Sunday, September 02, 2007

Salt Lake City's New Mayor Will Need To Deal Wtih "Religious Divide"

Anticipating November's election, today's Salt Lake Tribune says that the next mayor of Salt Lake City will need to deal with the city's "religious divide". Salt Lake has become increasingly non-Mormon. The LDS Church will be seeking various permits as it enters a $1 billion development of City Creek Center on the city's downtown mall. Other issues, such as reform of the city's liquor laws, also pose tensions. David Richard Keller, associate professor of philosophy at Utah Valley State College says: "The mayor has to try to lay down a fundamental assumption: Is Salt Lake City going to reflect LDS values, or is it going to be a pluralistic American city that welcomes some things that may not be consistent with LDS morality? "