With a few sledge-hammers and a few hours time, that same group could probably have taken down Landscape Arch. It’s not going to last much longer anyway, so why should we object?
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I’m really glad you brought this up in a polite way. I’ve followed the responses to this on Gawker, Reddit and on various “news” sites.
On Gawker they guy threw down the gauntet, With this
: PercyChuggs
Before we all go into an outrage, let’s just look at the facts here.
They pushed a rock over. That’s it.
Ok, have at it
The commenters did and Percy played the Devil’s Avocado. It gave people a chance to point out the various different view points and others to explain why it was important. I found it tedious, but at the same time wondered how many people really don’t get what this is a big deal for multiple reason. I also get the sense of, “I will win this conversation even if I"m proved wrong! My view is VALID!”
In the video they talk about how they are doing it “for the children” Which is often the excuse people give to cover what they really want to do for themselves.
Then there is the issue of punishment. It Ranges from rage induced suggestions to what is likely to happen.
For me I hope it will be used as a opportunity to educate people. Also to look into people viewpoints and expose their essential views to others. What does a few like that mean for our country our environment and our world?
Will this experience change people’s views or will they “double down?” " I can do what ever I think is right, especially if I say it’s “for the children” and people should defend me, not attack me."
Part of my point is that these guys were misguided, but not necessarily malicious. Going full thermonuclear on them is probably overkill. Education is probably a better approach than punishment, although some reasonable fines certainly would not be out of the question.
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Do the Boy Scouts have excommunications?
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Oh looky here, som 'un got their idiot badge. Aim high Boy Scout leaders, aim high, indeed.
In their defense, at least they were picking on their intellectual equivalent.
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They are prepared to do that if needed. So very prepared.
The typical method is to have them declared gay, strip them of their kerchief, and ban them from the jamboree.
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I though that was ‘knowing what you’re doing’?
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Here is the Boy Scouts of America’s Outdoor Code.
As an American, I will do my best to -
Be clean in my outdoor manners.
Be careful with fire.
Be considerate in the outdoors.
Be conservation minded.
New scouts are (or at least, were) required to learn it in order to earn the initial “Scout” rank. IIRC (it’s been 33 years), Webelos are required to learn it as well. Scout leaders aren’t required to learn it but they are supposed to teach it.
See also: BSA Outdoor Ethics
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I think straight, Christian, and white are about the only qualifications.
They seem to be the only qualifications these guys have, anyway.
If by “rock formation” you mean “round boulder on a pile of clay,” and if by “ancient” you mean “been there a couple hundred years.”
The Salt Lake Tribune article dates the rocks at 165 million years, and the toppled formation at around 20 million years.
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Charges pending. It’s a popular state park, not just random open land.
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Watching the video (because of course they recorded themselves doing something this dumb and put it on YouTube, which is how they probably got caught) – wow these people are idiots. Fat, stupid, idiots.
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I like how he gets between the two rocks to get more leverage. Whoo boy, that’s some scary shit right there.
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Yeah, if there was any justice in the world, that rock would have “accidentally” fallen on one of those idiots.
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My problem with this is less that they did it, and more that they are ignorant in that they shouldn’t have done it.
We all do stupid things sometimes, hopefully they will learn better.
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That would make an awesome Brawndo commercial!!!
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Gentlemen? I doubt anyone has ever referred to any of these three blithering idiots as gentlemen before.
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Misguided? Three grown men who feel the need to destroy nature and history are fucking morons.
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