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Summarized by Kent Larsen
New Nebraska Defense of Marriage Group Formed to get LDS Out-of-State Money
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA -- The new group supporting Nebraska's Defense of the
Marriage Act was started after the initial committee refused an offer of
$600,000 from members of the LDS Church, according to a new article in the
Lincoln Journal Star, which first wrote about the group's formation last
week. The original group supporting the act, the Defense of the Marriage Act
Committee, collected more than 156,000 signatures to get the petition on the
November ballot, but turned down the money because it had earlier promised
to solicit funds only in Nebraska.
After the offer was turned down, an LDS group, the Nebraska Catholic
Conference and a non-profit group, Family First, decided to form the
Coalition for the Protection of Marriage. While the group won't speculate
about where its funding will come from, it has said it will accept donations
from outside Nebraska.
The Defense of the Marriage Act Committee says it turned down the offer
because they don't want to be accused of not representing Nebraska. "We want
to conduct a campaign that is completely above reproach," Vaughn said the
Rev. David Vaughn, spokesman for the Committee. "We also want to communicate
to the homosexual community that the end does not justify the means."
Earlier campaigns on the same issue in Hawaii and Alaska were criticized for
accepting donations, which were called 'out-of-state' donations, from the
LDS Church.
But the Lincoln Journal Star indicates that other reasons may also be behind
the split. The Defense of the Marriage Act Committee is made up primarily of
evangelical Christians, while the new Coalition for the Protection of
Marriage includes Mormons and Catholics. Guyla Mills, executive director for
the DOMA Committee, told the Journal Star that evangelical theology leads
the DOMA Committee to believe that God will provide the needed funds. LDS
Church members, on the other hand, believe that members must do the work
first, and then God will provide the rest of what is needed.
Regardless of theological or other differences, the two committees say that
they will "communicate and collaborate" on the effort. They are opposed by
Nebraskans Against 416, which has so far raised $100,000 of its $500,000
goal, and plans to begin television advertising three weeks before the
election. That group will also accept out-of-state money.
Source:
New voice for 416
Lincoln NE Journal Star 1Oct00 T1
By Nancy Hicks: Lincoln Journal Star
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