From Deseret News archives:
Ready for recycled round of moralistic debates?
Could that be true of politicians, too?
It seems like we are, after 20 years, again recycling moralist debates in the Utah Legislature.
The latest idea comes from Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan: Passing a new law requiring the teaching of "intelligent design" in Utah public schools as a counterweight, if you will, to teaching evolution.
Last session it was Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, who wanted to repeal Utah's no-fault divorce law, hoping that making divorce more difficult would result in fewer divorces, as couples reflected more seriously on what they were doing.
I'm no expert on what "intelligent design" means, but it sounds like the teaching of a philosophy that no matter what science may tell us, there is a supreme being that oversees that science.
While the philosophy may be catching on among the Christian right across the country, my point here is that it's been awhile since the Utah Legislature had these kinds of debates. Yes, we have abortion debates, or gun control debates. I'm talking here of moral debates like the old days.
Asay, who has since passed away, almost yearly came up with some bill that would grab headlines and take hours of controversial floor debate.
Editorial cartoonists had a field day.
I remember one press conference Asay called to talk about a bill that would exempt parents from the then-Harmful Materials to Minors Act.
Asay and his conservative supporters asked if a non-relative could be criminally prosecuted for giving a child material, like Playboy or Penthouse magazines a judge or jury deemed harmful to a child, why a parent or step-parent should be exempt from doing the same.
One TV reporter badgered Asay, demanding to know if under his bill a dad could be sent to jail for leaving his Penthouse magazine out on the table where his 15-year-old son looked at it.
I recall a harried Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, who is still in the Legislature, being chased down a Capitol hallway by one of Asay's anti-smut supporters waving a Penthouse magazine at Hillyard, demanding that he look at the pictures.
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