitt, whose expert moderating abilities kept us on track and made for a tight, professional event.” |
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| Minnesota Mandates CRT in K12: Family Beacon Podcast - Season 1, Episode 21 |
|  | This week we talk about the state of Minnesota's new social studies standards, which bake CRT into the K12 curriculum. We also discuss Vice President Kamala Harris's untruths on abortion, and how one mom helped her daughter escape transgender ideology. All that and more on the Family Beacon, so YOU can get the facts and stand for truth! Watch or listen now. |
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| This Is Why Kids Don't Need Smartphones |
|  | For many years people have insisted that the online world is not the “real world.” There are elements of truth to this —a screen avatar can never capture the fullness of who someone is and the filtered versions of ourselves that we present on the internet can often hide what is actually happening in our lives — but in the nearly two years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have found ourselves, at some point or another, living significant portions of our lives online. As we grapple with this brave new world it is important that we recognize how the shifting digital landscape affects children and teens and the ways that it can harm them. A recent report from Thorn found that 14% of 9 to 12-year-olds had shared explicit images of themselves in 2020 and 21% said it was normal for kids their age to do so. Nearly one in five teens had shared sexually explicit images of themselves. Thorn’s report also found a rise in children using secondary accounts to avoid online supervision. In 2020, 25% of 9-12-year-olds surveyed said that they were using at least one secondary account and 73% said they would prefer not to say. This lack of supervision leaves kids vulnerable to online predators and exposure to explicit content. Of the minors who reported that they had shared sexually explicit images of themselves, half said that they had shared those images with someone they had never met in real life, and over 40% reported having shared the images with someone over the age of 18. As shocking as this is, it is sadly not surprising given the rise in pornography use across all age groups and the increasingly violent and exploitative nature of that content. According to Fight the New Drug, “teen” was one of the most popular search terms on one of the largest pornography platforms for five years running. When fantasizing about sexual exploitation becomes accepted as “normal,” real-life exploitation increases, which is exactly what is happening with the growing number of children sharing self-generated child sexual abuse material. An important thing to realize when considering this trend is that children are listening to what the culture around them says about sexuality. When “sexting” is treated as normal, healthy, and “empowering,” it is hardly surprising that kids imitate this behavior. People deserve to be treated with more dignity than that and young people need to know that their bodies and God-given sexuality are good and beautiful — and what is good and beautiful should be valued and protected, not flippantly distributed on the internet. |
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| LEAD Registration is Open - Sign Your Teen Up for Our Leadership Camp (July 24-29, 2022) |
|  | | LEAD Registration is NOW OPEN! Who: Highschool students ages 13–19. What: A hands-on leadership and worldview camp designed to equip the next generation of Christian leaders to engage the culture. When: July 24-29, 2022 Why: LEAD equips the next generation by providing students with an opportunity to strengthen their worldview, develop leadership skills, and learn the legislative process! LEAD is designed to equip students for a lifetime of culture-shaping impact! At the beginning of the week, students are sworn in as members of the Minnesota House and Senate. As they take on the responsibilities of lawmakers, they get to learn the legislative process in a memorable, hands-on way while working with real bills that have been proposed here in our state! Throughout the week, students also study biblical worldview and think about how the gospel shapes our response to tough cultural issues, hear from renowned speakers on topics like the sanctity of life, and grow in leadership skills as they work with their caucus to pass their legislation. We hope to see your teen at LEAD next summer! Click here to learn more and register. Watch the LEAD 2022 video now. |
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|  | 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! |
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| | Get the Parent Resource Guide Responding to the transgender trend with truth and compassion starts with the Parent Resource Guide. Get your copy HERE today and invite a friend to do the same! Click to order your copy today: |
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| | 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, |
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| John Helmberger, CEO Minnesota Family Council and Institute |
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| | Minnesota Family Council
2855 Anthony Lane S, Suite 150 | Minneapolis, Minnesota 55418-3265
612-789-8811 | [email protected] |
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