Human Rights

We believe every person is created with certain inalienable rights. We affirm the right to life, liberty, and property, and the right of every person to pursue happiness and the achievement of his full individual potential. We oppose every attempt to circumvent or to undermine these human rights. We support full religious, political, and economic freedom for all people, and we deplore the totalitarianism that denies these liberties.

We believe that in a free, enlightened and compassionate society, every right comes with a responsibility to exercise that right with an understanding of, and sincere respect for, the rights of others.

We believe in the principle of equal protection of the laws. We, therefore, oppose all discrimination on the basis of race, creed, nationality, gender, or religion. We support all reasonable and effective anti-discrimination laws necessary to ensure quality of rights for every citizen. We condemn every form of racism, bigotry, or hate directed against any person or group. We also oppose any laws that establish special treatment to any person on the basis of race, creed, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation.

We support equal rights for women. We stand opposed, however, to a special equal rights amendment to the Constitution. We believe the ERA concept is unnecessary and disruptive to family life. We support laws prohibiting sexual harassment and the principle of equal pay for qual work; however, we do not endorse the concept of comparable worth. We also support equal opportunity in the areas of employment, education, and public life.