Dear PLD Committee and Council Members,
The July 9th PLD meeting on declaring the City of Keene as a Sanctuary City was for me a dysfunctional display of groupthink in action. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer + (LGBTQ+) community claimed (without measurable evidence, KPD police incident reports on assaults, or other metrics) that they were in grave danger of being hunted down (by entities unknown). They were irrationally fearful of imminent attacks in Keene on them. They therefore justified “protection” from the City of Keene. Without meaningful discussion on the effects of the proposed declaration, Mayor Kahn and all PLD Committee members expressed unwavering support for it.
However, cognizant that Governor Ayotte banned “Sanctuary Cites” in NH, they referred to Keene’s Human Rights Committee to rubber stamp their decision trusting they would use another word having the same effect as “Sanctuary City” – a classical display of Machiavellian strategy where the end justifies the means – with the desired “end” as always attaining power to basically have it their way. So, it was disappointing to personally witness that with that end in mind, there was no proper representative governance, no independent critical thinking, nor leadership on this issue.
Regarding human rights, according to their website, Keene’s Human Rights Committee’s priorities are “social justice” and “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI).
Social justice sounds appealing as it resonates with a sense of fairness and equality rooted in Christian morality. And for a time, it was good until it connected with Liberation Theology to advance a humanistic Marxist definition of economic justice with the aim to confiscate private property and forceful redistribution of wealth, which has failed miserably everywhere it has been tried.
DEI also sounds good and lofty, but in practice has been found to be discriminatory, resulting in many corporations, universities, and the public square dropping discriminatory DEI hiring practices. When we hear that a person is a DEI hire, we likely assume that they were selected without regard to qualifications or merit, but rather to meet a quota for hiring a specific identity group. The tide is changing where most people are returning to meritocracy rather than mediocrity.
One glaring issue (the proverbial elephant in the room no one noticed) that was not discussed on the evening of July 9th was how this proposed groupthink declaration is simply approval of adult sexual pleasure over the natural rights of children to have one father and one mother to love, nourish, protect, and flourish them through adulthood. This proposed declaration appears to be yet another dysfunctional governmental affirmation and pat on the back for the LGBTQ+ community to disrupt the traditional nuclear family structure of one man and one woman in matrimony – the most fundamental, foundational, and stabilizing institution of society. With this proposed ideological declaration, the City of Keene is on record as pushing the ill-begotten, outdated 1960 hippie-era idea that in the heat of passion, consequences be damned, and that “if it feels good, do it.”
Yet, children are also human. Where are their rights? Who will affirm their inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Or does the City of Keene regard children as chattel, commodity, property, products, or slaves, depriving them of their biological parents? With this proposed declaration, will the City of Keene contribute to inflicting emotional life-long wounds on children, where children blame themselves as they struggle through life without their biological mother or father? There is no social justice at all unless we first achieve justice for individual children.
Additionally, many children of same-sex unions who are now adults have given testimony to their life experiences. It’s not as rosy as some passionate groupthink aficionados would have you believe. I urge the City of Keene to exercise critical thinking and do its own independent research on the resulting injustice that would be hoisted on the most vulnerable in our community, children, before endorsing a lifestyle that threatens them and our society at large.
Will the City of Keene listen to many Keene residents who oppose the proposed declaration, or adopt the Machiavellian attitude of “consequences be damned, we are going to get our way?” That is the question.
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