Resolution originated in Salt Lake

KANAB — "The Natural Family: A Vision For the City of Kanab" did not originate here. It was written in Salt Lake City by Paul Mero, president of a conservative think tank called the Sutherland Institute.

Mero sent copies of his vision to cities across Utah last fall, urging local officials to consider it as a basis for public policy. In Mero's view, that means zoning for big homes with space for plenty of children. It means subsidizing stay-at-home moms and encouraging home schooling.

Taken to a logical conclusion, it could also mean denying licenses to day-care establishments so mothers find it hard not to stay home. Mero says he can't see any city going that far. But he is wistful for the days when it was legal for Ford Motor Co. to pay a father of five more than a bachelor working the same assembly job. "We like that idea," said Mero, 48.

And what of gays and lesbians, divorced men and women, couples who remain childless by choice?

Mero says that "society should maintain the expectation" that they will one day form a natural family. And if they don't, well, they should accept that public benefits will favor those who get with the program. "They ought to unselfishly set aside their own experiences in life and, for the greater good, say 'Yeah, I get it. The natural family does benefit society.' I don't see what's so hard about that," said Mero, who has been married 30 years and has six children. "This is just so self-evident."

It makes sense to Kanab resident Ande Beckstrand, a 36-year-old mother of four: "We live in a country where, unfortunately, we have to legislate a lot of things that seem obvious because people make such poor choices in life," she said, buckling her two littlest ones into their car seats with a tickle.

So far, though, Kanab is alone in adopting Mero's vision.