Good evening. My name is Marian Shatto, and my topic is the danger of engaging with the Independence Law Center, relating to Agenda item 8, Approval of Additional Legal Counsel.
The ILC calls itself a “religious liberty law firm,” but the “liberty” they support is the exact opposite of our nation’s declared “liberty and justice for all.” Instead, the liberty they advocate is reserved for a small minority who are determined to impose their rigid, corrosive reading of Christian scripture on all the rest of us.
Currently the ILC is targeting the LGBTQ+ community, infiltrating school districts and helping their boards to write policies which marginalize vulnerable youth and deny access to accurate medical information about sexual orientation and gender identity. Their tactics negate young people’s sense of self-worth by refusing to acknowledge their true identities and removing from libraries books which depict them in a positive light.
The ILC is part of a nation-wide network advocating the Seven Mountains Mandate. This movement calls for the take over of seven major areas of culture, education being one of them, and imposing authoritarian religious laws and leadership. It cares nothing for respecting individual freedom of conscience or government by the will of the governed.
Freedom is not license to harm others or coerce them to one’s will. Right action and right relationship are the roots of true liberty. Forcing others to conform to the authority of one restrictive faith is not religious freedom.
Engaging with the ILC can only bring discord, division, and harm to our community. Students, teachers, and staff will suffer the consequences. I urge the School Board to firmly reject any plan to engage with them now or in the future.
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