quote of the day (Buttars edition)

As usual, St. Sen. Chris Buttars tops the list in terms of stupid statements: “The state has become hostile to religion.” Really? If anything the culture in this state is hostel to those who are atheists. Just look at Bountiful, Utah. While it probably still is the one of if not the most LDS city in Utah, there are lots of churches of other religions in that city. I suspect that those who are not LDS and live in Bountiful feel compelled to prove that they are just as religious as their LDS neighbors. There are churches every other block there from my experience. Even in "secular" Salt Lake City and Park City, there are are no shortage of people attending church without any "hostility." If you ever try to get any chores done on a Sunday in Utah, you can forget it. Almost everything is closed on Sundays, save grocery stores, Chinese restaurants, some coffee shops, convenience stores, some smoke shops, and some 'private clubs.' Utah has some of the strictest anti-smoking and drinking laws in the country, and have had them 20 years before the smoke-free restaurants movement of the late 1990s.

AG Mark Shurtleff, a conservative, LDS Republican that actually knows the law (unlike lawmaker Butters) knows that the West Valley Republican's bill will cost the state lots of money in pointless lawsuits:

"What it will guarantee is it opens up the need for more litigation in state courts," he said, just as there have been in federal court. ...The Republican attorney general said the bill would protect "every strange permutation" of religious expression, including a child who defends wearing a Satanic T-shirt to school by claiming to worship Satan.

Did I call that one about that Satan Tees or what? The Tribune chimes in with more doubters:

“Can we solve this problem by working with the school boards instead of passing legislation and opening up a can of worms?” asked Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City.
“This is a sledgehammer,” said McCoy, an attorney. “I don't know that we need a sledgehammer.”
The bill also drew opposition from Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Utah Higher Education officials.
“There will certainly be a number of state court challenges because of this law,” Shurtleff said.

I guess every work place has to have it's Chris Buttars.