Report: Anti-LGBT Archbishop Nienstedt being investigated for gay relationships

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Embattled Archbishop John Nienstedt is facing a church investigation into whether he had inappropriate same-sex relationships with fellow clergy while he was engaged in anti-LGBT advocacy, according to Commonweal, the oldest Catholic journal in the United States.Commonweal reported on Tuesday that Nienstedt is the target of an investigation by an outside law firm hired by the church to investigate child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which oversees the state’s Catholic churches, organizations, clergy, and staff. The investigation seeks to learn whether Nienstedt had romantic relationships with fellow male staff and clergy, and whether he retaliated against staff and clergy who dismissed his advances.Commonweal’s source about the investigation is Jennifer Haselberger, a former church employee and whistleblower who uncovered attempts to cover-up child sexual abuse.“Based on my interview with Greene Espel—as well as conversations with other interviewees—I believe that the investigators have received about ten sworn statements alleging sexual impropriety on the part of the archbishop dating from his time as a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit, as Bishop of New Ulm, and while coadjutor and archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” Haselberger told Commonweal. “He also stands accused of retaliating against those who refused his advances or otherwise questioned his conduct.”Nienstedt denied the allegations, but did not deny that the investigation is occurring. Continue Reading

Compulsory death

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Because “freedom” is as American as God and apple pie, it’s surprising that the editors of the MIT Technology Review have not been charged with treason. In one of the MIT articles titled “Hacking the Soul,” Gabriel Kreiman, neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, says that studies suggest, “all actions are the result of neural computations and nothing more.” So “there is nothing really free about free will.” Continue Reading

With the arrival of the crescent moon, a period of deep reflection begins

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When the anticipated birth of the new crescent moon of Ramadan occurred Saturday, Liban Adam and Khalid Mohamed moved forward with their plan for the holy month: To help ensure that poor Muslims have food on the table after long days of fasting.The youngest known activists in the Minneapolis Muslim community, 21-year-olds Adam and Mohamed have a busy schedule ahead this Ramadan, which coincides this year with some of the longest days of the year.With Mohamed juggling full-time office support duties at the City of Minneapolis and Adam working with the Minnesota DFL House Caucus, both are observing Ramadan, which began Sunday.Like 8 million Muslims in the United States, Adam and Mohamed fast during the holy month, which means neither eating nor drinking from dawn to dusk until July 29. They also will be involved in working with Walaal Afuri, a program that raises funds for people in Somalia, who don’t have the means to buy food during Ramadan.Originally established by young people in England, Walaal Afuri, or “feed a brother/sister,” was recently adopted among the Twin Cities youths.Community Sketchbook focuses on the economic and social challenges facing communities, especially low-income communities and communities of color, and how people are trying to address them. It is made possible by sponsorship support from The Minneapolis Foundation. Community Sketchbook articles may be republished or distributed, in print or online, with credit to MinnPost and the foundation.“In Minnesota, we have big meals to break our fasting with at sunset,” said Mohamed, a senior information technology student at Rasmussen College in Egan. “In Somalia, many can’t afford to buy food. Continue Reading

A “Fortnight for Freedom” and the tyranny of belief

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At the exact same time as the disastrous sectarian (religious) war in Syria and Iraq, another religious inspired event, an essentially covert religious “war” of its own, is being marketed in the United States. It began on June 21, Summer Solstice, and runs through July 4: a fortnight involving an annual natural phenomena, a national holiday and a religious initiative. It is quite a marketing package. Continue Reading

Minnesota evangelical group says it will cure HIV at Twin Cities Pride

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Trinity Works, an evangelical group planning an mass “ex-gay” conversion outreach at Twin Cities Pride, recently told a church congregation that it’s outreach workers will cure HIV during Pride.Trinity Works, in coalition with what it says are 30 Twin Cities churches, is planning “Humility 2014,” an infiltration of Twin Cities Pride by outreach workers hoping to convince members of the LGBT community to leave the “lifestyle” as well as their partners, family, and friends, and become heterosexual born-again Christians. The group even had a failed plan to rent out the Gay 90s as a church during Pride.The group says it has about 300 outreach workers scheduled for Pride, and those workers will be based at First Baptist Church on Hennepin Avenue along the Pride parade route.Its leader Steven Uggen told a group gathered in April at The Well, A Living Church in Robbinsdale, that people will be cured of “HIV or AIDS” at the Pride festivities. Uggen says that by healing those with HIV, it will prove to the LGBT community that they should find Jesus and leave “the lifestyle.”“One of the words we got out of this outreach, the Lord really wanted to demonstrate his goodness to this community by releasing healing of HIV and AIDS, so we believe we’re going to see people healed of HIV and AIDS and we’re just, we’re carrying that word of the Lord into this outreach. And that will be part of our training just praying with boldness for the releasing of healing power and then sending them back to their doctors literally after praying for them. ‘Here’s what I want you to do: go to your doctor, get tested for HIV or AIDS and when you come back negative, you’ve got a decision to make whether you’re gonna serve the God who just healed you’ and then give them some gospel materials that they can take with them and encourage them to call on us and let us know and I’m confident that we’re going to have people healed of HIV and AIDS that are going to be contacting us. Continue Reading

The Artists’ Lab: Finding Judaism through art

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A trend has developed in recent years within Jewish communities of artist salons – a way to bring artists together to make art specifically through a Jewish lens. With the help of a grant from the Covenant Foundation a Jewish artist salon sprouted in the Twin Cities, as well as nearby cities of Milwaukee and Madison. The Artists’ Lab is an initiative of Sabes JCC interrelating art and Jewish text. Bringing together 25 local artists plus an artist-in-residence, the Lab is an exploration of Judaism through an artistic perspective. Continue Reading

OUR STORIES | Nekima Levy-Pounds walks the walk for civil rights and social justice

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Lawyer, professor, scholar-activist, preacher, mom, volunteer and blogger, Nekima Levy-Pounds has a lot on her plate. The recent Star Tribune blogger (in addition to her writing for MinnPost and TC Daily Planet) is being thrown accolades left and right, but she takes it all in stride.From humble beginnings, Levy-Pounds has risen high in her career. She feels a responsibility to give back, “to try and be a driving force for change and to teach my law students that they can also be a driving force for change and thinking about the greater good instead of just oneself,” she said. “My life would be unfulfilling if I only focused on my only aspirations instead of what’s in the best interest of the broader community.”Levy-Pounds considers herself a scholar-activist, which she’s been throughout her career, but it came into focus when she launched the Community Justice Project –—officially in 2007 though the work started in 2006. The program began as a partnership between the University of St. Continue Reading

Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis: Women’s retreat

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I’ve been working on documenting the nuns at the Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis, a project I hope to continue for some time. I’ve known them for something like 18 years, so it’s been fun to photograph them and their lives. They live in two houses in North Minneapolis, praying for their neighbors and the world, offering hospitality and love to the people who come to their door. These photos are from the arts and crafts portion of their annual women’s retreat for neighbors and friends, held at Ascension Church. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Minnesota Muslims speak out on martyrdom, murder of Dr. Mehdi Ali

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On Monday, May 25, Ohio based cardiologist, Dr. Mehdi Ali was assassinated in Pakistan. According to a report in the New York Times:”An American doctor volunteering at a hospital in eastern Pakistan was shot to death on Monday in front of his wife and 3-year-old son in the latest attack on a follower of the minority Ahmadi faith at a time of rising intolerance across the country. …”Dr. Qamar had arrived in Pakistan two days earlier as a volunteer at a hospital in Rabwah that has been a target of an extremist hate campaign in recent months.”Two Minnesota Muslims responded to this assassination with letters to the editor. Here are their letters: Dear Editor,Murder in the Name of GodAn American on a charitable medical mission to Pakistan was targeted on the basis of faith – his ‘crime’ being a member of the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. An Ohio based cardiologist, Dr. Mehdi Ali, was killed in front of his 2-year-old child and wife while visiting the graves of his deceased loved ones.His noble mission ended with the loss of his life, a loss for all those who seek to serve humanity.Being an American Ahmadi Muslim of Pakistani origin, I appreciate the ability to practice my faith with freedom and live according to the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community- ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’. Touba Khurshid Dear Editor,I always wonder how a country like Pakistan – which has so many resources and the potential to be a great country – isn’t flourishing. Continue Reading