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Show PAGE 30 THE ZEPHYR DECEMBER 1990 feedback Mr. the readers respond Dear Editor: This Is America, Land of the Free. We are at liberty to do what we will In our of pursuit happiness. We may express our humanity In any righteous way that pleases us. We must remember, however, our freedom to swing our fists ends at another's person or property. We are NOT free to Injure another or Interfere with his freedom of expression. Unless, of course, It happens to offend us. Moab still has the opportunity to broaden Its proposed sign ordinance to not only regulate size and placement of signs, but also color and content We certainly dont want to offend anyone potentially bringing dollars Into our area by allowing any artwork or design In poor taste. To be truly effective, of course, such a law should be able to control the exterior appearance of every structure In town. Not only signs can be offensive. Take landscape design, for Instance. Many people In the county mistakenly believe that they can decorate their own piece of real estate with whatever rusted, misbegotten piece of broken machinery they please. They have the guts to call their steel, glass and rubber sculptures "antiques'' and actually place high value on that garbage. If we want our AspenPark CltyTellurlde types, people with the kind community to appeal to upper-cru- st of money we need to get our broke-dow- n county back on Its feet, then we're just going to have to clamp down hard on the Junk collectors and sweep their collections Into the dump where they belong. Then we can begin to deal with the stinking rock hounds and driftwood draggers who stack their "treasures by the roadside for all of us to "cherish." We should look to Castle Valley for Inspiration. Irritated by those who have chosen to Install security lights In their yards and worried by some new guy who likes to light up his roofline like a Mormon temple, local folks have proposed a "lamp shade" ordinance. This would require a cloaking device to Insure that any light generated on a premise could not be seen from elsewhere. Taken a step further, It could demand that no evidence of any human habitation whatever may be displayed. Castle Valleyltes are defending their right to look out upon nothing but Gods own natural beauty. Spanish Valley could sure benefit from this kind of thinking. Naturally, only those of us who are the most aesthetically evolved are fit to Judge what modern vacation destination of the future should look like. We must be sure that those we choose to lead us can be counted on to protect our freedoms and make wise decisions for us. It's our right! We CAN make our community as lovely as our locale. Fervently, M. Joseph Young Dear Jim: design and build furniture for a living In SL Louis. I make regular trips to Utah seeking beauty and Inspiration In the sandstone. This scenery has made a big difference In my life and I am very concerned with Its welfare. The Zephyr Is doing a great Job of me most In Informed. Im Interested articles the about keeping governmental mismanagement of our public lands. I enjoy reading the articles by the Western Association of Land Users. I cant agree with their desperate logic, but I appreciate their fear of losing their way of life. Ive never understood why ranchers want to join with miners and loggers unless theyre all guilty of similar faults. The decline of these occupations are not caused by the same problems, but they all want to mistakenly blame their difficulties on environmentalists. They have chosen this overly simplified view and It wont help their cause. They would be better off policing their own ranks and Improving the stewardship of the land. I suppose theyve had their own way so long they dont know how to compromise. Last Fall, I was fortunate to get to visit Lavender Canyon, of course It was wonderful and we were lucky to have It all to ourselves for three days. We tried to explore every side canyon and the farther we got the better It got The cliffs In the vicinity of Cleft Arch were Incredible, we burned a lot of film that day. Presently, Im building a bed that was Inspired by Cleft Arch. It Is made of cherry veneer which ages to a warm red brown which reminds me of sandstone. Most of my designs reflect the angles, curves and repetitive patterns of eroded rocks. Do you think I owe the BLM any royalties? Thanks, I Larry SEASONS GREETINGS WILLIE FLOCKO FROJVl i Stiles! but not Kezla Masons letter In the November Zeohvr somewhat agitates me attack did Ms. letter Masons enough to ruffle the feathers of my dignity. Since, however, In own defense. my my philosophical position, I feel compelled to come boldly forward maverick numerous from the stance authoritarian Ms. her Mason gets Perhaps It from the In she River. Price goats gets Perhaps baptisms she has recently performed the which she herds up and down the Book Cliffs. Whatever the case, this stance does not flatter her arguments. Her arguments fall. Mine succeed because mine have the combined weight of common sense and enlightened public Interest behind them. I take my cue from philosopher Joe Stocks. He has such a remarkable ability to put things Into nutshells, he has managed to do the same for himself. What an enviable talent To the six great world religions he slides so neatly and eloquently Into his respective Practitioners nutshells, I shall add a seventh. This Is the religion of of this religion believe In an all powerful, patriarchal, authoritarian God. A God who In this religion are the chosen people His laws. True believers demands total submission to because this God has allowed them to rise to prominent positions of extreme wealth and power. In thus rising Into these positions, practitioners of this religion take on characteristics of the Deity they worship. As can be plainly seen here then, faith In God merges Imperceptibly Into faith in the men who have been allowed by God to assume positions of wealth and authority. Yes, we must speak plainly of a religious faith In the authority of powerful men! This faith Is Just as holy, Just as Intrinsically a part of religion as faith In the Deity. We must have faith In the authoritative men operating within the hierarchy of the established church. They Interpret Gods will to us. We must have faith In the high officials of our government, Just as we had faith In our parents as children. We must have faith In the movers and shakers of our economy, for only God could have permitted them to reach their exalted stations. We must have faith that the great societal project these brave and Godly men are boldly moving forward Is good, and should be contributed to. We must have faith that the only way this societal project will attain Its supreme apotheosis, Is through the wholesale transformation of the world of wild nature Into artificial worlds of ever more luxurious creature comforts. We the chosen people then, declare that nothing will stand In the way of the proud forward march of technological progress. And being chosen by God to be as wealthy and as powerful as we are, we have the apparatus of wherewithal to enforce our declarations. And so, Ms. Mason, wilt under the light of our magnificence! I shall put you Into a one word nutshell, Ms. Mason, which qulntessentlallzes your basic philosophy. That word Is sluggard which has Its root In the word slug. A slug Is a pathetic, backward, slimy creature which epitomizes slowness. Yes, you radical environmentalists are the slow ones, the backward ones, the slimy Individualists who would get In the way of the onward and upward and Irresistible rush of civilized sophistication. You would halt the ultimate powerful flowering of our computerized machine age. What does Holy Writ have to say about your damned sluggards? In the book of Proverbs, God says: "Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise. Yes, Ms. Mason, consider the ant Marvel at the machlne-llk- e regimentation of Its outlook on life. It has subsumed Its Individuality In the societal project of the anthill. The worker ants do not questions their purpose, which Is rigidly programmed Into their genetic makeup. In the same way, It Is the sacred duty of the workers In our society to obediently entertain the goals and carry out the tasks with which they have been programmed by their education and by the mass media. It Is their sacred duty to subsume their Individuality In, and to strive unquestlonlngly to carry out, the societal project which we the chosen people have set In place. Sure, we chosen people benefit greatly from this arrangement, but remember, It Is Gods will which has allowed us to attain the status of the chosen ones. We the chosen people of Utah, have established as a metaphor of our society, the beehive. Our motto Is Industry. Bees as well as ants are social insects. Bees are worthy of consideration by sluggards In need of wisdom as are ants. The Insect consciousness symbolized by the beehive Is the crown Jewel of our philosophical orientation. Yes, the meek and subservient workers In our society exemplify this metaphor In the machlne-llk- e devotion they bring to In life. task their Their lives hum with busyness as they shine like gears In a brand new machine. Their task In life Is to bring the honey of gold to the chosen people of the hive. They thereby contribute to our magnificence and glorify us In our ever Increasing splendor. Ms. Mason, this Is the way It Is. You Just have to accept It It Is up to you to drop your empty notions and become Just another bee working In harmony for the good of the hive. I hope to see an apology from you In a future Issue. all-wi- se, ' Zeke Blckerstaff, Moab, Utah |