You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International
Encyclopedia
You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCRBYCHI) is a Christian
youth ministry
that holds assemblies, including Christian rap/metal music and discussions with students, in public schools. Founded by Bradlee Dean, the ministry is based in Annandale, Minnesota
. The ministry's mission statement explains their aims to reshape America "by re-directing the current and future generations both morally and spiritually through education, media and the Judeo-Christian values found in our U.S. Constitution." The organization has garnered letters of support from school personnel, as well as some religious and political figures. At the same time, the ministry has also drawn controversy for using these assemblies for religious purposes, allegedly misleading school administrators about the nature of the program, propagating its views regarding abortion and homosexuality, and earning "thousands of dollars per event from public schools that later express surprise about the group’s brand of hardline Christianity."
-nu metal
band Junkyard Prophet. The group features Rene Benton on guitar and vocals; founder Bradlee Dean on drums; and Massey "Mass Dogg" Campos on vocals and bass. Benton, the band's most recent addition and a former U.S. Marine, commutes to the band's headquarters in a strip mall
outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota
from his home in Las Vegas, Nevada
, where he continues to work as a gig guitarist for artists ranging from Chubby Checker
to Fishbone
. Campos, a former welder, began playing when he was five. The son of a Pentecostal evangelist, the Mexican American bassist previously played norteño
and cumbia
music at his father's religious revivals. Dean, a 6'5" and heavily tattooed survivor of multiple drug overdoses and stints in jail, broke into music in hair metal and thrash metal
bands in the 1980s. Following his conversion to evangelical Christianity, he has aimed Junkyard Prophet's music ministry toward aiding youths overcoming "trials and tribulations, persecutions, and afflictions...." Dean's wife, Stephanie Dean, a former commercial actress, joins the band for sexual abstinence-themed songs.
Heaven's Metal, a Christian heavy metal magazine, named Junkyard Prophet the second best unsigned band in the 1990s when the band went by the name Reign of Kings. The band says it has declined offers from labels so as to maintain control over the content of its material and to ensure its ability to keep playing in schools. One writer who traveled with the band described its sound as "grease-bucket funky, with miter-saw guitar work over a tight, bass-heavy rap/rock hybrid, in the vein of Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit on the secular side, P.O.D. and Pillar on the Christian one." Though the band has been pilloried by many on the political left for some of its views, members of the group have often voiced less than doctrinaire positions. Dean, for example, describes former President George W. Bush
as a "punk, lyin' stinkin' kid," while maintaining former Vice-President Dick Cheney
is a "straight-up liar" who "will be in Hell pretty soon."
, abstinence
, abortion
, and their claim the media has a liberal slant while reporting. Though he freely admits to using the assemblies to evangelize for Christianity, Dean does not claim any background as a trained minister, insisting "those who want to be in the pulpit are
called of Satan." During his interactive speech with the assembled students, Dean frequently wades into controversial issues such as gun control, abortion, environmentalism, and education reform. In drawing upon his past troubles with drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence, Dean "claims the authority of experience over and against the authority of those who have only studied a topic. His tumultuous youth thus becomes at once a negative example and a credential...." In these talks he has accused Mikhail Gorbachev
, former leader of the USSR, of being behind "No Child Left Behind," (Bush's signature piece of educational reform) and the media of promoting a "gay agenda."
Following Dean's talk the assembly splits into three sections. In the first, "Under the Influence," the male students are taken aside to speak about being "on the power of music and the media to 'brainwash' young people, to encourage immoral behavior, and to obscure Truth." The female students are separated for a "Virtue Class" advocating chasteness prior to marriage. Students in the Virtue Class" have reported being "presented with a ‘treasure chest’ theory in which they were told that any sort of physical contact with a man before marriage would result in a woman becoming ‘leftovers’ for her husband." The third program, "Shock Treatment," is for teachers and administrators. In it, they are encouraged to "call bad behavior what it is and punish it." This session also "treats ADD and ADHD as diabolical fictions and emphasizes the importance of setting and adhering to rules and holding children accountable for their mistakes." Religious scholar Jonathan Ebel contends that the ministry sketches the outlines of its model society in these three sessions: men will free themselves from enfeebling entertainment and obey the law; women will turn away from secular entertainment and safeguard their sexuality as a commodity to be handed over to a husband; and authority figures "show their love, importantly but not exclusively, through warnings and punishment."
Various parties have judged the success of the assemblies differently. One observer found that Dean "talks straight to the kids, without pretense or euphemism. And they seem to respond...." Dean also estimates "99.5 percent of everything we do in the assembly is accepted by the kids in an awesome way," though he maintains teachers are more resistant to the ministry's message. Some students, however, have maintained the assemblies presented cult
like propaganda
that "encouraged bigotry and hate-mongering...." One scholar says "much of the history that [YCRBYCH] present is, in fact, either highly sanitized, inaccurate, or demonstrably false." (One example of the "fudged statistics and half-truths" present in the program is an anecdote based on a frequently forwarded e-mail that confuses the Declaration of Independence
with the U.S. Constitution.)
The ministry has been at the center of multiple controversies for its school performances, many revolving around its presentation of religious material in public educational settings. During an assembly at Pequot Lakes High School
in 2007, students were shown graphic images of aborted fetuses and girls were made to chant about being submissive to their husbands. The assembly made students cry and angered parents. A 2005 Arkansas assembly resulted in the principal later asserting that the group had "misrepresented" its "right-wing message," and that the group "won't be back." A Wisconsin principal, whose school was visited in 2003, later had to call a second assembly to apologize to the students for allowing YCRBYCHI a forum for "brainwashing" a "captive audience." A Tennessee principal also had to apologize to students in 2004 "for any controversy or heartache the assembly generated." Writer Sara Robinson, who has written extensively on aspects of fundamentalist Christianity, has accused YCRBYCHI of employing "bait-and-switch tactics to gain entry to schools, and access to taxpayer money," further speculating that the group was “organized very specifically to get either drug treatment money or abstinence money" available from government funding. Yet a writer traveling with the group detailed instances in which the band's expenses exceeded its income or it has been forced to spend the night sleeping in cars.
Reported fees for school programs have ranged from $1200 to $5000. In the past the ministry has reduced or waived this fee if schools are unable to pay, supplementing the lost income by selling albums and literature in the parking lots of gas stations and Wal-mart
stores. However, Wal-mart banned YCRBYCHI from further solicitations on its properties in May 2011, claiming that the group had misrepresented itself and falsified information in requesting to raise money at the stores. Likewise, the ministry, which doesn't mention its aim to evangelize for Christianity in the "Principal Packet" it sends to school administrators, has "repeatedly run afoul of school officials and students in recent years for promising to run a program on abstinence and drug abuse, and mentioning God only when in front of students." Dean has affirmed that the assemblies are "used as a tool to have the hearts of the kids opened to receive... the Christian message of hard-hitting truth without compromise," though Dean says that school administrators are fully apprised of YCRBYCHI's program prior to the ministry's arrival. Scholar Jonathan Ebel, however, writes, "The full religiousness of YCR is not revealed until event staff offer departing students literature directing them to Web sites that make clear the ultra-conservative Protestant nationalism of the ministry."
in Minneapolis and on the Genesis Communication Network. While still streaming on the GCN website, WWTC canceled the program in May 2011 after the duo aired a lengthy song mocking African Americans. WWTC's manager, protesting that staff members at his station were neither bigots nor racists, reported that "the divisive tone" of the show was objectionable to the "right spirit" of conservatism the station sought. Dean later claimed that the show would reappear on KTLK, a conservative talk station. That station's manager, though admitting some talks had taken place, denied the show had been signed.
and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer
. Emmer's campaign gave the ministry $250 in 2008, prompting criticism due to the ministry's views on homosexuality. Bachmann has praised the ministry, appearing as a keynote speaker at their fundraisers. Dean has indicated that both Bachmann and Emmer will appear in his upcoming documentary My War.
, which included the words "....and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged
. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name." This address was criticized by Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) representative Terry Morrow
, who said that the hope of peace during the prayer had been "crushed by a single person's words." Majority Leader Matt Dean
and speaker Kurt Zellers
, both Republicans, also denounced Bradlee Dean; Zellers said inviting him to speak had been "a mistake", called him "a man I personally denounce," and said "I can only ask you for your forgiveness ... That type of person will never, ever be allowed on the House floor again." Representative Ernie Leidiger
, a Republican who had invited Dean to speak in the first place, later apologized for the invitation and compared Dean's position on homosexuality to that of Nazi Germany
. Dean was also denounced by the Minnesota Catholic Conference and DFL representatives Karen Clark
and D. Scott Dibble
, both openly gay; Clark called Dean "a hateful person". In June 2011, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
was sprayed with glitter
in Minnesota by a gay-rights activist who was upset with Bachmann's support of YCRBYCHI.
, Bishop Harry Jackson, Ray Comfort, MN Teen Challenge, Gun Owners of America, and others who praise its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as its dedication, in the words of impeached Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore
, to bringing "God and His law back to our public school system." 2004 Presidential Candidate for the Constitution Party, Michael Peroutka, visited their MN headquarters and wrote an article regarding his visit with the group on his website, The American View. The ministry has also been criticized by media outlets for being anti-gay
and anti-abortion to which a group member has responded that they believe what the Bible says and are aligned with the Full Gospel Church. Journalist Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent
received the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
' Page One Award in 2010 for his reporting on YCRBYCHI. The ministry's connections to Tom Emmer were highlighted on The Rachel Maddow Show
; during the episode, Rachel Maddow
was critical of statements that Dean made on WWTC
about the execution of homosexuals in Muslim countries.
In response to media coverage, Dean has written an editorial alleging that his statements were taken out of context, and produced a video which sought to rebut the media's reporting on his statements. On July 27, 2011, Dean initiated a defamation lawsuit against MSNBC
, Maddow, journalist Andy Birkey, and the Minnesota Independent
, alleging that they intentionally misrepresented Dean's statements in order to advance a homosexual agenda
, and seeking more than $50,000,000 in damages
. Dean is being represented in the case by famed activist attorney
Larry Klayman
.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
youth ministry
Youth ministry
Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as Youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry and is the way in which a faith group, or other religious organization involves and engages with the young people who attend its place of worship, or live in its community...
that holds assemblies, including Christian rap/metal music and discussions with students, in public schools. Founded by Bradlee Dean, the ministry is based in Annandale, Minnesota
Annandale, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,684 people, 1,098 households, and 698 families residing in the city. The population density was 990.3 people per square mile . There were 1,163 housing units at an average density of 429.1 per square mile...
. The ministry's mission statement explains their aims to reshape America "by re-directing the current and future generations both morally and spiritually through education, media and the Judeo-Christian values found in our U.S. Constitution." The organization has garnered letters of support from school personnel, as well as some religious and political figures. At the same time, the ministry has also drawn controversy for using these assemblies for religious purposes, allegedly misleading school administrators about the nature of the program, propagating its views regarding abortion and homosexuality, and earning "thousands of dollars per event from public schools that later express surprise about the group’s brand of hardline Christianity."
Junkyard Prophet
The ministry is centered around the Christian rapcoreRapcore
Rapcore is a subgenre of rap rock fusing vocal and sometimes instrumental elements of hip hop with punk rock .-History:...
-nu metal
Nu metal
Nu metal is a subgenre of heavy metal. It is a fusion genre which combines elements of heavy metal with other genres, including grunge and hip hop...
band Junkyard Prophet. The group features Rene Benton on guitar and vocals; founder Bradlee Dean on drums; and Massey "Mass Dogg" Campos on vocals and bass. Benton, the band's most recent addition and a former U.S. Marine, commutes to the band's headquarters in a strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
from his home in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, where he continues to work as a gig guitarist for artists ranging from Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
to Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
. Campos, a former welder, began playing when he was five. The son of a Pentecostal evangelist, the Mexican American bassist previously played norteño
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
and cumbia
Cumbia
Cumbia is a music genre popular across Latin America. The cumbia originated in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, where it is associated with an eponymous dance and has since spread as far as Mexico and Argentina...
music at his father's religious revivals. Dean, a 6'5" and heavily tattooed survivor of multiple drug overdoses and stints in jail, broke into music in hair metal and thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
bands in the 1980s. Following his conversion to evangelical Christianity, he has aimed Junkyard Prophet's music ministry toward aiding youths overcoming "trials and tribulations, persecutions, and afflictions...." Dean's wife, Stephanie Dean, a former commercial actress, joins the band for sexual abstinence-themed songs.
Heaven's Metal, a Christian heavy metal magazine, named Junkyard Prophet the second best unsigned band in the 1990s when the band went by the name Reign of Kings. The band says it has declined offers from labels so as to maintain control over the content of its material and to ensure its ability to keep playing in schools. One writer who traveled with the band described its sound as "grease-bucket funky, with miter-saw guitar work over a tight, bass-heavy rap/rock hybrid, in the vein of Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit on the secular side, P.O.D. and Pillar on the Christian one." Though the band has been pilloried by many on the political left for some of its views, members of the group have often voiced less than doctrinaire positions. Dean, for example, describes former President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
as a "punk, lyin' stinkin' kid," while maintaining former Vice-President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
is a "straight-up liar" who "will be in Hell pretty soon."
High school assemblies
The ministry opens assemblies with a one hour set from Junkyard Prophet. The set incorporates a fog machine which has frequently set off school fire alarms, while the loudness of this music also led one high school staffer to warn students of permanent hearing loss at a 2005 assembly. After their musical performance, Dean typically gives a lecture where he puts forth his views on teen pregnancy, the ConstitutionUnited States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, abstinence
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
, abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, and their claim the media has a liberal slant while reporting. Though he freely admits to using the assemblies to evangelize for Christianity, Dean does not claim any background as a trained minister, insisting "those who want to be in the pulpit are
called of Satan." During his interactive speech with the assembled students, Dean frequently wades into controversial issues such as gun control, abortion, environmentalism, and education reform. In drawing upon his past troubles with drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence, Dean "claims the authority of experience over and against the authority of those who have only studied a topic. His tumultuous youth thus becomes at once a negative example and a credential...." In these talks he has accused Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, former leader of the USSR, of being behind "No Child Left Behind," (Bush's signature piece of educational reform) and the media of promoting a "gay agenda."
Following Dean's talk the assembly splits into three sections. In the first, "Under the Influence," the male students are taken aside to speak about being "on the power of music and the media to 'brainwash' young people, to encourage immoral behavior, and to obscure Truth." The female students are separated for a "Virtue Class" advocating chasteness prior to marriage. Students in the Virtue Class" have reported being "presented with a ‘treasure chest’ theory in which they were told that any sort of physical contact with a man before marriage would result in a woman becoming ‘leftovers’ for her husband." The third program, "Shock Treatment," is for teachers and administrators. In it, they are encouraged to "call bad behavior what it is and punish it." This session also "treats ADD and ADHD as diabolical fictions and emphasizes the importance of setting and adhering to rules and holding children accountable for their mistakes." Religious scholar Jonathan Ebel contends that the ministry sketches the outlines of its model society in these three sessions: men will free themselves from enfeebling entertainment and obey the law; women will turn away from secular entertainment and safeguard their sexuality as a commodity to be handed over to a husband; and authority figures "show their love, importantly but not exclusively, through warnings and punishment."
Various parties have judged the success of the assemblies differently. One observer found that Dean "talks straight to the kids, without pretense or euphemism. And they seem to respond...." Dean also estimates "99.5 percent of everything we do in the assembly is accepted by the kids in an awesome way," though he maintains teachers are more resistant to the ministry's message. Some students, however, have maintained the assemblies presented cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
like propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
that "encouraged bigotry and hate-mongering...." One scholar says "much of the history that [YCRBYCH] present is, in fact, either highly sanitized, inaccurate, or demonstrably false." (One example of the "fudged statistics and half-truths" present in the program is an anecdote based on a frequently forwarded e-mail that confuses the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
with the U.S. Constitution.)
The ministry has been at the center of multiple controversies for its school performances, many revolving around its presentation of religious material in public educational settings. During an assembly at Pequot Lakes High School
Pequot Lakes High School
Pequot Lakes High School is a 9-12 high school located a few blocks west of Minnesota State Highway 371 towards the southern end of the city of Pequot Lakes, Minnesota. The high school was originally built at its present location in 1976, and the music wing in the front of the building was...
in 2007, students were shown graphic images of aborted fetuses and girls were made to chant about being submissive to their husbands. The assembly made students cry and angered parents. A 2005 Arkansas assembly resulted in the principal later asserting that the group had "misrepresented" its "right-wing message," and that the group "won't be back." A Wisconsin principal, whose school was visited in 2003, later had to call a second assembly to apologize to the students for allowing YCRBYCHI a forum for "brainwashing" a "captive audience." A Tennessee principal also had to apologize to students in 2004 "for any controversy or heartache the assembly generated." Writer Sara Robinson, who has written extensively on aspects of fundamentalist Christianity, has accused YCRBYCHI of employing "bait-and-switch tactics to gain entry to schools, and access to taxpayer money," further speculating that the group was “organized very specifically to get either drug treatment money or abstinence money" available from government funding. Yet a writer traveling with the group detailed instances in which the band's expenses exceeded its income or it has been forced to spend the night sleeping in cars.
Reported fees for school programs have ranged from $1200 to $5000. In the past the ministry has reduced or waived this fee if schools are unable to pay, supplementing the lost income by selling albums and literature in the parking lots of gas stations and Wal-mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
stores. However, Wal-mart banned YCRBYCHI from further solicitations on its properties in May 2011, claiming that the group had misrepresented itself and falsified information in requesting to raise money at the stores. Likewise, the ministry, which doesn't mention its aim to evangelize for Christianity in the "Principal Packet" it sends to school administrators, has "repeatedly run afoul of school officials and students in recent years for promising to run a program on abstinence and drug abuse, and mentioning God only when in front of students." Dean has affirmed that the assemblies are "used as a tool to have the hearts of the kids opened to receive... the Christian message of hard-hitting truth without compromise," though Dean says that school administrators are fully apprised of YCRBYCHI's program prior to the ministry's arrival. Scholar Jonathan Ebel, however, writes, "The full religiousness of YCR is not revealed until event staff offer departing students literature directing them to Web sites that make clear the ultra-conservative Protestant nationalism of the ministry."
The Sons of Liberty
YCRBYCHI paid to air the radio show The Sons of Liberty, hosted by Dean and Jake McMillan, on WWTC 1280 AMWWTC
WWTC is a long-standing radio station serving the Twin Cities region. Despite its up-and-down history, the station spawned two of the area's major television stations and had some very innovative and unusual periods in its history...
in Minneapolis and on the Genesis Communication Network. While still streaming on the GCN website, WWTC canceled the program in May 2011 after the duo aired a lengthy song mocking African Americans. WWTC's manager, protesting that staff members at his station were neither bigots nor racists, reported that "the divisive tone" of the show was objectionable to the "right spirit" of conservatism the station sought. Dean later claimed that the show would reappear on KTLK, a conservative talk station. That station's manager, though admitting some talks had taken place, denied the show had been signed.
Political support
You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International has been supported by Minnesota Congresswoman Michele BachmannMichele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer
Tom Emmer
Thomas Earl "Tom" Emmer, Jr. was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2005 until 2011 and the Republican nominee for governor in the 2010 election. He represented District 19B, which includes portions of Wright and Hennepin Counties and the cities of Otsego, Albertville, St....
. Emmer's campaign gave the ministry $250 in 2008, prompting criticism due to the ministry's views on homosexuality. Bachmann has praised the ministry, appearing as a keynote speaker at their fundraisers. Dean has indicated that both Bachmann and Emmer will appear in his upcoming documentary My War.
Political opposition
Dean has received criticism from members of both parties after being invited to deliver a prayer in front of the Minnesota House of RepresentativesMinnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...
, which included the words "....and his name is Jesus. As every President up until 2008 has acknowledged
Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories
Barack Obama religion conspiracy theories—allegations that he secretly follows a non-Christian religion, or that he is the antichrist—have been suggested ever since Barack Obama began his campaign to become President of the United States in 2007...
. And we pray it. In Jesus’ name." This address was criticized by Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) representative Terry Morrow
Terry Morrow
Terry Morrow is Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 23A, which includes portions of Nicollet and Sibley counties...
, who said that the hope of peace during the prayer had been "crushed by a single person's words." Majority Leader Matt Dean
Matt Dean
Matthew T. "Matt" Dean is a Minnesota politician, a member and the current Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represents District 52B, which includes all or portions of the cities of Birchwood, Dellwood, Grant, Hugo, Mahtomedi, Marine on St...
and speaker Kurt Zellers
Kurt Zellers
Kurt Zellers is the current Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A Republican, he served as Minority Leader of the House from June 23, 2009, until becoming Speaker on January 4, 2011. He represents District 32B, which includes portions of Hennepin County in the northwestern Twin...
, both Republicans, also denounced Bradlee Dean; Zellers said inviting him to speak had been "a mistake", called him "a man I personally denounce," and said "I can only ask you for your forgiveness ... That type of person will never, ever be allowed on the House floor again." Representative Ernie Leidiger
Ernie Leidiger
Ernie Leidiger is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represents District 34A, which includes central and western Carver County and part of Scott County in the southern part of the state. A Republican, he is also general manager and owner of Brothers...
, a Republican who had invited Dean to speak in the first place, later apologized for the invitation and compared Dean's position on homosexuality to that of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Dean was also denounced by the Minnesota Catholic Conference and DFL representatives Karen Clark
Karen Clark
Karen J. Clark is a Minnesota politician, and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A Democrat, Clark represents District 61A, which includes portions of the city of Minneapolis in the Twin Cities metropolitan area including portions of the Phillips, Ventura Village, Seward, and...
and D. Scott Dibble
D. Scott Dibble
David Scott Dibble is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota State Senate who represents District 60, which includes portions of the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County....
, both openly gay; Clark called Dean "a hateful person". In June 2011, presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
was sprayed with glitter
Glitter
Glitter describes an assortment of very small pieces of copolymer plastics, aluminum foil, titanium dioxide, iron oxides, bismuth oxychloride or other materials painted in metallic, neon and iridescent colors to reflect light in a sparkling spectrum...
in Minnesota by a gay-rights activist who was upset with Bachmann's support of YCRBYCHI.
Reception
YCRBYCHI has received numerous letters of recommendations by numerous churches, the American Family AssociationAmerican Family Association
The American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
, Bishop Harry Jackson, Ray Comfort, MN Teen Challenge, Gun Owners of America, and others who praise its opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as its dedication, in the words of impeached Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore
Roy Moore
Roy Stewart Moore is an American jurist and Republican politician noted for his refusal, as the elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse despite orders to do so from a federal judge...
, to bringing "God and His law back to our public school system." 2004 Presidential Candidate for the Constitution Party, Michael Peroutka, visited their MN headquarters and wrote an article regarding his visit with the group on his website, The American View. The ministry has also been criticized by media outlets for being anti-gay
LGBT rights opposition
LGBT rights opposition refers to active opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights. Organizations influential in LGBT rights opposition frequently challenge judicial rulings, and legislative initiatives, and dispute findings that sexual orientation is an immutable...
and anti-abortion to which a group member has responded that they believe what the Bible says and are aligned with the Full Gospel Church. Journalist Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent
Minnesota Independent
The Minnesota Independent, formerly Minnesota Monitor, and sometimes known as MnIndy, is an independent online newsmagazine. It launched in August 2006, with a focus on coverage of political issues...
received the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
' Page One Award in 2010 for his reporting on YCRBYCHI. The ministry's connections to Tom Emmer were highlighted on The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show (TV series)
The Rachel Maddow Show is a news and opinion television program that airs weeknights on MSNBC at 9:00 p.m. ET. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained popularity with her frequent appearances as a liberal pundit on various MSNBC programs. It is based on her former radio show of the same name...
; during the episode, Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Anne Maddow is an American television host and political commentator. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio...
was critical of statements that Dean made on WWTC
WWTC
WWTC is a long-standing radio station serving the Twin Cities region. Despite its up-and-down history, the station spawned two of the area's major television stations and had some very innovative and unusual periods in its history...
about the execution of homosexuals in Muslim countries.
In response to media coverage, Dean has written an editorial alleging that his statements were taken out of context, and produced a video which sought to rebut the media's reporting on his statements. On July 27, 2011, Dean initiated a defamation lawsuit against MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Maddow, journalist Andy Birkey, and the Minnesota Independent
Minnesota Independent
The Minnesota Independent, formerly Minnesota Monitor, and sometimes known as MnIndy, is an independent online newsmagazine. It launched in August 2006, with a focus on coverage of political issues...
, alleging that they intentionally misrepresented Dean's statements in order to advance a homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda
Homosexual agenda is a pejorative term used by some conservatives in the United States to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual orientations and relationships...
, and seeking more than $50,000,000 in damages
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...
. Dean is being represented in the case by famed activist attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Larry Klayman
Larry Klayman
Larry Elliot Klayman is an American attorney and activist. He is known as the founder and former Chairman of Judicial Watch, a public interest and non-profit law firm, which attained notoriety through the initiation of 18 civil lawsuits against the Clinton Administration, and later an unsuccessful...
.