Court to Rule on Pet Mummies

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear a case that could have massive First Amendment implications. As the New York Times is reporting, the tiny Utah-based Summum sect wants to place a monument inscribed with their "Seven Aphorisms" in a public park in Pleasant Grove City, 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. The park already has a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments.

The city has declined the donation. But a federal court has overruled the city and ordered it to accept the Summum monument. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether a public space which accepts one donation must accept others. From the article:

In cases involving speeches and leaflets, the courts have generally said that public parks are public forums where the government cannot discriminate among speakers on the basis of what they propose to say. The question of how donated objects should be treated is, however, an open one.

The religion, founded in 1975, meets in a pyramid, surrounded by mummified pets. The constitutional issues at play here are, in fact, monumental. Pleasant Grove City Mayor Michael Daniels defends the display of the Ten Commandments in the public park as a non-religious homage to the city's "heritage," rather than faith.

But the larger point here, of course, is that I WAS ON THIS STORY 10 YEARS AGO! That's right: I interviewed Corky Ra, Summum's founder, for The Daily Show. He took me through the process of mummifying a dog. (Super expensive if you add gold leaf!)

I must say that Corky and his cohorts were a delight. He let me stroke his adorable mummified cat. And he introduced me to Sue Parsons and her gorgeous mummified poodle. (Sue Parsons is now Su Menu, a leader in the church. Congrats, Sue/Su!)

Unfortunately Corky's Mormon neighbors aren't very neighborly. In fact they're downright nasty to the perfectly nice Summum members. Readers of this blog know that I'm an ardent defender of Mormon singing and dancing. Their achievements on American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are nothing short of astonishing. (I incurred the wrath of evangelicals when I wrote that Mormons are simply better singers than other Christians.) And Salt Lake City is a lovely city with amazing pie.

But between the LDS bankrolling of Prop 8 and now their persecution of the Summum, I'm getting seriously steamed. What the dealio, Mormons?!

Anyway, watch the video, then weigh in...

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