Vowed to “burn every one of your [g-d] damned churches down”

WHEATON, Illinois–Homosexual Lawrence Keitz of Chicago pled guilty yesterday to a disorderly conduct charge stemming from his 2005 e-mail threat against Illinois Family Institute in which he vowed to “burn every one of your [g-d] damned churches down” and “fight till my last breath to see that you people are destroyed.”

Under a plea agreement, Keitz received “court supervision” for the crime, which allows him to escape jail time for the offense–a Class C misdemeanor carrying a maximum 30-day jail sentence–provided he does not engage in similar harassing behaviors in the next year.

Under the agreement approved by Dupage County Judge Cary B. Pierce, Keitz agreed to stay away from IFI’s offices and staff in Glen Ellyn, pay a fine and write a letter of apology to Illinois Family Institute within 60 days. If he does not repeat the threats, ultimately he will have the opportunity to have the record of his guilty plea expunged so that he has no permanent criminal record.

Keitz, an employee of the PappaGeorge/Haymes Ltd. architectual firm in Chicago, used his work e-mail address to send the following threatening note to IFI on July 13, 2005 (this is cleaned up for publication; our edits are in brackets; astericks were his):

—–Original Message—–
From: Lawrence Keitz [mailto:lkeitz@pappageorgehaymes.com]
Posted At: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 12:55 PM Posted To:
info@illinoisfamily.org

Conversation: Leave us the F**k alone
Subject: Leave us the F**k alone

I am a gay citizen of this country.

You get the f**k out of my countery [sic] and leave me alone or I will burn every one of your [g-d] damned churches down. Shove your [g-d] up your own [a–]! I will fight till my last breath to see that you people are destroyed. F**k off!

Assistant States Attorney Jeff Muntz, who prosecuted the case, said that a previous charge against Keitz for “harassment by electronic communication” had been dropped.

Pray for Keitz
Representing Illinois Family Institute at the hearing, I introduced myself to Keitz, shook his hand and told him that we do not hate him. 

Keitz, a white male wearing a pony tail who appeared to be in his late 20s, replied that it was “hard to tell” from IFI’s website.

Please pray for Lawrence Keitz and all the pro-homosexual activists who regularly attack IFI and other family groups–sometimes viciously or even illegally (as in this case). Because we oppose homosexuality as a matter of principle and reject “gayness” as a core identity, they label us as “haters,” and, strangely, justify their ugly attacks by citing our policies and beliefs.

Keitz’s e-mail can be seen as consistent with the history of modern homosexual activism in which “gay” militants have used extreme tactics against opponents. (In 1991, one radical “gay” group put a giant “condom” over conservative Sen. Jesse Helms’ house, frightening his maid; in 1989, the militant group ACT UP invaded the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City during Sunday mass and desecrated the host; in another protest in Boston, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) activists threw communion wafers at newly ordained Catholic priests.) 

Keitz’s hateful message and others like it also can be viewed as part of a new, escalating trend of intolerance and threats against pro-family critics that has paralleled the growth of “gay” power in the United States. 

In August, Americans For Truth received a vulgar phone message from a man, ending with this threat: “Someone ought to shoot you in the head, man.”

One homosexual blog contained this troublesome post about a pro-family advocate (emphasis added):

Anyone else who writes to them [Americans For Truth], be careful. If they are anything like the cowards in Fred Phelps’ gang, they treat even mildly threatening comments very seriously and turn them over to the FBI. Be militant, just don’t mention death, even though you’ll want to.

Many pro-family leaders who have confronted the homosexual movement publicly can attest to being on the receiving end of similar acts of harassment. Beyond the verbal threats, pro-homosexual groups have at times crusaded to close down Christian events that run counter to their agenda–such as last October, when a large contingent of anti-war leftists and homosexual activists protested outside a Focus on the Family “Love Won Out” (ex-gay) conference in Boston, chanting, “Shut it down!” Police were forced to barricade the doors of the hosting Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston, not letting anyone in or out.

Equal justice?
Even as Lawrence Keitz received his penalty for what certainly was a rash act that he now regrets, I wondered: if a ‘Christian’ conservative had sent a similar threatening e-mail to a homosexual advocacy group, perhaps vowing to “burn down” all pro-homosexual churches and “destroy” gay people in the Chicagoland area, would he escape with such a light sentence?

I think we all know the answer to that question.