Government · Des Moines, IA Metro · August 30, 2026
Iowa Minister-Candidate Says Christian Political Allegiance 'Confuses' Her
What Alinsky tactic is being used
2 of the thirteen rules are in play here — campaigns rarely run just one.
Rule 11
“If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.”
The story runs on a negative pushed until it flips into its opposite — and both sides do it. In her Oct. 14, 2023 talk (the Iowa Conference's own write-up describes a photo of a 'one nation under God' sign with cross and flag) she moves from that imagery to 'religion and political violence... showing up more and more in our public spaces,' which folds ordinary public devotion into violence. The alert then answers with a 200-versus-66,000 comparison that the submitting Captain concedes is 'not confirmed in the article text itself.'
Counter-Rule 11 · Proportional Truth
Refuse to overclaim, even where it would help. One exaggeration hands the other side the only weapon that works permanently.
Do not repeat the 200/66,000 figure in a meeting, a letter, or a social post — it has no published source attached to it. If you need a number, use one you can name and date: Global Christian Relief's 2025 Red List (released Jan. 7, 2025, covering 2022-2024) verified 9,814 Christians killed in Nigeria, and Open Doors counted 3,100 killed in the 12 months ending September 2024. Before quoting her, request the full recording of the Ames talk and read the whole passage around the sentence.
Rule 13
“Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.”
One clipped 2023 speech to a church board makes a single clergywoman the frozen, personalized face of a national argument about faith and politics — the headline is about what 'confuses' her, not about any bill or vote. Her own remarks run the same mechanism the other way: 'flag and cross' Christians and named evangelical publishing houses become a category the laity are told to inspect as 'critical consumers.'
Counter-Rule 13 · Radical Solidarity
Stand publicly with whoever has been singled out. Isolation is the whole mechanism; refusing it disarms the tactic.
Refuse both isolations this month. Read the Iowa Conference's published account of the Oct. 14, 2023 Fall Laity Day before repeating any characterization of her, and write to her Senate office asking her to state plainly, in writing, whether displaying a cross and flag is what she means by 'political violence.' If a neighboring congregation or bookstore in your area gets labeled 'Christian nationalist,' go stand in it, and ask the labeler for the specific sentence they object to.
Chapter 3 sets out the rules; Chapter 15 answers each of them in turn. This is that pairing applied to this story.
Know where you stand
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