Freedom Writer - May 1995

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Florida Minutemen

By Paula Xanthopoulou

Last month, the Christian Coalition of Florida launched a unique marketing 
plan for recruiting neighborhood coordinators. Shamelessly swathed 
in images of the American Revolution -- and first implemented in Iowa 
-- the plan is called "Florida Minutemen." 

In an article entitled "Florida Minutemen are coming," the program's 
coordinator, Cathy M. Boyer, outlined the need for a plan to "fortify 
and build upon our recent victories." "An immediate battle has been 
won, but the war still rages," Boyer wrote. "The anti-family, anti-Christian 
groups are already plotting their takeover strategy for 1996."

The Boyer article included a prominent graphic of a suit of armor 
with two crossed spears and emblazoned "a call to arms." It characterized 
the minutemen -- ordinary citizens who fought in the American Revolution 
-- as always ready and in place, persistent, innovative, organized, 
enthusiastic, and successful in getting others to join the fight. 

Florida Minutemen are Christian Coalition liaisons to other pro-family 
voters in a specific area, uniting that neighborhood "for a common 
cause." Boyer drew a comparison with those who fought for independence 
in American and explained that "the left's persistence and our apathy 
has led to the decay of Judeo-Christian values in our country."  

The tools of the Florida Minutemen are telephones, letters, neighborhood 
maps, and votes. "Just as in days gone by, our neighbors will join 
us as fellow minutemen for the cause of restoring Judeo-Christian 
values to America." 

The Christian Coalition has a standard neighborhood coordinator program 
that it implements in every state. Calls to several state offices 
confirmed that while they did not have a minuteman-style program per 
se, they certainly had neighborhood coordinators. 

The Christian Coalition's neighborhood coordinator brochure clarifies 
that neighborhood basically means precinct and the people recruited 
by a coordinator should "in turn, identify 10-20 other pro-family 
voters on their block." There are approximately 17,500 precincts in 
the US, and in March 1995 the Christian Coalition claimed to have 
16,775 coordinators in place.

According to the Christian Coalition, the responsibilities of a Florida 
Minuteman are to: 

_
Identify five pro-family neighbors who are registered to vote and 
for those not registered, to provide them with a voter registration 
form.
Communicate with those neighbors by telephone when called upon. 
Personally hold elected officials accountable to the family through 
telephone calls and letters.
_

Readers were urged to register and send in a check for $5.00 (unless 
already a paying member of the Christian Coalition) to cover costs 
and "to cement your commitment to the cause." The form asked for the 
applicant's voter registration card details. It also asked several 
questions about past political activities and for a list of the top 
five issues now facing America. 

Those who sign up for the program receive a Florida Minuteman information 
packet which includes a thank-you letter calling members to "defend 
the family against forces that want to destroy it," a list of responsibilities 
(including "How to Identify Pro-Family Voters"), a supply of voter 
registration forms, and a Florida Minutemen membership card. 

The "How to Identify Pro-Family Voters" list directs coordinators 
to "know your neighborhood. Drive through all of it several times 
at different times of the day looking for tell-tale signs identifying 
neighbors as conservatives and/or Christians, such as bumperstickers, 
tags, fish, and dove emblems on their cars."

As of early April, the Florida Christian Coalition had no hard numbers 
as to how many people had signed up to become minutemen, since most 
registration was being conducted under the auspices of the county 
coordinators. Nevertheless, watch out for Florida Minutemen look-alikes 
in your neighborhood -- whether you live in Florida or Maine or Idaho 
or Iowa. Ah yes, Iowa....

_Paula_Xanthopoulou_is_the_editor_of_CC_Watch,_a_newsletter_"keeping_
an_eye_on_the_Christian_Coalition."_For_more_information,_contact_
CC_Watch_at_(305)_751-5001._Copyright_1995_Public-Spirited_Enterprises._ 

				
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Copyright 1995 IFAS
The Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com

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