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.
A national voice in conservative Christian politics resigned Thursday from the National Association of Evangelicals after admitting to a radio host that he was “shifting” on the issue of gay marriage.
Rev. Richard Cizik told National Public Radio on Dec. 2 that he would “willingly say that I believe in civil unions. I don’t officially support redefining marriage from its traditional definition, I don’t think.”
Cizik has been an outspoken member of the Evangelical community and has, for nearly the past three decades, been one of NAE’s chief lobbyists in Washington. His official title, according to a press release about his resignation distributed by NAE, was vice president of governmental affairs.
Leith Anderson, a Minnesota pastor and current president of the NAE, told the board of directors that “in a December 2, 2008 broadcast interview on National Public Radio, Richard responded to questions and made statements that did not appropriately represent the values and convictions of NAE and our constituents. Although he has subsequently expressed regret, apologized and affirmed our values there is a loss of trust in his credibility as a spokesperson among leaders and constituents.”
Anderson’s discussions with Cizik about the comments was delayed, he said, because of a previously scheduled European conference Cizik attended immediately following the interview on NPR’s Fresh Air.
Anderson explained to Eric Gorski of the Associated Press that a “combination of things” from the interview led to Cizik’s ultimate departure. He highlighted both the fact that Cizik admitted to voting for President-elect Barack Obama and discussed nuclear weapons as a foreign-policy issue instead of religious freedom or human trafficking.
Still, it’s not the first time Cizik has come under fire from Christian conservatives. He drew the direct ire of the Colorado-based conservative group Focus on the Family when he pushed Evangelicals to focus on “creation care,” a battle to protect the earth from global warming. In 2007 several prominent leaders in the Christian right called for Cizik’s dismissal on grounds that he was diluting the Evangelical agenda.
Although Cizik has not spoken with the press about his resignation, Anderson said that Cizik had expressed regret, apologized and “affirmed our values.”
“For better or for worse, Rich became a great, polarizing figure,” Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship told Christianity Today. “He was gradually, over a period of time, separating himself from the mainstream of evangelical belief and conviction. So I’m not surprised. I’m sorry for him, but I’m not disappointed for the evangelical movement.”
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