2/2/99
"You're trying to hide something!" has become the
mantra of League adversaries lately. Starting with Lisa
Lumbra-Carter's crusade last year (still ongoing in the courts
and the media) to the most recent attack by homosexual and
pro-abortion activists, the League and I are charged with leading
some kind of secret society. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
The League is a private non-profit corporation or ministry. I
believe that there is an implicit understanding with our donors
that their donations are confidential. We have also felt that
board and staff discussions and decisions are not public matters.
Outside of those two assumptions the League is open and public.
It is precisely these two assumptions that are now under attack
from both inside and outside of the ministry.
The media, courts, lawyers, politicians and activists are all
involved. The end result will be a different, and stronger,
League. It may also be a change in some of our existing laws in
Maine.
The League is under attack because it is effective, and because
it is Christian. It is not under attack because anyone is trying
to hide anything.
Any member of the League is allowed to come in and view financial
records. That has always been the case. Nobody is allowed to come
in and photocopy records without permission. That is what the
plaintiffs in the lawsuit did. The board and I were shocked by
such unprecedented behavior by a board, and we asked the
plaintiffs to return the photocopies before we showed them any
more information. They disagreed and the documents ended up in
the hands of Channel 8 News instead.
The latest "You're trying to hide something!" attack
comes from homosexual activist Patricia Peard. She is an attorney
with the firm Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson and alleges that
the League received contributions for the people's veto in order
to hide the donor names from the public. She is wrong.
The League, in fact, told donors who wanted to support the
people's veto to contribute directly to the two political action
committees that had been formed to support the people's veto. At
that time the League was raising money for the RECORD, Weekly
Issues Summary, Faith Matters in Maine, Ben Bubar Capital
Campaign etc. and supporting the referendum effort with in-kind
services and cash contributions that came out of the ministry's
general fund. The Christian Civic League of Maine wanted to be
known as being very supportive of the people's veto, so it is
listed as a large contributor to the two PACs that were formed to
spearhead the effort.
As you can imagine, donor confidentiality is a significant issue.
Unfortunately, donor confidentiality at the League may end up
being breached by Lumbra-Carter and the plaintiffs in the
lawsuit. They took a copy of the League donor list.
Nobody at the League is trying to hide anything.
It is not uncommon for courageous individuals who take a stand
against abortion or homosexuality to receive death threats and
become targets of harassment. That has happened to me, and to
most all of the social conservative leaders with whom I have
worked.
It would not surprise me to learn that Patricia Peard and her
friends are interested in getting access to the donor list of the
League in order to apply pressure on our funding sources.
Churches and individuals can be influenced away from supporting
good causes and organizations by controversy close to home.
Michael S. Heath is executive director of the Maine Christian Civic League |