An evangelical Christian has decided to sue the Mormon Church (LDS), Salt Lake City (SLC) and its mayor for violating his religious rights, reports the Salt Lake City Tribune.
Kurt Van Gorden filed a lawsuit for $1 million dollars in U.S. District Court this week, due to his arrest for passing out religious tracts and witnessing near the historic Mormon Temple at Main Street Plaza last September.
A federal court later ruled that an LDS ban of such behavior is unconstitutional.
The Mormon Church seems to have made one mistake after another using its considerable muscle in SLC to control the area around its sacred Temple Square.
This has not only been a public relations nightmare for the church, but has also alienated many non-Mormon SLC residents and now there’s a lawsuit.
Again and again the question has arisen, is there really room for more than one faith in Utah?
Mormons claim there is, but LDS actions appear to indicate otherwise.
An LDS member occupies virtually every elected position in Utah. The church is also the state’s largest employer.
Gorden thinks his equal rights were violated.
But perhaps the power structure in Utah supposes that “some are more equal than others.” The revealing motto of the pigs, a privileged class, within George Orwell’s book Animal Farm.
The Gorden case may well expose a raw nerve.
Specifically, it might provide an objective means to examine the repeated claims that there is meaningful religious tolerance in Utah.
no comment untill now