“Funeral services will be held today in Kanab, Utah, for LaVoy Finicum, the rancher killed last month during the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.”
—-AP
Has anyone noticed that, out here in Josey Wales country, the natives are getting restless? And I don’t mean Chief Ten Bears and his merry band of pissed off Comanches. I’m referring to the ranchers and farmers who are fed up with the federal government, particularly the Bureau of Land Management and the EPA.
And guess who many of these ticked folks are? They’re Mormons. That’s right. Cliven Bundy and sons are Mormon, as was LaVoy Finicum, who will be laid to rest today. Live-and-let-live, law abiding Mormons who, for generations, quietly built thousands of small, lovely communities in a land belt stretching from Arizona through Nevada and Utah into Idaho. Places where they could live in peace, work hard, practice their religion without harassment (that’s why they moved to the West from the intolerant Northeast in the first place), and raise their families.
I’ve been to dozens of these Mormon communities, including Kebab. Eaten at their mom and pop restaurants (tasty, home style cooking) and stayed at their locally owned motels (always clean and comfortable). These communities are extremely safe and well maintained. For the most part the homes are modest, but they are framed with flowers, well kept lawns, and the ubiquitous garden in back. The pride of the residents who live there literally screams that pride to visitors. It is solid testimony to the word “community.”
The Mormons are among the people who are getting very angry and defiant. Very. And that’s not a good sign.
