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15a – Sheri Dew
3185:
“The escalation of anti-gay rhetoric and actions reached another high as leaders of Family Action Council International, a conservative religious coalition, met February 28 near Washington DC in a visitors center belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons).
In one of the most hate-ridden moments of the event, Sheri Dew, President of the LDS-owned Deseret Book, likened those who do not oppose gay marriage to those who did nothing to oppose Hitler’s rise to power. Ms. Dew, who is unmarried and has never raised children, also described a picture of a same-sex couple with infants which she saw in Newsweek magazine (see 1 March 2004, pp. 40-41). She said, in disgust, ‘I just can’t stomach this—the thought of those girls being raised in that kind of a setting.’ Meridian Magazine later reported her remarks as being that she was ‘heartsick’—a more genteel version of her actual remarks.
(In an ironic twist, one of the grooms Dew was decrying turned out to be Eric Ethington, a fellow Mormon who served an LDS mission in Korea. Explaining why he and his partner decided to marry, Ethington said, ‘It wasn’t about the politics, or the civil disobedience, or the social activism. It was about our love for each other and our love for our family.’…” (“Anti-Gay Coalition Meets Near Washington DC. Mormon Leader Compares Gay Rights Movement to the Rise of Hitler,” Affirmation press release, March 14, 2004)
3186:
“The conference was held in the Washington Temple Visitors’ Center.…
‘To say I found the entire article [in Newsweek] sobering would be a grand understatement. And I found myself thinking, “Talk about influence. Imagine the influence of that one magazine in presenting ideas about the family you are totally in opposition to God’s plan and will for his children.”
This escalating situation reminds me of a statement of a World War II journalist by the name of Dorothy Thompson who wrote for the Saturday Evening Post in Europe during the pre-World War II years when Hitler was building up his armies and starting to take ground. In and address you delivered in Toronto in 1941 she said this: ‘Before this epic is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up with Hitler or against him. Every living human being either will have opposed this onslaught or supported it, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If he takes no side, he is on Hitler’s side. If he does not act, that is an act—for Hitler.’
May I take the liberty of reading the statement again and changing just a few words, applying it to what I fear we face today? ‘Before this era is over, every living human being will have chosen. Every living human being will have lined up in support of the family or against it. Every living human being will have either of opposed the on slot against the family or supported, for if he tries to make no choice that in itself will be a choice. If we do not act in behalf of the family, that is itself an act of opposition to the family.’
At first it may seem a bit extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the family—but maybe not.…’” (Sheri L. Dew, “Defenders of the Faith,” Meridian Magazine, March 16, 2004)
3189:
“Sheri Dew was correct when she wrote that ‘at first it may be extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the family.’ In fact, on second or even third reading, it remains extreme. Raising the odious specter of Hitler and his Nazi movement to make a point about those who she thinks are on the wrong side of this already extremely volatile political issue was over-the-top.…” (Richley Crapo, Letter to the Editor, Deseret News, March 19, 2004)
3193:
“I would have thought that the President of Deseret Book would at least be educated enough to know that homosexuals were also targeted by the Nazis.…” (William H. Munk, Letter to the Editor, Salt Lake Metro, April 29, 2004)
3212:
“US Republicans wasted no time in drawing God to their cause on Monday as they peppered the opening of their party convention here with a heavy mixture of political pieties and gospel music.…
The pledge [of Allegiance] was recited again on the convention stage ahead of a religious invocation by Sheri Dew, a Mormon church leader and staunch defender of the family values so favoured by the Republican right.
In a magazine article earlier this year, Dew compared the battle to uphold traditional family values, including opposition to abortion and gay marriage, with the fight against Hitler in the early 1930s.” (“God Bless America,” News24.com, August 30, 2004)
3213:
“Sheri Dew, the Mormon activist who spoke on Monday, reportedly told a magazine audience that those who fail to oppose same-sex marriage can be compared to those who failed to stand up against Hitler during his rise to power. Commenting on a photograph in Newsweek of a gay family with small children, Dew is on record as saying: ‘I just can stomach this—the thought of those girls being raised in that kind of setting.’…” (Ann Rostow, “LGBT leaders decry 3 convention speakers,” Gay.com, August 30, 2004)
3223:
“A speech delivered last February by Deseret Book CEO Sheri Dew has been deleted from Meridian Magazine…
‘At first it may seem a bit extreme to imply a comparison between the atrocities of Hitler and what is happening in terms of contemporary threats against the family—but maybe not,’ said Dew, who has been considered by several Republican Utah gubernatorial candidates as a possible lieutenant governor running mate prior to the GOP state convention.” (“Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells, “Web site squelches ‘Hitler’ talk,” Salt Lake Tribune, September 24, 2004)