By the 83rd Minnesota Legislative Session Lindner had already faced an ethics complaint before. This was a result of his reaction to the request of Rep. Paymar. His first complaint stemmed from a May 2000 incident after the Republican Party took control of the House and some members felt that the prayers opening the session were becoming too sectarian. "For many, things went too far when House leaders recently brought in a choir to open the day's session with a musical rendition of the Apostles' Creed." In light of this Rep. Michael Paymar (DFL-St. Paul) who is Jewish said "I would like to be part of that moment where a religious leader gets up before us and has a prayer. But I would like that to be non-denominational, and I would like it to be respectful of who I am." In response to his and others' concerns a rule was passed "requiring that in the future, prayer be non-denominational." In responding to Paymar, Lindner said "You know, we're told there's one God and one mediator between God and man. That man is Jesus Christ. And most of us here are Christians. And we shouldn't be left not able to pray in the name of our God...And if you don't like it, you may have to like it-Or just don't come. I don't come sometimes for some prayers here...We have that privilege, and you need to exercise it. But don't impose your irreligious left views on me." Rep. Matt Entenza (DFL-St. Paul), called on Lindner "to rethink his comments. When Lindner refused to reply, Entenza put forth a 'protest of dissent' petition asking the House Ethics Committee to reprimand Lindner. It was signed by 60 House members, including eight Republicans." Later "The ethics panel found the comments 'regrettable', but took no disciplinary action."