Modern religion has never appealed to me.
It’s not that I don’t understand institutionalism, it’s that I don’t like it. And it’s not that I’m atheist, because I’m not.
I am just not religious in the traditional sense — rather, I am starkly unorthodox. My preaching is unconventional and my bible is intangible.
My religion is Nature.
Frank Lloyd Wright, a brilliant organic architect, once echoed this same sentiment. He said, “I believe in God, only I spell it ‘Nature.'” And with Nature as my faith, I believe the natural world to be sacred — an emblematic temple. It’s a temple that requires the same respect and reverence as any made of wood dowels and stone bricks. Any form of destruction upon that temple is equivalent to blasphemy.
Therefore, recreational rope swinging on sandstone arches in southern Utah is sacrilegious — to both bloke and biota — the same as it would be to swing off the golden Angel Moroni of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Salt Lake Temple.
The extreme sport of rope swinging began in Feb. 2012, just over a year ago, when a video titled “World’s Largest Rope Swing” was uploaded to YouTube by Devin Graham and his 12 friends. The footage was shot at Utah’s Corona Arch outside of Moab and features the 13 individuals jumping through the arch on a climbing rope. It has garnered almost 21 million views and has spawned a number of copycat acrobats to attempt the same stunt jumps from the 140-foot ledge to create a human pendulum.
The YouTube video offers no warnings or safety precautions. And the theme song “Up and Away” by Can’t Stop Won’t Stop offers fitting lyrics like “get stupid” and “fresh to death.” And the arch has, unfortunately, seen its share of death.
Last March, Kyle Lee Stocking, 22, attempted to conquer the arch. But his rope was too long and he crashed into the underlying rock. He died on impact. His death resulted in another 2 million views to the YouTube video, according to Outside Magazine.
A second death occurred just five weeks later in May. Adam Weber and his fiancée had successfully swung under the arch and were rappelling back down when Weber fell to his death.
With these two ill-fated incidents, I can’t help but believe the activity of rope swinging devalues human life — recreation and risk are prioritized instead. Man should instead be seen as subservient to the natural world, not to his own thrill-seeking whim.
And nature fares no better. What was once a beautiful arch is now bolted at the top and abused all around. It has become an amusement rather than a landmark. It is not respected nor revered, like it should be.
In similar sentiment, Francis Bacon, author of Novum Organum, wrote in 1620, “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.”
And this idea is not new. Many from Jack London to Aldo Leopold to E.B. White have expressed similar notions.
But the laws surrounding the arch do not replicate this inherent paradox. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) has banned all commercially guided rope swinging companies, whilst private groups are still permitted. Therefore the law prohibits experienced guides from the arches and allows inexperienced individuals — a truly oxymoronic situation.
John Andrews, general counsel and associate director of SITLA, said the main reason for this selective banning is that SITLA’s 700-acre land plot (on which Corona Arch lies) will be transferred to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in October.
Andrews also said another reason for the commercial ban is liability.
“Under a commercial operation, if someone is injured in an activity where money is paid there is more liability to the state,” he said.
SITLA also faces a lack of resources. As a small, land-owning agency, Andrews explained, “We couldn’t police it. We just don’t have the resources. BLM might be able to better control it.”
But, if all were truly in accordance with respecting nature, there would be no bolts in the arch to begin with, because the risk of rope swinging is not worth the recreation.
Nature is a temple, and all recreation therein should be spiritual.
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Editorial disclaimer: John Andrews is the father of Emily Andrews, editor in chief of The Daily Utah Chronicle.