Feeling Salty
More development plans around the Great Salt Lake raise eyebrows. One LDS church member sends a message to others. Plus, more mixed messages coming from the LDS church.
By Katharine Biele @kathybiele
Feeling Salty
No, Utah will never learn. The Great Salt Lake is a fragile ecosystem. It wafts and wanes. It hosts waterfowl and tiny brine shrimp, and, yes, sewage. The lake "was taken for granted by most here and treated as a sewer by some of the nation's biggest polluters," according to E&E News. And hold your breath: 50% of the water going into Farmington Bay is treated sewage water, an Associated Press story says. Now, Weber County wants to site a landfill at the southern tip of the Promontory Point cape, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. There's nothing like empty land to get the juices flowing. This proposal envisions one of the nation's largest landfills trucking in waste from everywhere. Have you heard that before? Salt Lake's proposed inland port's a big trucker of pollutants, too, and they're trying to remediate a landfill out there now.
Sending a Message
If there's one thing to come out of Ed Smart's lifelong angst and sorrow, who recently came out publicly as gay, it's that he's sending a message to other LGBTQ people who are suffering, too. Sadly, many of them are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Even though the church has dropped a lot of its anti-LGBTQ policies, it still calls for celibacy and marriage. The Trib came up with ideas on how the LDS church can change the dialogue and help LGBTQ members—like recognizing their contributions, calling them by their preferred terms and changing the tone. These are important to note because of the number of faith-related suicides in the state. But ultimately, it's not up to the Trib to make church doctrine. It might take a revelation from God—or just a little empathy.
Re-rebranding
Yes, this is Utah and the seat of the Latter-day Saints' hierarchy, so readers should expect a good helping of church news, whether they care or not. Let's start with the rebranding of the church. How's that going, you ask? The Deseret News wants you to hold your breath in anticipation of what's coming. "We're not prepared to release anything yet," said President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, "but as this goes forward, it'll become more and more evident ..." Apparently, church members are even trying out new hashtags. Wow. But the fact remains that Latter-day Saints are globally seen as peculiar—odd enough to warrant a Broadway musical. And The Washington Post can't get enough of them. The latest headline tells it all: "No more green tea, vaping or drinks ending in '-ccino,' Mormon church tells members." Well, there goes the rebranding.
About The Author
Katharine Biele
A City Weekly contributor since 1992, Katharine Biele is the informed voice behind our Hits & Misses column. When not writing, you can catch her working to empower voters and defend democracy alongside the League of Women Voters.
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