Gazelka = mini-Pence

Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner just released their book, The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence. Here's a quote from the publishers press release:

"Little-known outside his home state until Donald Trump made him his running mate, Mike Pence – who proclaims himself a Christian first, a conservative second, and a Republican third – has long worn a carefully-constructed mask of Midwestern nice. Behind his self-proclaimed humility and self-abasing deference, however, hides a man whose own presidential ambitions have blazed since high school. Pence’s drive for power, perhaps inspired by his belief that God might have big plans for him, explains why he shocked his allies by lending Christian credibility to a scandal-plagued candidate like Trump."

"In this landmark biography, Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael D’Antonio and Emmy-nominated journalist Peter Eisner follow the path Pence followed from Catholic Democrat to conservative evangelical Republican. They reveal how he used his time as rightwing radio star to build connections with powerful donors; how he was a lackluster lawmaker in Congress but a prodigious fundraiser from the GOP’s billionaire benefactors; and how, once he locked in his views on the issues – anti-gay, pro-gun, anti- abortion, pro big-business – he became laser-focused on his own pursuit of power."

"As THE SHADOW PRESIDENT reveals, Mike Pence is the most important and powerful Christian Right politician America has ever seen. Driven as much by theology as personal ambition, Pence is now positioned to seize the big prize – the presidency – and use it to fashion a nation more pleasing to his god and corporate sponsors. "

I'm looking forward to reading this biography of former Christian radio talk show host Pence, but as I wait for the library to send me a copy I am reminded of Paul Gazelka's  Christian zealotry. I am publishing below my review of Gazelka's book that I posted to Central Minnesota Political some months ago. It's good not to forget how nutty and extreme these guys are.

By Tim King

In 2003 Paul Gazelka wrote a book called Marketplace Ministers: Awakening God’s People in the Workplace to Their Ultimate Purpose.

To me, the subtitle of the book is more important then the title. The reason is that Paul Gazelka believes he is one of God’s people and I am not. Further, Paul Gazelka believes his ultimate purpose, as a person of God, is to convert me to his way of believing. That is why he is a marketplace minister and that’s why he wants others to be one.  

When Gazelka wrote the book he was an insurance agency owner. So, the fact that he was practicing and promoting religious extremism from his insurance office was only somewhat concerning.

Today Paul Gazelka is the Senate Majority leader in the Minnesota Senate and he is the representative in the Senate for all of us that live in Senate District Nine. That Paul Gazelka is in an exalted position of leadership in Minnesota is deeply concerning to me. It should also be deeply concerning to anyone who believes tolerance and diversity are vital to who we are as Minnesotans and Americans.

In chapter two of Marketplace Ministers Gazelka speaks with glowing pride for the intolerance exhibited by his wife.

“One time my wife and I were at dinner wth one of the leaders of the company I work for now,” Gazelka writes. “He and his wife were sitting right next to us. Hs wife leaned over to Maralee and said, I think there are many roads to heaven. What do you think? . . . as graciously as my wife could, she disagreed.”

As Gazelka tells it, there was no conversation. There was only the flat statement that the woman who believed in the possibility of many roads to heaven was wrong and that Maralee, who knew the one true path, was right.

I was raised to believe everyone has a right to believe what they want. We are all Gods children is my fundamental belief. That’s not what Paul and Maralee Gazelka believe. They are God’s people and their ultimate purpose in life is to get me to see things as they do.

Throughout the book Paul Gazelka refers to me, and people like his bosses wife, as sinners or as lost or as unbelievers.

“Our goal as marketplace ministers is to influence those around us for the kingdom of God,” he writes. “To be most effective doing that, we need to be in places where unbelievers gather.”

So, when Gazelka went on business trips he went among the sinners in hotel bars and drank Pepsi. He saw his role as being like Jesus.

“He (Jesus) was amongst the sinners and was considered by them as their friend,” Gazelka writes.

Occasionally in a bar or at the office or in some other business setting Gazelka made a conversion. 

Being in the marketplace causes Gazelka to spend a lot of time thinking and talking about money. Gazelka himself was financially blessed by a minister that he respected when he was starting his insurance career.

“He told me to hold my wallet in my hands. Then he laid his hands over mine and prayed that the Lord would bless our business abundantly,” Gazelka wrote in chapter two.

Paul Gazelka also writes that he was called by God to become an insurance agent. He writes that God speaks to him and works through him regularly. The purpose of God channeling through Paul Gazelka is to bring about the Lord’s kingdom on earth; that is to say my conversion.  

“Vision for fulfilling God’s will on earth will come to leaders in all spheres of influence; church, government, business, marriage and family, and more. . . God’s plan is for Christian leaders from all spheres to work together with the common purpose of reaching the lost and establishing the Lord’s kingdom on earth,” Gazelka writes.

The Lord’s kingdom on earth includes generosity and compassion but seemingly only for believers. Beyond that the purpose of conversion to Paul Gazelka’s beliefs is solely to be prepared for the end times, according to Marketplace Ministers. There is no information in Gazelka’s book to suggest otherwise.

I believe that Paul Gazelka sees the Minnesota Senate as an extension of his marketplace ministry. Paul Gazelka is welcome to his beliefs but the Minnesota Senate should not be a platform for him to promote such an extreme religious ideology.