From Deseret News archives:
Rally stands up for rights
Keyes says nation must not stray from God
Keyes — who said America's constitutional foundation is already under assault by the courts and "is being destroyed right now" — made his remarks during the "One Nation Under God" rally held at Utah Valley State College on Monday as part of a daylong Family Freedom Fair celebrating America's religious heritage.
Keyes said during his keynote address that the rights that Americans cherish begin with God, and that without God, people have no rights.
"If you can't call on God, then how can we as a people assert out rights?" he said. Through those rights, he added, citizens can appeal to God in our Constitution and our laws.
Keyes said the assault is an attack on the moral foundations of America, including the family. He said destruction of marriage and the family is the goal of the homosexual movement, including the right for same-sex couples to wed.
Keyes said the heart of marriage is procreation, not the simple expression of love. Since same-sex couples cannot procreate, the heart of marriage would be ripped out if homosexual marriage became legal.
When the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowed marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples, the people of that state lost their right to constitutional government because the judges usurped the power of the Legislature, Keyes said.
"When the same branch of government makes and executes the law, you have tyranny," Keyes said. "It is government by and for the judges."
Earlier in the day, Pastor Rick Scarborough, founder and president of Vision America, a national organization of Pastors, said that when Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore refused to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the court building, it was the first time in the history of the United States that a judge was removed for acknowledging God.
The fair also saw the launch of a "War on Pornography," a non-profit, multi-national initiative that seeks to enlist 10 million people in the fight to stop porn, particularly via the Internet.
The group has a Web site, www.waronpornography.com, that includes form letters and instructions on how to appeal to government leaders and the media to bring a halt to porn.
In other speeches during the rally:
• Lt. Col. Chuck Williams asserted that when Democrats and the media oppose President Bush during war they are "aiding and abetting the enemies of the United States."
• Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week against an anti-pornography law designed to protect children that they were out of touch and have lost their direction.
• Local celebrity Alan Osmond noted that when the Osmonds were recording hit songs they were sometimes called squares because they cut sexual innuendos from the lyrics, "but at least we could sleep at night."
E-mail: rodger@desnews.com
