Christian worship leader Sean Feucht said Minnesota had been 'hijacked with toxic empathy' towards LGBTQ+ people and Muslims in a video published on 29 September. He made the remarks while speaking with former NFL player and faith leader Jack Brewer ahead of a 3 October worship gathering in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
Feucht and Brewer were discussing religion, repentance and what they described as the need for Christian revival around Minneapolis. Their conversation focused partly on whether Christian love should include accepting conduct that conflicts with their religious beliefs.
Brewer argued that Christians had allowed the meaning of love to be manipulated. He said there was 'a big heavy burden and a need for repentance,' particularly around Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Feucht then turned to the state's reputation for 'Minnesota nice.'
Sean Feucht Targets 'Toxic Empathy' in Minnesota
Feucht said Minnesotans were known for being 'really nice people' before arguing that this attitude had been 'hijacked with toxic empathy.'
He specifically referred to Muslims and what he called the 'LGTBQ' community, using the letters in that order. Feucht said 'so many other groups' had also 'hijacked the niceness or the empathy of the church.'
Feucht also claimed that the Muslim community had 'really taken advantage of the city and the system'. He did not provide evidence for that assertion during the discussion.
The comments were made as Feucht and Brewer promoted an event called Roots of Revival Minneapolis. It was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Spiritual Life Church and Bible College in Brooklyn Center.
Admission was advertised as free. The event description promoted 'a night of worship, prayer, and community.'
Brewer also encouraged Christians to invite Muslim and LGBTQ+ friends to the gathering. He described the event as an opportunity to preach Christianity rather than exclude people from those communities.
Feucht similarly said organisers were not coming to 'condemn and slam the city.' Instead, he said they wanted to promote 'worship, revival, salvation.'
Minneapolis Call-To-Prayer Claim Needs Context
Feucht also criticised Minneapolis over rules governing amplified religious sounds.
During the conversation, he said Minneapolis had become the first large US city to allow the Islamic call to prayer to be 'blasted out over the city any time of day or any time of night.'
Minneapolis amended its noise ordinance in April 2023. Contemporary reports described it as the first major US city to permit all five daily Islamic calls to prayer outdoors throughout the year.
The amendment removed wording that had limited certain sounds connected to religious worship to between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. That change allowed early morning and late evening calls that previously fell outside the permitted hours.
However, the ordinance did not establish a system broadcasting calls to prayer across Minneapolis. It applies to amplified sounds from individual places of worship.
Duration restrictions also remain in force. Religious sounds covered by the exemption may last no more than six minutes in one hour and no more than 60 minutes during 24 hours.
Feucht's remarks therefore referred to a genuine change in Minneapolis law while overstating the geographic reach of individual mosque broadcasts.
'Toxic Empathy' Extends Beyond the LGBTQ+ Remarks
The expression 'toxic empathy' is also the title of conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey's 2024 book, Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion.
Stuckey argues that empathy can be used to pressure Christians into accepting progressive positions on issues including sexuality, gender, abortion and immigration. Her argument places traditional Christian teachings about morality above empathy when the two are seen as conflicting.
Feucht applied similar language directly to Minnesota's LGBTQ+ and Muslim communities during his conversation with Brewer.
At the same time, both men framed their planned Brooklyn Center gathering as an evangelical event open to people from those communities. That distinction matters because their comments combined pointed criticism with explicit invitations to attend.
Roots of Revival Minneapolis was scheduled to run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday at Spiritual Life Church and Bible College. Its public listing described the event as centred on worship, prayer and community.
