Tag: referendum 74

Churches are being reminded this week that collecting money for a political cause is not OK.

Washington State’s Public Disclosure Commission recently learned that Bishop Joseph Tyson, of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima, sent a letter to pastors in 41 churches asking them to take up a special collection for Preserve Marriage Washington, the campaign opposed to the state’s same-sex marriage law.

Spokane Valley’s quiet Sikh community has taken the spotlight this week after a gunman shot down six worshipers in Wisconsin on Aug. 5. On Wednesday The Sikh Temple of Spokane held a candlelight vigil in remembrance of those who died and tomorrow friends the Unitarian Universalist Church will join hands and form a “circle of protection” around the gurdwara at noon.

Today’s headlines have been dominated by the news that Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’s donated $2.5 million to the Washington United for Marriage campaign. You may recall last month Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmerand co-founder Bill Gates each donated $100,000 in support of Referendum 74. This news is definitely a game changer for the campaign.

Washington conservatives hailed victory this month by collecting double the signatures needed to send the state’s same-sex marriage bill to voters in the upcoming general election. Although leaders from Preserve Marriage Washington are confident residents will vote to keep marriage between a man and a woman, a wild card lies in their path — one worth more than 4 million votes.