You Saved a Life Today
That was the slogan or statement on the back of the first bus, I saw, after returning to the City, after going up Rattlesnake Canyon to hike or at least get some exercise, leaving at around 7:15 A.M. to be exact. For those of you, who follow my blog and read it daily, you know that I wrote about Encounters of the Worse Kind, talking about being in the backwoods of Montana, or even the front woods, with bears, mountain lions, and other wild life, being very common visitors to these here hills, or at least be are bumping up against their natural habitat, enough to make spurious encounters, almost a normal occurrence these days, as more and more people flock to the Treasure State looking for more than gold, silver, copper, and coal, but also for fishing, hunting, experiencing the wild like and nature, in this absolutely gorgeous state of ours, called Montana, which, literally means mountains, and all that goes with them.
It is funny, that as I wrote my blog yesterday, in the nice, safe confines of the University of Montana, School of Law, now the Alexander Blewitt III, School of Law, I didn't worry a blink about running into a bear or a mountain lion, moose, or wolverine; however, as I hit the trail up Rattlesnake Canyon this morning, and heard that old familiar twig snap, without seeing anyone, like re-experiencing PSTD from seeing two grizzly bears, two summers ago, as I was riding up to Swiftcurrent Lodge, in Glacier National Park to work, that is until my clients in Utah, found me and yanked me back to hell from heaven, in that green, lush, watery wonderland of magic and beauty. I think for the first time, this season, it dawned on me, that, what I wrote yesterday, was in fact, true for me too, as I venture deep into the forests, the lake areas, and the meadows of the mountains. I got just a bit spooked this morning, until some man, who must have read my blog, came up from behind, blowing a whistle about ever ten minutes, to ward off any close encounters of any kind, good, bad or ugly. He even had his, sacrifice dog running the bushes, trees and streams, cutting a path for him, and his more loved dog, who was on a dog lease.
I was actually very glad this man was near me, bring up the rear, and then walking in front of me, going on ahead, when I turned around to find other people a bear might like for breakfast, now, joining me on the trail. You know what they say . . . all you have to be, is faster than the other person, when you encounter a bear! But that is just local folklore . . . lol! Tag, your it! I didn't think much more of the morning, once I hit the bus and headed back to town, until, the first of about 5 buses, pulled out, right in front of me, with the ad for Biolife, say, "You saved a life today." And I wondered if something I said, made someone, other than me, protect themselves, prepare a bit better, use something to make sounds to keep predators at bay, or perhaps, they cleared their camp of food last night, in some back woods area, that is labeled, BEAR COUNTRY! Like so many places I have hike and camped at since being in Montana! Which brings me to just one more thing, that just might save a life today, tomorrow, or the next day . . .
Dangerous Beauty . . . We Forget The Perils of the Mountains! The Lakes! The Streams! There Are No Instant Replays . . . You vs. You!
Nick, my little buddy from New Jersey, and also, recently dismissed from being a manager at Yellowstone, reminded me, after reading my blog, that there are other dangers in the National Parks, in addition to the wildlife, and that is getting to close to the edges of cliffs, or natural wonders, not abiding by the rules of the trails, doing risky behavior, like jumping off bridges into streams, that you don't really know how deep they are, or joking around with someone, pretending to push them over a bridge or a cliff, causing them to slip, fall, or even worse to die! So, I thought, that, to make this a totally safe summer, with tourism at an all time high, here in the state of Montana, that I would give you a few more horror stories, not to scare you, but to make you extremely aware of where you are, and the deadly risks that you may encounter, also. Oh, by the way, after I went hiking, I went swimming, and while I was walking back to the Pov, via, the back side of the Clark Fork River, on Hal's Walk, I ran into the Missoula County Search and Rescue, practicing safety and rescue drills on the river, with small motor boats, rafts, and last year, I saw them use, sea doos or water-crafts . . . so, they are also gearing up for any emergencies, that may occur on the river, as they also prepare for those accidents, or disappearances of people who get lost in the mountains. And just a note on fishing, every year, you hear of people just going out on the lake or rivers boating, and someone ends up dead, drown, capsized, or whatever they did to die . . . think, prepare, have emergency contact equipment, let someone know where you are, and when you will be expected back, just safety rules!
All over the lodges and restaurants up at Glacier National Park, there are bright orange signs, that who a silohete of a forest, in black, and on the orange sign, there are the words, DANGEROUS BEAUTY! This was a constant reminder, that while beautiful, the forests, the hills, mountains, waterfalls, lakes and streams can also be death traps, if you are not safe, smart, and back wood savvy! My mother used to always say . . . Experience is a great teacher, but it is a fool who learns by none other! Or in other words, through the experiences of these people, I am going to tell you about, learn from their experiences, don't have to experience everything first hand, to learn a lesson:
- Nick said, that several years ago, a girl, a new employee, and they come from all over the globe to work at the National Parks, but she was out exploring what is called, Little Grand Canyon in Yellowstone Park, and as she got close to look at the spectacular sight of the Canyon, she got too close to the edge and slipped, and she went all the way to the bottom of the gorge with tons of rushing water, also going down through the Canyon, and she died . . . the very first fucking day!
- Almost anyone in the state of Montana, is familiar with the newly weds, who went up to Glacier, and got in a fight, after only 9 days of marriage, and the bride of a week and a half, pushed the groom to his death . . . make sure, that you are cool with the person you go to some of these places with, because, it is very easy, for someone to plan your death, lose their temper, and push you over a cliff, or off a mountain. It is a common occurrence, down in Zion National Park, that people climbing the step and scary, Angel's Landing , have suspected more than one spouse, which is always the case in the death of the other spouse, of pushing the person off the monolith, causing the death of the alleged loved one! Don't trust anyone, is my motto!
- most of us are familiar with the movie, 157 Hours of the hiker, in the Utah desert wilderness, who fell between rocks and boulders, and after days of no food and water, he actually cut off his own arm to save his life, and crawl to safety! Hell, I almost died, just within the city limits of St. George, Utah, starting out one bright, kind of cool summer morning, to go take a walk, and ended up, taking the wrong trail, that landed me back in the same spot I had started on hours earlier, so I cut across the desert, ended up stuck in quicksand, in a muddy river, losing my flip flops . . . not the type of shoes you want to wear, when in the desert hiking, ended up going for the buildings I could see in the near distance, after being out in the sun for hours, ending up, climbing over huge ass black volcanic boulders, that were about 130 degrees in the 110 degree temperatures, and finally collapsing over the counter of a beauty parlor! Of all the places to end up, and calling my mother to come get me . . . I didn't take a cell phone, and there might not have been service out there in the middle of a city, but actually in the middle of nowhere!
- right after that happened to me, letting me know, just how vulnerable and stupid we can be, when even the most innocuous venture, ends up a potential death trap, I read an article in a local rag or some free magazine, that told of an older man, who, like me, ventured out in the desert, and one of the tires on his truck blew out, so he stopped to fix the flat, and his spare was also flat . . . he had no cell phone, nobody knew where he was, he had no water, and finally, I think someone did call search and rescue, but he was near dead, dehydrated and gone when they found him! I have had friends, totally in shape, big time hikers, in alpine terrain, literally get dehydrated on the side of a mountain, and have to be life-flighted to the hospital . . . that happened to a friend of mine in law school . . . totally fit guy! If you get low on water or liquids, you can dehydrate, and that is very scary and dangerous! Bring water, more than you think you will need! That should about do it to scare you silly or straight, to be prepared, always!
Let the Jesus Statue Stay on Big Mountain or Remove The Statue That Has Been There Since 1954?
Where do we start? To me, there are more than the constitutional issue dealing with just the first amendment, and there are also, property rights involved, vested property rights, as per the statue itself, property issues of grandfathering the Jesus statue into any current property issues, and the property rights of the private property owner, who has the land that the statue stands on . . . which makes me ask the question, why does the U.S. Forest Service, have to issue a permit or lease, to leave the statue up, when it is, as I understand it on private property? Many times, in lawsuits, and especially, in constitutional lawsuits, the attorney seeking the appeal, or the review of the case, by another court, must frame the issue, so as to make sense, because the court, can only deal with the issue at hand, that was formed, and frames the limits and perimeters of the case at hand.
The 5th and 14th amendments, say you can't deprive a person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, or equal protection! So, to me, if it is on the private property of a land owner, debate is over . . . the first amendment issues of Congress, not either establishing religion or infringing on the worship or non-worship of religion, is beside the point, as is freedom of speech for the property owner, who allowed the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal order of the Catholic Church, which seems to be part of the problem, that the Catholics, put the statue of Jesus up, but seemingly for secular reasons, that, maybe of keeping our boys and troops safe, which is a non-denominational kind of thing to do. And as for the group, Freedom from Religion whom I met with on several occasions in Kalispell, never made it to the Kalispell Brewing Company on Tuesday nights, but I did attend their dinner and celebration on the National Day of Reason a few months ago, and found it both enlightening and I am very much a human secularist or a secular humanist or both, and also spiritual and religious, and a constitutional law attorney, so an interesting combo, but I told the group at that time, I agreed with their win, stopping the local high school choirs from singing at a Mormon Church Christmas program, using teachers, buses, and pressure to come, by docking grades . . . that is an entanglement of church and state to me.
First, The General Rules, The Basics, The Foundation
The general rule for freedom of religion for an individual . . . follow me with this line of argument: a person can belief anything they want to believe, as long as it remains a belief; however, if that belief, translates into an action, and it violates one of the laws of the United States or the land, then they can't do that. So, here we have a private property owner, who has allowed the Knights of Columbus, to place this statue of Jesus, on private property, that I am guessing is a butt to the property of the Big Mountain Ski Resort, which is also, privately owned, I think, and it is not a government parcel of property, that is just leased to the ski resort, but actually owned by the ski resort, as is the property privately owned by the land, under which the statue stands and has stood for 60 years! I just can't again, figure out, what in the hell, the U.S. Forest Service has to do with any of this? Do the private property owners, lease from the Forest Service? If so, then they are not private property owners, and are subject to the laws, regulations and rules of the Forest Service, which might bring about a different result in the case . . . I am not totally familiar with this case, nor the facts, although, I am familiar with the parties.
Now the first three amendments of the U.S. Constitution, are addressed to Congress . . . remember in this system of checks and balances there are certain powers and duties, allotted to the Congress, in Article I, of the Constitution, telling Congress what they can and can't do, and then there are sections of that article, that state what is prohibited to the states to do, so a division of powers. While Congress has the right to make all laws regarding those necessary to run the government, it also, has the responsibility to take care of the property of the United States, which includes all the departments of the government, like the Department of Interior, that is over the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. However, if you look at the first part of the first amendment, it clearly states, Congress shall not . . . establish or prohibit the free exercise of religion, and in addition, these are the rights of the people, and they are free from religion or being forced to practice religion also . . . but, we also have to remember, that the U.S. Constitution, is a compromise, as it is between those who want and are free to practice religion, and those who do not want to practice, or are free not to practice religion, or believe in it at all.
Just to argue from logic and reason, which I think the Rationalists, even among those who want Freedom from Religion, the ones bringing the lawsuit to remove the statue, would admit, that they do not see Jesus as the Son of God, or as their savior; however, there are those people who believe just the opposite, and while this statue was erected by a religious organization, the purpose, to me, seems very secular in purpose, while not legislative, it is honoring the 110 Mountain Squad or Troop, who served this country, and maybe these people, some of the Knights of Columbus, also, see that they were protected in battle by Jesus, while serving the country! Why should, this statue of Jesus, be any more offensive to people who don't believe in him, than a Buddha or more offensive, than Our Lady of the Rockies that has several stories behind it, one of a man's love for his wife, sometimes people see it as the Virgin Mary, others, see it as a symbol of the lights always being left on in Butte, after the mines closed . . . so the statue, which honors women, stands for many things, as does the statue of Jesus, which could just be considered a work of art. I have not personally seen it, but Congress didn't put it there . . .
The Three Prong Test For Separation of Church and State
- the government must have a secular legislative purpose to issue to permit or lease . . . I would say, that doesn't even apply to this case, because we are dealing with a statue and the land it stands on, and that land, as I understand it is private; therefore the property owners can do what they will with their land, and in addition, there is no legislative purpose at all, so? Congress is a legislative body, as are some government agencies, but this issue is not dealing with rule making, or making regulations or with law making . . . it is a permit, granted to a private citizen, having nothing to do with the government!
- the Forest Service, must not have a primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion . . . Jesus is a universal symbol of Christianity, not just to Catholics, but to all Christians; therefore, advancing religion or inhibiting religion, is an interesting part of this test. The Court should use the three elements of statutory interpretation to figure out what to do with this part of the three prong test, that has been around for precedent setting since 1971, by way of interpretation and application of the law. First the Court considers the plain language or help to interpret the Constitution . . . issue: does a statue of Jesus, on a ski hill, either advance or inhibit religion? I think, it behooves the Court to look at the intent and history, behind the first amendment, to get a better idea of what the founding fathers were getting at . . . remember, the colonists, were fighting England, King George, and the establishment of the Church of England or the Anglican Church, making that a state religion, with many like Martin Luther, and others, bucking that Church or other churches, and people wanting to practice the religions they felt most comfortable with . . . all of the churches, believed in Jesus, who is to be distinguished, both from religions per se, and from churches, or any particular church, with all the founding fathers believing in Jesus, God, the atonement, afterlife, and such, while, setting their religion aside, for a secular mission, of compromise, letting each man, woman and child practice their individual beliefs, or practice nothing if that is what they believed in! Jesus represents a set of commandments, suggestions, beatitudes, ideas, philosophies, and teachings for a better life, a happier life, the good news of the gospel of Christ, has nothing whatsoever to do with a particular religion; therefore, I would say, that the statue, doesn't advance or inhibit religion!
- the act of granting a permit or lease, must not result in an excessive government entanglement with religion, as far as I can tell, given some of the information, the facts, the time frames, the vested property rights, even if leasing the land from the Forest Service, there is not an excessive entanglement with religion, it really has nothing to do with religion, just a statue that most religions believe in, and if the Freedom of Religion People don't want to believe in Jesus, or ski on a hill with a statue of Jesus on it, they don't need to . . . and even at the Big Mountain Resort, itself, you have to take a particular ski run, even to see the statue, have to basically go out of your way to get to where the statue is . . . and in this country of our, that is seeking a more perfect union, more domestic tranquility, common defense . . . those who are offended by the Jesus statue, that has been their for 60 years, should just either ski somewhere else, or take runs that don't interface with the statue . . . a compromise is really that easy!
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