Rigid views hard to take

Re “ ‘Natural Family’ Feud,” Column One, June 24

Ande Beckstrand, the 36-year-old mother of four from Kanab, Utah, said, “We live in a country where, unfortunately, we have to legislate a lot of things that seem obvious because people make such poor choices in life.” I wonder how Beckstrand felt about legislation that protects the land as a result of poor decisions by those who have destroyed millions of acres across the country. Or about legislation that prevents discrimination because of the poor decisions made by those who harm people just because they are different from themselves. And I’d be willing to bet that there are many people who believe that having four children in an era of shrinking space and dwindling resources is a poor decision. Should there be legislation limiting the number of children someone can have? Perhaps the only poor decisions are those with which Beckstrand disagrees.

We spend a lot of time worrying about the rigid and dogmatic beliefs held by Muslim fundamentalists. But the beliefs held by people like Beckstrand and Paul Mero, the author of the resolution “defining” a natural family, are no different and potentially just as dangerous.

SCOTT DEYOUNG

West Hills

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Last summer, my boys and I spent a week in Kanab and fell in love with the area and the town. Seeing something like this go on in a lovely community is sad. My boys keep asking when we are going back to Kanab. Now I have to really rethink whether I would want to support an area that would aim to exclude those who do not fit their ideal of the natural family.

ELLEN JANNOL

Valley Glen