Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstedt: Satan Behind Gay Marriage, Condoms And Porn

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Archbishop Niendstedt has been blaring his horn about how Satan is behind condoms, gay marriage, and porn.

That's the message of a speech posted online last week by the Catholic Archbishop of St. Paul and Minnesota, John C. Niendstedt. A controversial religious leader with a stridently anti-gay stance, Niendstedt originally made the comments while speaking to the conservative Napa Institute Conference on August 2. The speech detailed the importance of family, as well as the devil's multiple attempts to weaken the institution of heterosexual marriage.

"Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life," Niendstedt said. "Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization. The source of these machinations is none other than the Father of Lies. Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of a good solid society, as well as the future of God’s work on earth."

In Niendstedt's opinion of course, "family" means specifically a union "comprised of one man and one woman." Delivered one day after Minnesota began issuing same-sex marriage licenses, the Napa Institute speech is consistent with the archbishop's public statements condemning gay marriage, notes The New Civil Rights Movement.

Voted Minneapolis blog City Pages' Best Villain of the Twin Cities in 2013, Niendstedt has "used his position to bully proponents and demonize fellow Catholics who disagreed with him," wrote the blog's Jesse Marx. "He donated more than $650,000 of church money to the anti-gay-marriage cause."

Ugh.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. If my bishop had donated that much of the Church's money to oppose gay marriage

I would refuse to give anything to the Church, and I would be public in my refusal.