Letters - Wednesday

CHURCH AND STATE

Fundamentalists of all stripes want to control government

I am curious to know if the recent uproar by the world’s Muslim community over a few cartoons has stirred any fundamentalist Christians to take notice. The issue is not about whether biased cartoons or media are fair, but whether societies should be secular enough to allow for freedom of expression in all mediums.

I do not see much difference between overt Islamic attacks against secular government and Christianity’s covert manipulations to gain control of government.

Both groups have the same objective: to bring on a universal return to religious domination of governments everywhere. I would hope that each sect would take a step back and see what is happening.

Both groups want to steer civilization by referencing some belief in an afterlife. Secularism is specifically about life now. It addresses matters of life in the here and now versus time in an afterlife. Secular matters are a concern to everyone living. These include public education, public service, public infrastructure, public health, public safety, codes, standards, measurements. None of these must be sectarian (i.e., religious).

Those who disparage the term “secular” are attempting to foist their religious beliefs onto others. Because of this it is the duty of every American and every citizen of any nation to stand up for secular rights and secular governments everywhere.

Failing to do so will surely bring on a reversion to the “good old days” of women being chattel, of slavery, of holy wars and of class warfare. We have progressed to where we can see that liberty must be universal or it is a lie. Let’s keep that at the forefront of our minds as each of us independently voices our personal opinions as intelligent humans.

Jim Adams

Palmer Lake

Air Force guidelines unconstitutionally limit prayer

The Air Force Revised Interim Guidelines are a significant improvement over the ones proposed last year (“Air Force refines its policy on faith,” The Gazette, Feb. 10). However, they violate the Constitution by prohibiting the free exercise of religion.

Fortunately, the new guidelines recognize that individual airmen may express their religious views publicly. They require that all religions be respected and accommodated. They permit chaplains to adhere to their particular faith.

But the guidelines retain the unconstitutional prohibition against public sectarian prayer and prayer associated with routine official business.

The Constitution prohibits the government from discriminating against prayer on the basis that it is denominational. Should the government prohibit a Catholic from calling on the name of the Virgin Mary in a public prayer? Or a Muslim from calling on the name of Allah? Certainly not! The Constitution forbids the government telling a person how to pray or how not to pray. Likewise the government cannot legally prohibit people from praying in “routine” circumstances.

Perhaps the Air Force is motivated to avoid offending people in attendance. But the government cannot legally limit speech on the grounds that it may offend.

I call upon the Air Force and our elected representatives to resist prior restraint on religious expression and to champion vigorous religious freedom.

Duncan Bremer

Monument

SPRAWL WARS

Banning-Lewis development will affect all city residents

There’s a lot of buzz this week surrounding the expected phase one approval of Banning-Lewis Ranch, a 24,000 acre development on our eastern outskirts (“Banning will alter Springs, but how?” Metro, Feb. 13). This behemoth could eventually be home to 200,000 new residents.

While members of the growth industry pour champagne and count their money, I thought I’d offer a reality check of what Banning-Lewis will mean for the rest of us.

Utility bills will kick into a steep incline, while police and fire response will further deteriorate.

Commutes will become unbearable — as traffic congestion quadruples, and then quadruples again. The RTA tax will double to 2 percent, and eventually hit 3 percent.

Our air will be filthier, water quality lower. Agriculture in the lower Arkansas Valley will die. Water rationing will become permanent.

A trip to Breckenridge will be a fourhour drive as Ute Pass comes to resemble Interstate 70 west of Denver. Home values in northern El Paso County will plummet as water wells run dry.

Economic development officials will tell us we have to bribe companies to move to town to employ the newcomers. But our unemployment rate and per capita income will continue to simply mirror the national average. Our city budget will be stretched even more thinly (diseconomies of scale). We’ll have more Home Depots, Wal-Marts and Taco Bells to choose from. But you’ll need a reservation to climb Pikes Peak. Downtown will be louder and look more like any other city in America.

And our City Council will still have no clue of what to do about any of it. Don’t you just love the smell of asphalt in the morning?

Dave Gardner

Save the Springs

Colorado Springs

NAME CALLING

Gazette’s lack of judgment adds to religious friction

Every time The Gazette publishes letters by readers it also prints a short disclaimer asserting the right of the editors to review submissions for “length, taste, and clarity.” Where were these editors on Saturday when the Gazette published a letter that finished with the phrase “poor Muslim terrorist savages”?

I understand that a significant number of Gazette readers may share this bias, but I implore the editors to use better judgement.

This culture clash is not black and white. It is not a battle of good versus evil. By publishing such comments, The Gazette reinforces a dangerous paradigm that will impede any attempts for peace and mutual understanding between followers of Islam and the West.

Curtis Bell

Colorado Springs

ON A HAPPIER NOTE

Church recycles instruments to give children music

I read the news story “Old instruments can get new life” in Sunday’s Gazette. Many people have old musical instruments in their attics, basements, garages or closets and have no intention of ever playing them again. These instruments can get a new and useful life. The instruments can be donated to help local elementary school students learn to play.

Instruments can be brought to Radiant Church at 4020 Maizeland Road. The church will have the instruments cleaned and repaired, then will give them to a local elementary school.

By donating, you will be helping students who may not be able to afford an instrument discover the joy of playing a musical instrument. Instruments can be brought to the church during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, or during regularly scheduled weekend services. Please, give your old instrument a new life.

Charles “Buck” Jones

Colorado Springs

ADDICTION RELAPSE

Bush treats oil dependence with ANWR drilling

In President Bush’s recent State of the Union address, he admitted that the United States is suffering from an oil addiction. That statement would lead one to believe Bush is ready to hit the necessary alternative energy options full steam ahead, but less than one week later, he was already having a relapse.

On Feb. 6, the president released his 2007 federal budget request to Congress. Once again, it includes revenue from drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. So much for kicking the habit.

Sharlene White

Colorado Springs