Different Twists on Individualism

Dana Parsons, in his May 10 column (“Quarrels About God and House Paint Are Risky at Best”), tries to draw similarities between a recent court case involving the Boys Scouts of America and the Laguna Beach Design Review Board.

He also presents both cases as victories against a system he accuses of being guilty of pridefulness, and he uses the concept of individuality to bind them together.

The fact is that there are no similarities between these cases, except that they both are court cases and they both appeared in Dana Parsons’ column.

In the Boys Scouts’ case, the court decided in the Randall twins favor; in the Design Review case, the court decided only that the Karagozians could proceed with their $1-million suit against the city of Laguna Beach.

Dana Parsons writes that Michael and William Randall exhibit individualism.

Surely, the issue was raised by their parents more than the 10-year-old twins. Their lawyer/father litigated the case to what appears to be a very bittersweet victory. The twins get to rejoin the Boy Scouts, but they have been tormented by their peers and have found going to school very painful because of this.

The Karagozians have painted themselves as victims of the Laguna Beach Design Review process, in which, if the truth be told, they were a willing participant.

After numerous public hearings, they had agreed to paint their house sandstone color, and then they broke their agreement. Because of, perhaps as Mr. Parsons states, their sense of “individualism,” the agreements they made do not have to be adhered to.

JOHANNA S. FELDER

Laguna Beach