Salvation Mountain

* I am constantly amazed at the arrogance of the human race. What has led me to this conclusion once again is the man who has spent the last eight years of his life painting (or defacing) a desert mound with his “testimonial” that he calls Salvation Mountain (“Slab City Showdown: Artwork May be Bulldozed as an Environmental Hazard,” July 11).

I wondered as I gazed at his photograph, standing in front of his art, at the vanity (one of the seven deadly sins) which must have devoured his soul whole. How could he, I thought, look at that large gaudy collection of crosses and Scripture in red and white paint and see it, actually experience it, as more beautiful than the natural rock formation in its scenic surroundings that it was?

Does he really feel his creative endeavors superior to God’s?

ALISON L. WAGGNER

Culver City