re: #102 teleskiguy

Zion! All those canyons! Snow-capped mountains!

I think Utah is the greatest state in the Union when it comes to geography and topography. I would be living in SLC *right now*, but…

Utah is a case study of the importance of separation of church and state in our country. Thank dog for SLC - who elected their first openly gay mayor last year - for providing some semblance of balance between the religious and the secular.

But, yeah! Utah is so freaking beautiful.

I lived in Utah for seven years in the 1990s. It is a gorgeous place. Where else can you live where you can be in the middle of a salt desert if you drive one hour west of Salt Lake City, or in the middle of snowcapped mountains if you drive one hour east? That said, the church plays an entirely outsized role in the state’s politics. Because the church disapproves of marijuana, there can be no discussion of medical marijuana. A loophole in the hate crimes law can’t be fixed because it might stop the church from being able to berate GLBT persons. And then there are the assumptions people make, particularly in Provo-Orem, that you’re an active member of the church. It can be annoying.

When someone in another state doesn’t get why separation of church and state is good, I suggest they need to be airdropped into Provo for a year to learn.