This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I was summoned as a guest on a K-TALK radio show recently hosted by Republican activist and moral crusader Cherilyn Eager and including other guests who share Eager's political views, particularly on social issues.

I expected to be ganged up on because the subject was a column I had written about meetings they held at the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Orem with agendas I found controversial.

After that column ran, the Boy Scouts, concerned about the organization's 501-C(3) tax exempt status, informed the group it would not rent space to them in the future.

The other guests on the show included Oak Norton, founder of Utahns against Common Core, Lowell Nelson, former vice chairman of the Utah Republican Party who was rebuked by fellow Republicans for comments that seemed to advocate the abolition of public education while he was an officer of the party, and Thomas Butler, who was the organizer of the meetings at the BSA headquarters.

I was asked to explain my reasons for writing the column, and then I was subjected to questions.

Eager and the other guests were polite and considerate to me, and the discussion was civil. But after the first question, asking if I believe in freedom of speech (I do), Norton took a turn.

"I would like to ask Mr. Rolly a question," he said politely. "Go ahead," I said. "Are you a religious man? Or are you an agnostic or an atheist?"

I hadn't been asked a question like that before in a radio interview, but I answered honestly. I am not an atheist or an agnostic and I am not a religious man in terms of practicing any formal religion.

Norton then respectfully and patiently went on to explain to me why he had asked that question and he sincerely, I believe, wanted to enlighten me.

In the earlier column, I had listed the agenda items for the meetings that I considered controversial:

"What does the beast in Revelation have to do with education?"

"Why are people afraid of freedom, particularly in education?"

"Why are values declining? Is it intentional?"

"What's coming in government mandates, and what are our politicians signing on to without understanding the consequences?"

"Why should you strongly consider pulling your children out of public schools?"

"What options do you have?"

Norton, after learning of my shortcomings, educated me about Revelations in the New Testament. The beast it talks about will corrupt and enslave people and ultimately have a battle with good, which will prevail.

He then explained that we are seeing the revelation manifest itself today in the form of big pharma, Wall Street government and a monopolistic public education system that is corrupting our children.

The evil is already upon us and we need to recognize it before it's too late.

Perhaps it's because I am not a religious man, but I'm just not seeing it.

I had written a column last January about Eager, who obviously shares Norton's concerns, when she was a substitute LDS Seminary teacher at West High.

Students relayed at the time her lessons were, well, unusual.

They said she taught that The United States is not living Abraham's covenant and, as a result, is jeopardizing the promises God made to his people in four areas:

Security ­• Sin brought about 9/11 and the militant Islamic State.

Prosperity • Sin has brought volatile markets.

Posterity • Homosexuals and people who choose not to have children are endangering population growth.

Property • The federal government is taking over the land.

Now, I might think these views are extreme and even, as I have been known to do, make fun of them.

But I have no doubt Eager, Norton and the others are sincere and have heartfelt fears about the future and safety of our nation. And, therefore, they are engaged in political and civil dialogue to warn the rest of us.

But I don't see public education as a beast or as evil, and, I might add, neither does the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church, to which all these people subscribe, has consistently supported public education.

Some, like the Bundys, who had the standoff in Nevada with federal agents and later the takeover of the federal wildlife reserve in Oregon, take their views of federal "beast" so seriously they grab their rifles and tend to bring on Armageddon right now.

Eager has been a strong supporter of the family of LaVoy Finicum, the rancher aligned with the Bundys who was killed by law enforcement agents during a confrontation at the standoff in Oregon.

Those involved in the meetings at BSA headquarters and later in the conversation with me on the radio program have been active in government and civic meetings in warning against the current status of public education and the need for more local (righteous) control. They have had enough political clout from the right-wing factions of the Republican Party to scare public officials into backing away from programs whose goals are to improve the standards of public education.

As sincere as it may be, I worry the religious and biblical rhetoric is getting in the way of honest efforts by dedicated educators to deliver a positive educational system for our children. —