Show niKtwi Wednesday February 25 2004 A4 The Herald Journal Soapbox foes know not what they do USU gay-marria- ge i We believe exercise of conscience that religion is instituted of God and that men are amenable to him and to him only for the exercise of it he incident staged by the ' - unless their religious at opinions Young Republicans ' have been alarming to freedom-lov- prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others ing people everywhere I wonder if ” (D&C 134:2 4) Isn’t it strongly “mobbed those young people who held “religious opinion” about what the table to be able to sign the petition" gave any thought to the actual marriage is or isn’t and what a famiintent and ramifications of their ly is or isn’t that is causing the national uproar leading to serious " efforts Of course the superficial intent was to “support the traditional infringement of basic human rights ' and civil liberties of millions of gay bedrock of marriage” But in their Americans? zeal what were they doing to the traThe Book of Mormon teaches “ ditional bedrock of American freeit was strictly contrary to the comdom liberty and mands of God that there should be a justice for all? What law which should bring men on to were they doing to the American princiunequal grounds” (Alma 30:7) If Utah or Federal law allows some ple of equality and members of our community to marry the Constitutional freedoms and protecaccording to their heart and belief and forbids gays and lesbians that tions which are for same privilege how is thatequal ALf Americans? Even more disturbgrounds?ModemLDS revelation teaches “whoso forbiddeth to marry was the Young ing ' is not ordained of God” (D&C Republicans' attack Are Latter-da- y Saints exclud- numfreedom 49:15) on religious Growing ed from their own teachings? bers of churches throughout our As I read the description of the country have seen the good in their ' and sisters Young Republicans’ event and the gay and lesbian brothers and their relationships Those eagerness of so many to sign to churches want to extend the blessdestroy the freedom of others I couldn’t help but think of similar ings of marriage and family to truly times not so long ago when young loving monogamous gay couples that the of petipoliticians vehemently fought to presigners Apparently vent women from the basic civil tion only support religious freedom for those who believe just as they do right to vote or young Southerners who eagerly fought to “defend” their For Latter-da-y Saints the petition freedom and later their civil rights by should have been even more offensive They perhaps believed the petidepriving their black brothers and sisters of those same freedoms What tion was defending “traditional about the thousands of young Nazis values”: but in reality its signers who zealously signed up to deprive were trampling on the fundamental their Jewish brothers and sisters of eternal principle of agency — the everything in order to preserve their right for “every man” to live his life and make choices “superior” way of life? Or most ' recently consider the fervor of a ‘‘according to the moral agency which (God has) given unto him” See SOAPBOX on A10 (D&C 101:78) Do the LDS signers of the petition believe that God has' changed and is now pleased that they “sought to destroy the agency of This column and man” (Moses 4:3) — their neighbors other personal who are different from them in some columns in way or simply believe differently? The Herald Don’t Latter-da- y Saints see that Journal may this petition was an attack on the express opin- ions that do not divinely inspired principles of the US Constitution which according align exactly with to LDS scripture “should be main- -' your own If you distained for the rights and protection of agree please respond with ai letter to the editor or contact editor Charles ALL flesh” (vs 77)? McCollum about a possible guest comLDS scripiures further state: “We 1 Ext: 320 mentary (Phone: believe that no government can exist cmccoHumOhjnewscom)'See in peace except such laws are information box at bottom of page for framed and held inviolate as will more details secure to each individual the free By Clay Essiq T USU-shoul- d : Signing off from this quarter By John Stewart T his is my last my final column After nearly five years it is time for a change I have greatly enjoyed writing it sharing thoughts and observations on a variety of topics So I appreciate The Herald Journal editor Charlie McCollum giving me this opportunity I would have preferred writing it on a weekly basis rather than on alternate weeks to accommodate responses from readers of which thexe have been many and to enrich it with pertinent book reviews and more local historical ' material fori love history I have tried to make my column a reasonable mixture of serious : and topics in the belief that most readers enjoy some humor in what they read Yet I did not desire it to be a humor column My sincere thanks to those who have enriched my life and brightened my day by taking time either by or a chance phone letter encounter on the street or at church ' or elsewhere to tell me that they love my column Such thoughtful-nes- s is appreciated and will be ' missed Years ago a famous journalist said “One mission of a newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the ' comfortable” That has merit You can see it in evidence in every issue of the newspaper in news stories and editorials exposing and denouncing corruption in high places such as Enron! in which some officers made millions in filthy lucre while huh- I would like to suggest that the city dreds of victims lost their life sav- - ' : take care of their own responsibility ings Bringing this to light and and clear the walks If this is a probK that justice be done does demanding leiti then ask not command with a comfort to the afflicted give To the editor: fine-fosome help Maybe the Boy Because the ineptness of our of I would like to ask the city fathers ' Scoutsin the city could be paid orsickly judicial r system often times die where they received the constitutiondo some service work or the city and only degree of justice pi right or power to pass a law that hire some of the youth to clean their victims is the coujd exposure get allows them to fine someone for not the sidewalks with some four wheelgiven by newspapers and other sidewalk the shoveling ers I am sure there is a better way media The Elizabeth Smart case is a that is in front of their yard? If they than fines to get this job apcom- good example Newspapers and do have that power 1 would like to The money that would be other media including books and a plished find put why they haven’t used this movie have told her story Mean- spent to enforce this law could be same power to have each property while after all these moiihs neither used by the city to take care of this ' owner shovel their side of the street of thejwo horrible criminal perpetraresponsibility Think of the money the city could! tors have even been brought to trial " save We could even have the proper--: ' Jim Blotter let alone punished That's sick! As a ' X wise jurist observed “Justice ty owners that live close to the paries ' Logan take care of them delayed is justice denied” God-giv- en non-serio- us ail 752-212- : Your view Sidewalks city responsibility - r - evil-doe- rs city-downe- d V : - - ' Non Sequitur SRttWNfcNWIi A) HtfWUK of ?& t CttfcNN&L FNNLY TUE OF ouR Jot Fftt ! : John Stewart is a longtime River ' Heights resident His freelance column has appeared as part of a Herald nal effort to expose readers to a variety of community voices He is not an employee of the newspaper He can be reached by at johnstew- art84321 Oyahoo-co- - feJoiRUfr NflAEtfTcf ULOICEM lU&NtNPM om: T NEVER GOT N Herald journal mm I CltbN ClihNNEL REPWIAhHO lesdars HaURtM&CR': INE kUCX°U VPH BSR OEM first-cla- ss needs more financial support Cache Valley has several dozen very wealthy men and women Some are probably already donating to worthy causes! Others could and should do so Years ago the beautiful Jackson Hole was being violated by commercial development Then fortunately Junior Rockefeller fell in love with Jackson Hole and became determined to save its beauty for the public to enjoy He bought thousands of acres and donated them to the Park Service to preserve We are all indebted to him for that Cache Valley is in need of such a philanthropist one or preferably more to add to AWHC’s land holdings and to preserve Wellsville Canyon from being violated by com- -' mercial development According to a recent HJ article the present owner ofSherwood Hills is in a financial bind He and the Wellsville city administration had earlier announced plans for him to build 350 houses up in that beautiful spot What a terrible shame that would be It would also be an extreme traffic hazard in an area that has had many accidents in the past even with limited traffic It would also be a severe drain on water supply Is there not at least one wealthy citizen in Cache Valley willing to buy out the land holdings of the present owner Richard Knapp and preserve the natural beauty of that choice area? Itis the entrance to Cache Valley from the south It shouldstay beautiful It is good for each of us to have heroes worthy men and women of the past whose lives whose charac- ter we can strive to emulate to improve our own even if we fail Prime example for most of us is Jesus Christ Savior and Redeemer whose righteous life redeeming death and inspiring teachings help us all to get through Ufe’s endless chal- lenges Next to him for me comes the Prophet Joseph Smith and then President Thomu Jefferson both of whom devoted their lives to worthy causes and the Prophet and his righteous brother Hynim and others even gave their life as martyra to freedom How gratefulwe all shouldbeto such HH The WLKWW'PoSr UPTbRWaRT Some letters to the editor are critical of the HJ for one reason tor another In my opinion the HJ is a newspaper It provides excellent coverage of news both good and bad and it has a wealth of feature material something for everyone of every age Good exam- pies among many are die series “Answering the Call” and “In Our Schools” Excellent material While on the subject of schools I am pleased to commend the Bridger-lan- d PATHS (anacronym for Professional Academy for the Teaching of History in Schools) It is a federally funded cooperative effort of the ' Logan and Cache school districts USU and die American West Heritage Center to continually upgrade die quality of history teaching in our schools This great educational organization is headed by Stu Howell L6gan director of secondary education chairman Steve Zsiray Cache assistant superintendent for instructional services Norm Jones USU history department head Mick Nicholls history professor Ronda Thompson executive director of the American West Heritage Center Jim Bailey AWHC development director and Mark Nielsen coordinator and lead teacher' ' In this age of scientific marvels nothing is moreimportant in maintaining our quality of life than is our history — learning it teaching it emphasizing it in our classrooms and in related programs such as the American West Heritage Center How fortunate We are here in Cache Valley to have PATHS and the AWHC He who is blind to the past is blind to the future Our children are getting quality education in histo-- ’ ry and it is going to get continually better Already PATHS is planning another series of summer seminars for teachers and AWHC is preparing for teachers’ and students’ and the general public's summer visits to its Jensen Historic Farm its Pioneer Village its Shoshoni Indian Village its buffalo herd and its other historic attractions Cache Valley is blessed with many outstanding culturaland entertainment programs such as the musical ' ' and theatrical productions In AWHC it has the potential of attracting nationwide attention visitors stream-ing in from near and far to enjoy a journey to the Old West to get an ' authentic taste of what life was like on the American frontier It is what people are hungiyfor To achieve its full potential the heritage center UCRtOhtHl iUNTTttt UWNRE 'Diiiiqt' WJT? itutYou : WifK6 m Tte Opinion pros is bttndsd to acquaint : wMh a vsnsty of visupolnte on nuMsii of puUks importsnoe and pravido monWoii of Iha community sm a toium to 11 views ' Personal cotorm certoons and Mien from rsadsn reflect the opinions of ttwir writers and heading Y)ur View rspreeent Sw views of the Herald Journal Uboatd1Membera of the edHoriai boant DARRELL EHRUCKfcKy etStar ONPYYURTHfseturaeecMor SMtTHpublsher T ‘ DRUCE CHARLES McGOLLUMAnansging edSor VXjftconclusionftm - The Herald Journal welcomes tettara to the edlor PotsniaSy RMous or offensive Mtera wl not be pubished however and the edtor iBBOiVNintn vMNaR WQMioooiVonn to the length end styte requirements of the Lettera should br Typewritten and double spaced w No more than 450 words in length ‘ w Addressed and Include daytime phone number for putpbeee of verifleadoh: ' ' Signed by Iheaidhor V Individuate are Imiled to one publehed M-twRhin any 3May period Addreaa tettara to tiPaOarOhjnawaoom Gueatoom-manlarie- a are alao wetooma and are tun at theedtortedtecrarion ’wLtan(mtricajtaist(lg72rl961) |