Letters - Sunday
GAS PAINS?
Drilling opponent twists facts to serve his own agenda
Two letters in the May 23 Gazette, when printed together, provided an excellent demonstration of how activists use facts to create disinformation.
J. Greg Schnacke, the supporter of drilling for gas on the Roan Plateau, stated that, if approved, there would be first-year income to the state of $1 billion (“Drilling on Roan Plateau would benefit the state”). The opponent, David A. Lien, said that drilling supporters claim that not drilling would cost taxpayers $1 billion up front (“Recreation dollars top revenues from extraction”). Lien further stated that hunting, fishing, etc., created $1.4 billion annual income for the state. The implication — the disinformation — is that you can drill and make $1 billion, or not drill and make $1.4 billion. The fact is that you can drill and make $1 billion while still taking in the $1.4 billion from the other activities.
Lien then quoted a state representative in a way to imply that drilling on the Roan Plateau will do severe damage to the state’s $8 billion tourism and recreation income.
I commend The Gazette for printing the two letters on the same day. The opponent’s tactics would have been much less noticeable if the letters had been printed several days apart.
Charles Peterie
Security
Anti-drilling writer compares apples to oranges
David A. Lien stated that not drilling the Roan Plateau would cost taxpayers about $1 billion, but recreational activities brought in $1.4 billion in 2002. He compared the revenue across an entire state and industry to a single instance on a few square miles that in all probability will not affect recreational activities in Colorado any more than would a single bucket of water poured into or taken out of the Pueblo Reservoir affect its water level. His facts may be correct but they are not relevant to the situation.
Peter K. Rallis
Colorado Springs
CHURCH AND STATE
Christ didn’t use government to spread his word
I have been a “conservative” and a “Christian” for much of my life. In other words, I have been a conservative who just happened to follow the teachings of Christ. However, since moving to the Springs area I have been exposed to the truly political side of the American evangelical faith for the first time. And I don’t like what I see.
The Rev. Tom Pedigo seemed to equate working for new moral legislation with doing the work of Christ (“Conservative Christians use laws to improve society,” Letters, May 24). Quoting Neuhaus, he said, “the means of the mission is politics.” He then said the Rev. Jerry Falwell “believed in moral action.” Yet, as far as I have read in the scriptures, this was not the pattern of Christ himself.
Christ did not work for legislation to abolish prostitution — he reached out in love to the prostitutes. Christ did not call for litigious action against the tax collectors — he dined with them. Christ did not run to the electorate to bolster his personal power — he ran from a nearly imposed kingship.
In fact, the only group who drew Christ’s ire were the religious watchdogs of his day, the Pharisees. They were the Moral Majority of that era, a group defined by self-righteousness and collusion with the Romans.
Yes, politics may be the “means of the mission,” but it is not, nor will it ever be, the means of the Great Commission. May we never forget our purpose.
Eugene T. Luning II
Colorado Springs
Christians don’t have right to force views on others
The Rev. Tom Pedigo is way off when it comes to the role of government and Christians in our society. I am a conservative Southern Baptist, yet do not believe that I have a right or a responsibility to force my views or impose my own moral code on others in any way, and certainly not with the state as a tool. Our government was created to protect the natural rights of the people and our Constitution limits the government to this end.
To use the state to improve society is socialism, whether it comes from the left or from the right. It is our own responsibility to form our own set of values and live our lives as we see fit, as long as our actions do not infringe on the rights of another. Jesus told his followers to spread the gospel to the corners of the earth. I believe he meant to do this through sharing our faith and through acts of grace and love, not through Big-Brother tactics and government-imposed morality.
Logan Morland
Woodland Park
TIME FOR A CHANGE?
Is city ready to dump manager-style government?
With the pending resignation of the city manager, the City Council is again faced with the need to find another candidate to fill the position. The job is well-paid, but it comes with many strings attached. Most of these are the necessity of putting up with being micro-managed by the eight council members and the mayor.
We have seen a string of highly qualified city managers come and go. After some time in the post, many begin to look elsewhere for a comparable position. Why is this? Perhaps the fault is not entirely with the managers or with the City Council but is the result of our city’s form of government.
The council-manager form of government may be effective in small communities but Colorado Springs now needs to grow up. What might be needed is to set up a council-mayor form of government.
A separately elected mayor could be a true executive who could manage the city through departments and department heads who would be directly responsible to him. His salary should be in the $100,000-plus range to match his responsibilities and experience.
Below the mayor should be an elected City Council whose members would be elected by geographical districts. These council persons should be paid perhaps $50,000 per year. Our present system of paying council persons almost nothing for their time and effort is patently ridiculous.
What we are talking about is a city government model that has been proven very workable in many larger cities such as Denver or Chicago. This would settle fiscal responsibility upon a competent City Council and would place executive responsibility into the hands of a capable city mayor.
One might say that Denver or Chicago have many faults, but consider this: their governments work, they get things done. Perhaps that is what we need here.
Les Crane
Colorado Springs
BUSY SIGNAL
Allard stiffs constituents by not answering phone
On May 21, I attempted to contact Sen. Wayne Allard’s Washington, D.C., office regarding the pending immigration bill. I got a recorded message saying the mailbox was full.
Later, I attempted to call his staff in the Colorado Springs office, and again received a recorded message. I gave my name and phone number for a return acknowledgment, to no avail. The Colorado Springs recorded message said his staff members were in meetings, working on other matters and the usual line given to constituents in his district.
I am a senior citizen on fixed income and retired from the federal government. My taxes, health insurance, phone bills, auto insurance and day-to-day living expenses come out of my own pocket, after working all my life and paying into the system.
I expect my voice to be heard, and my opinion received by this elected representative, regarding my opposition to this giveaway bill, and the handouts of social services, food stamps, free hospital care and all the other freebies I am paying for.
Robert E. Frazee
Colorado Springs
