This has to do with two Scout leaders who, in 2013, pushed over a hoodoo rock formation while on a trek with Boy Scouts, and posted a video of it online. It has to do with the survey that indicates Utah women have attitudes that devalue women. It also has to do with this being the data-driven age, and the defeat of Proposition 3 by the Legislature. I believe I have a coherent thread.
For millennia, we have been groomed to believe men are superior to women in leadership and decision-making. Here in Utah we are further groomed by the dominant church’s position that men who hold the priesthood make better decisions, as men have special guidance.
When the Boy Scout leader pushed over the hoodoo, I looked at a wonderful female Mormon doctor I worked with and wondered if we were to believe the Scout leaders’ judgment and leadership was superior to hers.
The Utah Legislature passed Senate Bill 96, which at best puts full Medicaid expansion on hold. The sponsor argues this bill will be granted a waiver for federal funds, even though it does not meet requirements. He said he has a hunch — that he would bet this happens.
So, we have a male-dominated Legislature, thought to be superior leaders and decision-makers, and a Mormon-dominated Legislature, men with special guidance, passing a bill which the sponsor has a hunch will get federal funds. Are we on solid ground here?
Carla Coates, Holladay