Why Utah? Simple, it's mostly desert & being downwind of the Great Salt Lake/Swamp in the summer is one of the worst natural punishments I can think of.
pro_se -- I would certainly hope not, the freedom of belief and conscience as guaranteed by the Constitution's First Amendment is absolutely fundamental/essential to any notion that people in this nation have in any sense true personal liberty -- what needs to be defended is the corollary principle also guaranteed by the First Amendment that nobody gets to impose their religious beliefs/values on others through our government and law