LETTER: Initiative 1 is not about abortion

Editor,

This was a disappointing election for me, but most surprising was the defeat of Initiative 1. The initiative would have funded conservation projects, preserved clean water and open space, and provided community education on issues regarding conservation and growth. I thought the time had finally come when Utah residents would start showing environmental responsibility. Even a number of prominent Republicans supported the measure. I’m now asking myself why it failed to get enough votes. I talked to a friend who told me it raised taxes. I told him it only raised $15 per household and that I would even spot him 15 bucks just to vote for it. He didn’t. I guess it must not be the money.

I can only think of one other explanation, and to understand it, you must enter the mind of an Utahn. Preserving the environment means environmentalism … Environmentalism means liberal … liberal means Democrats … and Democrats means ABORTION!!! (Insert panicked scream here) So to vote for Initiative 1, you are essentially voting for abortion!!!

What else could it be?

What confuses me most is that the prominent religion in Utah teaches that the earth has a spirit, that every plant, animal, and rock is alive and existed before and will exist after this life. Mormon scripture teaches that man is to be “a steward over earthly blessings, which [God] has made and prepared for [his] creatures,” (D&C 104:13) that all things were created “for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart…to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion” (D&C 59:18-20). Mormons, above all people, should be environmentalists.

Perhaps it doesn’t matter. As a friend told me, “That’s just ‘sumpin Jesus gonna fix!” So rise up fellow Utahns! Take a stand! Fight the liberal environmental legislation. The lives of millions of unborn babies depend on you!

Keith Lewis