FORMER UTAH GOV. LEAVITT HOLDS MORMON PRAYER MEETINGS WITH STAFF FOR GUIDANCE ON POLITICAL DECISIONS

Robert Gehrke writes today in The Salt Lake Tribune that records and minutes of former Utah governor Mike Leavitt's meetings with some of his staff discussing "holy and just" Mormon principles are public documents that should be released to the public. Leavitt had requested that the minutes not be released.

Writes Gehrke:

"The transcripts of a series of "Early Morning Seminary" meetings led by Mike Leavitt during his tenure as Utah governor should be available to the public, the Utah State Archives decided Monday.

"Leavitt had argued the meeting transcripts - in which his top staff and trusted advisers explored doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to extract "holy and just" principles that could be applied to government - documented private gatherings, since they were held before business hours and involved friends who were not state employees. . . "

"In a letter to The Tribune last week, Leavitt acknowledged "the role of faith in public policy is a legitimate story," but said the comments of other participants in the discussions should remain private because they expressed thoughts they "may deem to be personal, in some cases even sacred." "

That's the trouble with meetings of this kind. Whoever is the "king" dictates to subordinates what the moral and just principles are. Suppose you were assistant to then Gov. Leavitt and you were a non-believer, or worse yet, a secular humanist, you would be de facto compelled to bury your convictions and adopt the governor's religious attitudes. Either that or be demoted or fired.

No wonder our system of government as set forth in the U.S. Constitution calls for strict separation of church and state. But as we see in this Leavitt mess, there are some in authority who are always angling to get around it.