Take Obi Sium, from Eritrea in Africa. "Obi came here on a bus about 25 years ago," recalls Roberta. "He didn't know a soul. At the bus station, he looked in the Yellow Pages and found our church -- North Heights Lutheran. He called and said he needed someone to pick him up and host him until a job interview he had scheduled. He just felt the need for more support than he could get in a hotel room alone."
The Browns took Sium in. Eventually, he became a professional hydrologist, and last year he ran for Congress in the Fourth District against incumbent [Democrat] Betty McCollum. [italics are Spot's]
Wow! You couldn't ask any more than that from a brown person!
Oh, one other thing. The Browns are the driving force behind the Minnesota Family Council:
The couple moved to the Twin Cities in 1964, after farming for 14 years. Wendell eventually became a Farmers Insurance agent and Roberta a homemaker and mother of three. The last thing on their minds was political activism.
But in 1982, they believed they saw the culture around them crumbling. Convinced of the need to inject "Judeo-Christian values" into politics, they joined the Rev. Morris Vaagenes of North Heights Lutheran Church in Roseville to found the Berean League, later renamed the Minnesota Family Council. It grew to be a national model for such organizations, and today has a staff of 10 and an annual budget of about $1 million.
Why, Wendell, at 85, still has the energy to be the chairman of the Council's "education" arm! Well, they're not really all that interested in education, you see. Wendell and Roberta just want to see that those gays don't get married! The Council is behind Minnesota for Marriage. Sounds pretty ecumenical, doesn't it, boys and girls? But only marriage for the right kind of people. Here's what Minnesota for Marriage says about itself:
Minnesota For Marriage is a nonpartisan grassroots group of Minnesotans working to pass a State Constitutional Amendment bill defining marriage as "the union of one man and one woman, with no other relationship being recognized as marriage or its legal equivalent".
Minnesota For Marriage is not a homosexual hate group -- we subscribe to the belief that all individuals are entitled to the respect and acceptance they deserve as members of our society. However, this does not mean that we need to agree with those who would seek to redefine the institution of marriage.
Our message is simple -- the people of Minnesota should be allowed to vote on matters of constitutional importance. We need to elect state legislators who understand this basic premise of our democracy.
Okay, Wendell, let's vote on whether to put your pal Obi back in chains! Perhaps we ought to vote on a new eugenics code! The possibilities are almost endless.
Wendell is a perfect example of the dim bulbs in every generation that have to pass from the scene in order to take advantage of advances in science, philosophy, and ethics.
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