Lone Peak Press Editor:
I am writing in support of Alpine Council Member Kent Hastings. It's really sad that not everyone realizes the great value of his "Resolution on The Natural Family: A Vision for (name of city)." Some have said that this Resolution is beyond the scope of city government. But Mr. Hastings, in his recent letter to the editor, has now explained that the Resolution will "guide our public policy in zoning, city ordinances and other city decisions."
For example, under the new Natural Family zoning map, the old areas for half acre, 1 acre, and 5 acre lots would be reclassified as Q-4, Q-8, and Q-12. These areas would be open only to families with the appropriate number of children in their quiver. The large lots up Fort Canyon Road would naturally be reserved for those with a "full quiver" of 12 kids (Q-12). Also, all homes in these zones should have a garden, and it should be "ringing with the laughter of many children," except between the hours of 10pm and 6am and on Sunday.
As another practical example, consider the Alpine City Council's
recent discussions about making improvements to Legacy Park and expanding the city cemetary. Publicly owned lands like this are a slap in the face to the
Resolution on The Natural Family, which
"treasures private property in family hands". Rather than discussing all this pavilion nonsense, the City Council should transfer ownership of the park
and the cemetary to a large and deserving family, who could no doubt use the land to expand their garden.
These principles are useful in guiding policy at the state level as well. Following Kent Hastings' vision, we need to call on our state lawmakers to remove the insulting $2,400 per child deduction on state income taxes. The state could save millions if only they would listen to the Resolution - families with more children and a stay-at-home mother are indeed marked by "material abundance, and broad self-reliance", and they simply do not need these tax deductions.
Speaking of stay-at-home mothers, I am glad Mr. Hastings has clarified that the Resolution does not say that women cannot work. As he explained, "Some women are successful homemakers who also work" (my emphasis). I agree, and I'm sure his fellow Council Member Kimberly Bryant would as well. So long as they first make sure that our meals are cooked, our houses cleaned, our shirts laundered, and our children tended, women are perfectly free to do additional work outside the home, provided it's not in the field of home construction.
As the Resolution states (and countless studies confirm) men are the ones ordained to be "home-builders". That the Salt Lake Home Builders Association has perverted this hard fact by selecting a woman builder as its Vice President only demonstrates the problems we face even in our own backyard. When this woman's company began building in my town, it caused a great deal of moral confusion among our young people, evidenced by a sharp decline in boys enrolling in wood shop at the high school. Using your Resolution as a guide, I'm hopeful that the city will levy prohibitive impact fees on all of her developments.
Sadly, Salt Lake's creeping unnaturalism threatens us on several fronts. The Utah Department of Health statistics for 2003 claim that there were 2190 births to unmarried teens in Utah that year. But that's impossible - the Resolution makes the strictly factual assertion that only the "marital sexual union" is the "unique source of new human life". It's very important that our teens understand that only married people can make babies.
I want to add that I myself am the patriarch of a Natural Family, and like Kent Hastings I find myself helpless to defend my family against the increasingly pervasive un-naturalness of Utah County without government intervention. As the Resolution says, I am "entitled to protection", and it's time for Alpine and all other cities in Utah County to do their duty.
It's fitting that Mr. Hastings should hail from Alpine, whose founding father, Isaac Houston, was a standard bearer in the long tradition of the Natural Family in Utah. Back in 1853, he took as his plural wife Eliza Brown Dyer - a self-supporting woman who had abandoned her husband Gideon in England. I sincerely hope that Alpine's modern day leaders, and all of us, can follow his example.
Jethro Palerobber
Utah County