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IowaPolitics.com: Political candidates to receive petition from pastors against same-sex marriage
6/1/2010

By Andrew Duffelmeyer
IowaPolitics.com

All statewide and legislative candidates will receive a letter and petition signed by 834 Iowa pastors and ministry leaders in support of traditional marriage between a man and woman after the June 8 primary election, the Iowa Family Policy Center and Purpose Ministries announced today outside the Iowa Capitol.

The group has long been saying the 2010 elections will be a referendum on same-sex marriage. Iowa Family Policy Center President Chuck Hurley said today that while all three Republican candidates for governor "give lip service" to being for traditional marriage, "only one has said that he will do something about it."

"While it may not be a referendum in the sense that all Iowans or even all Republicans in Iowa know those fine distinctions ... I do think that as I speak to many of these 800-plus pastors it's a huge issue for them and hopefully for their flocks," Hurley said.

The Iowa Family Policy Center's political action committee has endorsed Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City for governor. If he fails to win the Republican nomination next week, Hurley said "the fight goes on."

Hurley said the petition comes after 167 religious leaders he called "pseudo pastors" sent a petition in support of same-sex marriage to lawmakers earlier this year. "One thing legislators and lawmakers can do, even if they can't do many other things, is they can all count," Hurley said.

The sheer number of people those 834 pastors and ministers represent will make candidates think about the importance of the issue, Hurley said. "Hopefully they will get a message," he said. "Whether they see the light, we believe and we hope that they will feel the heat."

Listen to the event:
http://www.iowapolitics.com/1009/100601ifpc.mp3


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