Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Cary Gordon
The Rev. Cary Gordon, who currently serves on the pastoral team of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City, said Thursday that Christians “do not and cannot recognize, with regard to the definition of marriage, the imaginary authority of the Iowa Supreme Court.”
Gordon’s statement to The Iowa Independent came as response to the news that Americans United for Separation of Church and State is asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate his church for organizing it’s own campaign to unseat three justices from the Iowa Supreme Court.
“History has already shown who inevitably wins when state wages war against the authority of the church of the living God,” Gordon said. “So let the battle between state and church begin. True pastors, in the fashion of Christ, will not and cannot bow before the arrogance of Caesar and Herod. We have learned from our past mistakes. We will not repeat the mistake made by Lutheran pastors when confronted with German fascism.”
In a Sept. 3 letter signed by Gordon and on Cornerstone stationary, pastors around the state were asked to join Project Jeremiah by encouraging their congregations to vote against retaining three Iowa Supreme Court justices who are on the Nov. 2 ballot. Federal tax law forbids 501(c)3 organizations, including churches, from intervening in elections in support of or opposition to any candidate.
In his statement to The Iowa Independent, Gordon said being gay is a behavior, and “has nothing to do with civil rights.” He said the Supreme Court changed “the 6000 year-old definition of marriage” in its April 2009 decision that found the state’s Defense of Marriage Act violated the equal protection clause of the constitution. Gordon said those criticizing his church’s actions are corrupting the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“When we speak of our deepest core Christian beliefs in a public forum, we are often accused of ‘shoving our religion down people’s throats,’” Gordon said. “When we speak of those exact same beliefs inside our own churches, we are often accused of ‘bringing politics into the church.’ We tire of the hypocrisy of those who seek to ensconce secular humanism as the state religion of the United States of America, in violation of the original intent of the First Amendment.”
Gordon said Cornerstone’s founding pastor, the Rev. Larry Gordon, participated last weekend in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, a national effort organized by the conservative Alliance Defense Fund aimed at convincing pastors to endorse political candidates from the pulpit in violation of the current tax code.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter