Opposing the Mormon church in the American state of Utah is tantamount to political suicide for any politician in a state where church devotees make up 80 per cent of voters.
But the mayor of the church's home city has been forced to do that to protect first amendment rights to free speech.
Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said his conscience dictated that he should support a court decision to repeal a clause in local law that allowed the church to stop protests on a public park opposite its worldwide headquarters, the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle.
Joshua Ewing, a spokesman for Mr Anderson, said: 'It's a political risk to oppose the church, but he is putting the interests of the citizens first. It's a question of ethics, not politics.'
Mayor Anderson is unwittingly entangled in a debate on the conflict between religious power and civil freedoms. His dilemma stems from the 1999 sale of the city centre park to the Mormons by his predecessor Dee Dee Coradini. As part of the US$8.2 million (HK$64 million) deal, the city maintained an 'easement' on the property, allowing people to use the park. In return the church would be allowed to control what people did there, which meant quashing protests against the church and preventing rival religions from operating within view of the tabernacle.
Sensing an abuse of the first amendment, the American Civil Liberties Union sued the city to have the deal changed. They lost their case in the district court but had that overturned in the Appeals Court last month. The decision left Mayor Anderson in a tricky situation: should he give the church rights to the park or keep them with city hall? He opted for the latter. 'Not to do so would have been a betrayal of the citizens,' Mr Ewing said.
