No friend to families

Brian Moench's "Spray at your own risk" (Opinion, May 5) troubled me. Pesticides harm humans and other animals, but our state government does little.

I used to believe Utah was a family-friendly state; no longer. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is family-friendly; the state of Utah isn't.

We won't pay for universal pre-school, not even for lower-income families, although research shows that makes a huge difference in a child's entire life. That should be no surprise, since of any state, Utah spends the least per student to educate its children.

We talk families out the wazoo, but we don't act vigorously to protect them from polluted air. No heathen, hedonistic, satanic California does that. So it should also be no surprise that we're not vigorously protecting families from pesticides.

Utahns believe we're family friendly, but when it comes down to money (where values hit the road), we choose lower taxes over our children, and being pro-business to the point of being anti-family.

The LDS Church won't (and shouldn't) get involved in political debates, but a little more focused teaching of applying correct principle and priorities would help.

Todd G. Williams

Salt Lake City