"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." — Animal Farm, by George Orwell

Summary: A Colorado judge has ordered a mother who converted to Christianity to stop teaching her son that homosexuality is wrong. Utah officials like General Shurtleff and Rep. Ferrin continue to deny the mounting evidence that thought crimes and similar forms of legislation result in the persecution of beliefs. Learn what you must do to prepare for their upcoming assault on your family and religion.

    Modern Anti-Family Elements Echo Marx’s Battle Cry

    Thought Crimes Used to Prosecute Beliefs

    "Child Welfare" Statutes Used to Crush Families

Cheryl Clark is a former homosexual who lived with a female partner. She converted to Christianity, left her homosexual partner, and has since attempted to teach her daughter, Emma, that homosexuality is wrong.

Ms. Clark was ordered by Denver County Circuit Judge John Coughlin to:

"…Make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic."

The judge also punished Ms. Clark by awarding joint custody of Emma to her former homosexual partner who has no legal relationship to the child.

Read the entire story online: "Judge to Christian mom: No 'homophobic' teaching," World Net Daily, October 31, 2003.

In contrast, the Declaration of Independence claims that "all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." Thomas Jefferson spoke in his first inaugural address of "equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion" and that if we ever departed from this principle "in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety."

The rights of the individual, regardless of his/her race, gender, or affiliations are pre-eminent and should be vigorously defended without regard to these characteristics. The blindfold of Lady Justice (Justitia) represents impartiality and her scales represent generality and uniformity. In America, Justice is supposed to treat all victims and perpetrators equally. In essence, this Marxian notion of "group rights" set men and groups of men apart by their belief systems rather than by their actions. If carried into law, it inevitably erodes individual rights and protections.

Certain elements of the homosexual political movement are determined to undermine individual rights and have incorporated Marx’s "group rights" recipe in order to attack those who refuse to promote and embrace their lifestyle. They employ forceful legislative mechanisms such as thought crimes and school curriculum to establish their legitimacy and supremacy.

Thought crimes is an attempt to segregate victims into classes and attempt to punish politically incorrect thoughts by perpetrators. It creates enhanced penalties for defendants who select their victim because of some "bias or prejudice" against a group or class of people.

In a flier Accountability Utah shared with Republican delegates in Utah County in April 2003, we pointed out that thought crimes legislation is increasingly used to attack beliefs and expression. In countries like Canada and Great Britain, for example, the government has criminally prosecuted people who speak out against homosexual behavior.

During a debate on thought crimes legislation sponsored by Utah County citizens (in Rep. Jim Ferrin’s district), Richard Wilkins, Professor of Law, at the BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School, and Frank Guliuzza, Professor of Political Science at Weber State, cited many other examples of how "group rights" legislation has been used to persecute beliefs and expression. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was on hand to hear this testimony, yet he continues to be a leading supporter of the "group rights" agenda.

For more information on thought crimes and the philosophy behind it, see our alert dated February 24, 2003 and the Thought Crimes section of our Issues & Alerts page.

Anti-family zealots utilize other legislative tools to promote "group rights," particularly in the realm of child welfare. Since they can’t beat the family, they aim to destroy the family. Loose statutory definitions of "emotional abuse and neglect," for instance, are used and expanded by deviant judges to grant special rights and status to certain groups of people—and to silence dissent in the form of free thought and speech.

Cheryl Clark and her daughter Emma are the latest victims of government officials who use their positions to persecute certain beliefs and expression and to forcibly expose children to deviant lifestyles.

If current legislative trends are allowed to continue, more families who choose to teach their children that deviant lifestyles are unhealthy or wrong, will lose their children to corrupt state agencies and judges. For more information on this avenue of attack, see our alert, "Utah Legislature Declares War on Your Family!"

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Despite citizen anger and chastisement, willing accomplices like General Shurtleff and Representative Jim Ferrin continue to ardently pursue the "group rights" agenda. Last year, these supposed Republicans vigorously pushed House Bill 85, sponsored by Democrat Rep. David Litvack, designed to allow courts to punish thought and to set some victims above others. Notice the trademark "group rights" aspect of the bill:

"…’Group’ means the race, color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, or gender of any individual or group of persons..." (see lines 51-52)

For more information on this bill, see "'Hate Crimes' Legislation Results in Problems, Not Solutions," and also our February 24, 2003 alert on the bill.

Responding to heavy constituent attacks, General Shurtleff, proclaimed in his piece, "We Hold These Truths... A ‘Hate Crimes’ Primer":

Gen. Shurtleff has also been a key player in attacking families through child welfare laws and the Department of Child and Family Services. In the recent Parker Jensen case, his office wrote a letter to the reputable Burzynski Clinic, ordering them to deny Parker any treatment. Shurtleff has consistently opposed due process protections for innocent parents, such as trials by jury, tightening the definitions of abuse and neglect, and prosecuting government employees who abuse families. Shurtleff is harboring employees in his own office, like Assistant Attorney Paul Amann, who have horribly abused families and children.

Rep. Jim Ferrin, Republican co-sponsor of House Bill 85 also attempted to deny the obvious in his piece, "Why I support H.B. 85—Hate Crime Amendments," dated February 21, 2003:

General Shurtleff, Rep. Ferrin and other supporters of thought crimes legislation continue to deny the stated, public agenda of a militant element of the homosexual movement, the "progressive" agenda, and evidence repeatedly brought forward by concerned citizens.

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Your legislature needs to get serious about protecting families, religious beliefs, and expression. That will only happen if you demand it. Here are a few things citizens should begin to do now:

1. Forward this article to your family, friends, and associates. Let them know that their freedom to worship, believe, raise their children, and be treated equally under the law are in jeopardy if they do not take action.

2. Contact your legislator and tell him to fight for families by, among other things, passing due process protections for families and to defeat any legislation that attempts to establish special group rights, including thought crimes legislation.

To find your senator and representative, visit our elected official contact page. For additional ideas on necessary reforms to protect innocent parents, see our parental rights reform ideas. To learn how your representative voted on HB 85, "Hate Crimes Amendments," see our updated 2003 Legislative Performance Report.

3. Contact Gen. Shurtleff and Rep. Jim Ferrin and demand that they withdraw their support of thought crimes legislation. Tell them that you value your freedoms and do not want to see them be eroded through such schemes.

4. Think seriously about running for office and encourage your friends with strong values and integrity to do likewise. It is AU’s sad experience that many officials are callous, arrogant, and unwilling to represent innocent families. Decent people need to challenge them and let all officials know that bad behavior brings consequences.

To view which legislative offices are up for re-election and the requirements to run, click here.  For additional motivation, see our Legislative Performance Report. Note that the filing deadline is March 17, 2004, in the state elections office or county clerk's office.

5. Monitor this site for new and updated information and join our alert list by e-mailing us at info@accountabilityutah.org.

Note: Accountability Utah is not particularly interested in the private sexual practices of consenting adults, be they normal or deviant. We become very interested, however, when groups (or sub-groups) attempt to use government to force their beliefs on others and to obtain special rights and dispensations that others do not have.

It is the sole right and responsibility of parents to teach their children about sexuality and parents should fulfill their responsibility privately—without using government force or settings. Discussing sexuality can be awkward and even difficult, and some parents may indeed fail to pass on ideal virtues and teachings to their children. But empowering the government to assume the role of parent is to invite extreme agendas from all sides to battle for the chance of forcing their beliefs on others. These types of educational battles are best left in the hands of private individuals or organizations.