Many oppose camp being used by supremacists

Green Bay Press-Gazette/August 26, 2001
By Ben Jones

Rosholt -- A camp for disabled children near Rosholt will likely allow an alleged Christian Identity group to use its facilities for a Labor Day weekend encampment.

Gary Foote, executive administrator for the Wisconsin Lions Foundation, said the Lions Club is still reviewing its obligations and contract with Scriptures for America, a group that booked Wisconsin Lions Camp for this coming Friday.

Foote said the Lions will likely permit the group to come. He said a final decision will probably be made Monday, after the club consults with its attorney.

"We're obligated as Lions to practice good citizenry and uphold the rights of individuals and organizations according to their rights in the Constitution," Foote said.

Scriptures for America, based in LaPorte, Colo., is led by Pete Peters, author of "Death Penalty for Homosexuals is Prescribed in the Bible" and "M.L. King: His Dream, Your Nightmare."

Civil-rights groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Center for New Community and the Anti-Defamation League claim Peters is a leader of Christian Identity, a movement linked to groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation and the Posse Comitatus.

The Christian Identity movement preaches that white Christians are God's chosen people. Foote said the Lions Club has a responsibility not to discriminate against a group because some people disagree with its message.

"The Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of free speech and free assembly," Foote said.

Foote said the facility is a private camp during the summer for children who have vision or hearing impairment or are cognitively disabled. He said the camp is rented to other groups to help offset the cost of providing camps for disabled children.

Area individuals are planning to protest the Labor Day encampment. Donavan Lane of Waupaca protested Scriptures for America when it came last year to a camp near Amherst.

Lane said he will protest again this year. "It's wrong," he said. "It's flat-out, morally wrong. What they are preaching is pure hate."