On a conference call with pastors in the four states voting on marriage-related initititives in November, Minnesota for Marriage chairman John Helmberger accused those opposed to an amendment banning same-sex marriage of lying to voters. The audio was captured by Jeremy Hooper.

Here’s what John Helmberger said:

The other thing that is very important for pastors of Minnesota to take away from this call is not to be confused or deceived by the opposition in this battle because in Minnesota our opposition is actualy actively telling people that if they don’t want same-sex marriage they should vote “no” on this amendment and that’s exact opposite of the truth because in Minnesota we need to vote “yes” to protect marriage in our constituton and so the opposition is trying to deceive people into thinking just the other way around so that they need to vote “no” to stop gay marriage.

The other thing they are saying, and again this is really crucial for Minnesota, they’re saying if you are not certain just don’t vote. But in Minnesota, not voting, leaving the question blank on the ballot is counted the same as a vote against the amendment. So in Minnesota you can’t abstain. There is no abstaining on marriage.
You are either for it or you are opposed to it. Either you vote “yes” to protect marriage or you are supporting the redefinition fo marriage in Minnesota.

Helmberger added, “Apart from Christ we can do nothing, but through Christ we can do all things through him who strengthens us.”