2013 Utah Legislative Update: Utah House Says Tear Down the Zion Curtain

Added "fair and Balanced" bonus: The nitty-gritty core philosophy from the Sutherland Institute, one of Utah's more prominent and wacky Eagle Forum-style "think tanks"

I think it's weird and I'm not a drinker. But I grew up away, not here in Utah. I always thought that was a little strange.

Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart, Deseret News
Bill would remove 'Zion curtain' in Utah restaurants that serve alcohol
February 27, 2013

It’s inappropriate for a personal religious belief to be the tool that violates the rights of others to conduct business in a fair, responsible manner. The Zion Curtains are a hindrance to common-sense business practices. They insult restaurant employees by making their jobs more difficult, and they insult customers by making a simple request for a drink with dinner look like something forbidden and shameful.

Standard-Examiner Editorial
Our View: Zion curtains are weird
March 5, 2013

Removing the “Zion curtain” might make good sense for a variety of practical, even commercial, reasons. But whiny and immature reasons like “it’s unfair,” “it makes us look backwards and silly,” or “Mormons can’t tell us what to do” aren’t in the arsenals of truly thinking people. Liquor laws, regulations and proscriptions exist for one very good reason: Liquor hasn’t made one human being a better person. Ever.

Sutherland Institute
Confused Mormons whine about ‘Zion curtain’
September 2, 2011

As a followup to Thursday's semi-encouraging Weber County Forum writeup, both the Standard and the Tribune report this morning that "the Utah House has advanced" (by a lop-sided 63-11 vote) Ogden Republican Rep. Ryan Wilcox's HB 228, which would "repeal a mandate for restaurants to mix and pour alcoholic drinks behind a barrier," otherwise affectionately derisively known in Utah the dreaded "Zion Curtain":

• Utah House advances bill to remove 'Zion Curtain'
• Utah House says tear down the Zion Curtain

The Standard chimes in this morning in with its own strong editorial too:

• Our View: Zion curtains are weird

Forbidden Zion Curtain Rituals

Although the Standard editorial headline pretty much says it all, and the full editorial neatly sums up most the common-sense arguments rationally supporting what ought to be the bill's slam-dunk passage, Rep. Wilcox's battle against the forces of backwards idiocy in the Utah legislature ain't over yet, as former Utah Senate President and Utah County's State Senator John Valentine (R) (and a surprising variety of his Senate cohorts) wait in the wings, poised to deliver a kill shot to Wilcox's bill once it arrives in halls of the Utah State Senate, Holy Senator-for Life Valentine's oft-unchallenged domain.

Assuming you've read and absorbed the Standard's above editorial, it's our great pleasure to deliver, in the interest of balanced coverage, the other side of the story.  In that connection, here's the nitty-gritty core argument and philosophy from the Sutherland Institute, another of the more prominent and wacky Eagle Forum-style "think tanks," i.e,, those ivory-tower entities which evidently encourage and propel the "religio-fascist 'thinking'" of some Utah legislators, such as Valentine:

• Confused Mormons whine about ‘Zion curtain’

 That's it for now, folks.  So who wants to throw in their own 2¢?  Better yet, having digested all the above arguments, pro and con, who wants to go out on a limb a predict the outcome for Rep. Wilcox's HB 228?