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Show Changes About iii i f & VI : w m COPPER PLAQUES and wildlife are some of items featured at a Lewis. The Constitution and religious candidates by John West Jr. Recently there's been somewhat of an uproar about the presidential candidacy can-didacy of the Rev. Pat Robertson. Now I'll admit that I am not particularly enthused en-thused about Robertson's potential candidacy. I'm personally uncomfortable uncomfor-table with some of his religious beliefs and I don't think he would make a particularly par-ticularly outstanding president. Nonetheless, I'm perturbed at much of the anti-Robertson fulminations. Rather than attack Robertson because of his political views, his opponents op-ponents have largely tried to attack him on constitutional grounds. They decry the very involvement of Rev. Robertson in the political sphere as an affront to the American Constitution and its guarantee of a separation bet-. bet-. ween church and state. They claim that Robertson's devout insistence on the efficacy of prayer and the wisdom of the Bible somehow disqualify him from running for public office. It is an interesting issue, to say the least especially so when one tries to discover what section of the Constitution Constitu-tion Robertson candidacy actually affronts. , First, one might think that his candidacy can-didacy undermines the establishment of religion clause in the First Amendment. Amend-ment. After all, a minister running for public office doesn't that intermingle interm-ingle church and state? But the involvement in-volvement of ministers in public affairs af-fairs is hardly anything new. At the time of the Revolution, a key member of the Continental Congress, John Witherspoon was a minister. At the Constitutional convention, meanwhile, two delegates were ministers and three others were active lay readers in their churches. It's hard to believe, then, that the Constitution's framers thought that ministers should be prevented from running for public office. It's even harder to believe this when one looks at the rest of the Constitution. Constitu-tion. To be specific, one should examine ex-amine Article 6, Section 3: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." This clause was intended explicity to prevent the exclusion of people from politics because of their religious beliefs. Said a political leader (and minister) in Massachusetts: "Far from limiting my charity and confidence con-fidence to men of my own denomination denomina-tion and religion, t suppose, and I believe, sir, that there are worth chacters (who may serve in public office) among men of every denomination..." denomina-tion..." A delegate to the Constitutional Wild horses Support group to help with management A egrermrnt between the Bureau of Land Management and the L'te Trit ha Insured the creation of a wild horse herd In the Red Wash-Bonanza Wash-Bonanza urea. Now a volunteer group is being formed to Iok after the herd. "We could not have aked for a better bet-ter Situation," laid Clair Wcter who pearheaoVd the Wild Horse Preservation Preser-vation and Management group. Before the BLM roundup of the horses, the group agreed to volunteer lervices to preserve a wild horse herd in the Bonanza area. The hnn hrd of Bonan74 gained notoriety during the Aug. 28 roundup of the horses. Branded animals were returned to owners, but W other horses were to be adopted. The t'te Tribe rlainvd that the horses belonged belong-ed to the Jenks family and filed en in junction In the U S. District Court Town... scenes and other knickknacks new gift shop operated by Don ratification convention in Massachusetts seconded the thought: "Nothing is more evident, both in reason and the Holy Scriptures, than that religion is ever a matter between God and individuals; and, therefore, no man or men can impose any religious test without invading the essential prerogatives of our Lord Jesus Christ." Applying this to Rev. Robertson, one must conclude that it is Constitutionally Constitutional-ly irrelevant what his religious beliefs are. His religious views about healing, prayer, and salvation may or may not be different than those of most other Americans. It simply doesn't matter. True, voters may choose to reject or support Robertson on the basis of his religious beliefs. But for political groups to invoke the Constitution in support of or opposition to Robertson's candidacy is specious. Or almost so. Even admitting what I have just said, some may still wonder about the Constitutional implications im-plications of Robertson's candidacy. They may say that while his religion per se may not be an issue, his attempt to invoke God in the public arena certainly cer-tainly is. His appeals to the Supreme Being represent a betrayal of our secular political tradition and an attack at-tack against the secular government provided by the Constitution. There might be some merit to this view. Examining Robertson's rhetoric, some of his statements sound more appropriate for a church pulpit than a political podium. Take the following comment, for instance: "We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God...We have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." Critics will no doubt charge that one who makes such a statement is not fit to rule a secular state such as ours. Perhaps. There's a slight problem, however. The quote I gave really wasn't from Rev. Robertson. It was written by President Abraham Lincoln in 18G3. No doubt he wasn't fit to rule a secular state either. In the agreement that ensued, the 107 horses were given to the tribe. The tribe agreed to give up any claim to other horses in the area. The agreement requires the Ule Tribe to transport 20 wild horses from outside the state, likely from the reservation near Pyranid Lake, Ncv., to be grouped with 13 adult horses that escaped the recent roundup roun-dup near Bonanra. The preservation group will meet for en organiatiotwl meeting Wednesday, Oct. IS at 7:30 p m. in the Vernal Job Service conference room. "Anyone Interested in helping to insure in-sure that the wild horses remain a living part of our natural resources is encouraged to attend," Mrs. Welter said. Gift shop opens on Main Street When Don Lewis' government retirement benefits just did not cover expenses,- he took to stuffing colored col-ored sand into bottles and stuffed animals. He is a common face around town, and a popular character at sidewalk sales and other commercial activities. ac-tivities. Now he has added to his variety of knickknacks and is in a permanent location next to the Vernal bowling on Main Street. Featured at Lewis Gifts are wildlife photographs, which he took Vernal SECRET WITNESS Program 789-8888 V We have $50 million to lend at reduced rates. That's right, between now and December 31st, First Interstate Dank is clearing out real money for instalment loans-reduced up to 1 below our already low bank rates. Money lor whatever you want: a new car, a vacation, homo improvements, college expenses or the orthodontist. Talk to one of our officers today. You'll find our service fast and friendly and our loan rates competitive, Then come get your share-while share-while the supply lasts. himself, thousands of stuffed animals, copper plaques, onyx from Mexico and, of course, his sand bottles. bot-tles. His latest version of the sand bottle features dinosaurs. When Lewis was considering a place for retirement, he had several places in mind. They decided to try Vernal, and have been here ever since. Granted, Lewis didn't expect to be the merchandising business, but because of the popularity of his bottles, bot-tles, he has sold over 850 and made 1,000, a gift shop was naturally the next step. City First Interstate Bank is having a Loan .Clearance "a real vJjjlj j. J moneysalef jfif Loud party results in two arrests A response to a loud party Saturday Satur-day resulted in the arrest of two Vernal Ver-nal residents for intoxication and interfering in-terfering with an officer. At about 10:30 p.m. two Vernal City Police officers, Dan Scholfield and Mitch Royce, approached a Vernal residence, 924 West 300 South. Upon their arrival 15 to 20 people began to run from the house including in-cluding some who police said were juveniles. All participants in the party scatter except for Ricky LeRoy Huber, 23 and Kelly Glen Huber, 24. Both were arrested and incarcerated for intoxication intox-ication and interfering with a police officer. of-ficer. One juvenile was arrested for intoxication. Evidence at the residence suggested sug-gested that other juveniles had been participating in the party. Lt. Mike Hamner, Vernal City Police, said that it was not the first time police have been called to the , TI P First Interstate Bank Wednesday, October 15, 1986 Vemal E)frf8M 3 Charges filed on assault A nineteen-year-old suspect was arrested on an assault charge Monday Mon-day at 10:15 a.m. by Uintah County Sheriffs detectives, Wayne Hollebeke and Gary DeBonis. He was placed in the Uintah County Jail. The deputies answered a call from victim Teressa Snow, 18, of Vernal, who told them her live-in boy friend, Tren Horrocks, 19, also of Vernal, had grabbed her and forced her into her home where he beat her, slammed slamm-ed her against the walls and dragged her through the house. Although there were witnesses at the scene, none gave a statement. When taken into custody, it was discovered that Horrocks was also wanted on failure to appear charges. residence for public disturbances. Vernal City Police were assisted by a Uintah County deputy and the Utah Highway Patrol trooper. i |