Utahn's pro-marriage views posted on his front lawn

ST. GEORGE — Robert Anderson is a bit of a romantic. He still believes in marriage, even though his own ended in divorce.

"I believe in God. He's been good to me and my family," said Anderson, a 67-year-old father of four and grandfather of 12. "I want to support God's principles, and this is his way of marriage."

Anderson's support has become an effort to share his belief in the traditional institution of marriage — where marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman — by posting a colorful sign in his front yard for everyone to see.

The blue-on-white sign, which quotes relevant scripture from the Old and New Testaments, are about 2 feet wide by 1 1/2 feet tall. Silhouettes of a young and old couple flank the verses that Anderson said are meant to show marriage is a lifelong commitment.

The plastic corrugated, all weather pro-marriage signs are modeled after Anderson's first attempt at nudging others to stand up for the Ten Commandments. That idea took off big time, and signs promoting the Ten Commandments are now posted on lawns or hanging in windows throughout cities in 17 states.

To date, Anderson has ordered and shipped off more than 1,100 of the Ten Commandment signs at a cost of $6 each.

"I've kind of lost count, but I know it's more than that," he said. "I've actually been hearing from more people who are just coming through town who want a sign than I am the locals."

Anderson said he works with a local printer to keep costs down and delivers locally for free. Another $5 is added if he needs to ship signs to areas outside of Washington County. A friend who owns R and K Bookstore is stocking the signs at no cost because he believes in the principle, he said.

While Anderson doesn't yet know if the pro-marriage signs will be as big a hit as the Ten Commandment signs, he does know the topic is sure to generate an interesting discussion.

"I really started paying attention to this issue when San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples," he said. "I just think we need to pay attention to what's going on around us, and start standing up for what we believe in. This thing is going from coast to coast."

So far, Anderson has delivered about 50 of the pro-marriage signs around town and shipped a couple of them out of state. He met with local ministers for a prayer breakfast meeting on Wednesday and handed out five signs.

The ministers plan to share Anderson's message with their congregations, he said,

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E-mail: nperkins@infowest.com