Alan Keyes to speak at Collier Pregancy Centers benefit

	IF YOU GO
	What: "Building a Culture of Life," with guest speaker Ambassador Alan Keyes, a benefit dinner to raise money for Collier Pregnancy Centers (evening attire). Where: The Registry Resort & Club, 475 Seagate Drive, Naples When: 6 p.m. Saturday Cost: $250 per person Reservations: Call (239) 263-0365 or (239) 262-6381

Keyes, a candidate for president in 1996 and 2000, has served in many governmental roles. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council during the Reagan administration. He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs under Reagan.

Keyes, who has a doctorate in government from Harvard University and is the author of "Our Character, Our Future: Reclaiming America's Moral Destiny," spends much of his time these days on the lecture circuit, and is known for his work on behalf of life-affirming medical pregnancy centers.

Keyes, 53, lives in Maryland with his wife, Jocelyn Marcel, and has three children.

He said unborn children have the same claim to humanity as those who are born.

"So long as America is willing callously to disregard the voiceless cries of our helpless future in the womb, our capacity for responsible self-government remains deeply in doubt," he said. "The abortion debate rests on this truth -- either our rights come from God, or they come from human choice. Either we must respect the integrity of God's choice in every human life ... or not a single one of us is safe in our claim to rights and freedoms. Deny this claim to the innocents in the womb, and we have denied it to ourselves."

Keyes urges the public to become involved in the pro-life effort.

"We need to support pro-life candidates, we need to support pro-life organizations, we need to pray outside abortion clinics," he said. "We must work together to rebuild a culture of life in America."

Here are some of Keyes' views on other topics taken from his Web site (www.renewamerica.us):

* On the need for moral leadership: "America's most pressing problems are rooted in the decline of our moral identity ... Since we are in the throes of a national moral identity crisis, we can no longer follow leaders for whom the moral challenge facing this nation is an afterthought."

* On separation of church and state: "The "separation of church and state" doctrine is a misinterpretation of the Constitution. The First Amendment prohibition of established religion aims at forbidding all government-sponsored coercion of religious conscience. It does not forbid all religious influence upon politics or society."

* On school choice: "I support school choice. Parents should be able to send their children to schools that reflect their faith and values where they can have an influence over a curriculum ... Above all, we must break up the government monopoly on public education."

* On replacing income tax with a national sales tax: "The income tax is a 20th century socialist experiment that has failed ... The income tax in effect makes us vassals to the government. No mere reform of this slave tax, such as flattening the rate, can correct its fundamental denial of control over our own money ... Replacing the income tax with a national sales tax would rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens."

* On the right to bear arms: "The right to keep and bear arms is in jeopardy these days and dangerously so ... The right to keep and bear arms derives from our duty to retain the basic means necessary to defend our country and our liberty."

* On affirmative action: "Preferential affirmative action patronizes American blacks, women and others by presuming that they cannot succeed on their own. Preferential affirmative action does not advance civil rights in this country. It is merely another government patronage program that secures money and jobs for the few people who benefit from it."