Jesus would reject resolution

I urge the Spokane City Council to reject any proposal showing support for same-sex marriage. Those of us who dare to oppose same-sex marriage are portrayed as unloving and bigoted homophobes, but my views are firmly rooted in God’s word, history and a love for those who have never known Christ’s forgiveness as I have come to know.

Jesus loves righteousness and hates iniquity. He is not a homophobe, but neither is he “tolerant” of sin. He is merciful, but he calls all men to repent and believe the Gospels. Being merciful and being tolerant are two very different things.

Jesus doesn’t hate sinners trapped in the sin of homosexuality any more than he hates bankers trapped in the sin of greed, or adulterers trapped in the sin of adultery. But in his love for righteousness he also hates iniquity. He hates the sins of abortion, divorce, child abuse and murder.

He hates the fact that 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases are contracted every year in the United States alone. He also hates it when certain City Council members presume to help redefine marriage into something he clearly cannot bless.

Bill Fowler

Spokane

Thankful for government care

In the United States, we have two excellent government health care systems. Though they vary in administrative details, neither is beholden to the whims of the insurance industry. They are: Medicare and Veterans Administration health care services. Both of these systems have affected my family’s lives in positive, even life-saving ways.

No profits go to the insurance industry unless one opts to purchase supplemental insurance. More of the health care dollar goes to patient care, less to administration and none to profits. There is a monthly premium (about $100) deducted from Social Security payments for Medicare benefits. If all the people who benefit from these two government programs had to rely on private health insurance, very few could afford it, even if by some miracle they did not have any pre-existing conditions.

My wish for our country is that each citizen will have access to affordable health care, regardless of financial situation or current state of health. The preamble to the U.S. Constitution states the intention of the document, listing priorities, among which is to “promote the general welfare.” Affordable health care is vital to everyone. Does it not qualify as “general welfare”?

Ann Warwick

Sandpoint

Leave initiatives alone

I am puzzled as to why the City Council should consider a change to Spokane’s ordinance on initiatives. A couple of years ago, the City Council created a citizen task force that considered the current initiative ordinance and proposed changes. That task force, after many hours of discussion, created a document representative of all the opinions of the citizens on the task force that essentially said don’t change the local initiative ordinance.

The two council members sponsoring the current change in the ordinance claim to be familiar with the task force’s work. However, despite this, they insist that they know better how initiatives should be handled than ordinary citizens. The arrogance of these two newest members of the City Council to think that they know better is unparalleled!

There are more important topics that need to be considered for the betterment of Spokane than a change in the initiative ordinance. City Council should follow the recommendations of the task force that they created and leave the initiative ordinance unchanged.

Carol Cunningham

Spokane

Obama’s arrogance is supreme

America should be proud of its balance of government. As we know, the U.S. Supreme Court, legislative branches – the House of Representatives and Senate – and the president make up this three-way system of the protective checks and balance system.

Now Mr. Arrogance, President Barack Obama, is giving one branch of our government a stern warning that they cannot strike down his health care law. Unless my eyesight is failing or I’ve been taken over by a brain fade, the Supreme Court’s duty is to interpret whether law is constitutional, or should be scuttled.

Honestly, in seven decades on this Earth, I have never heard a president of this country openly take vicious slaps at the Supreme Court.

Maybe he should remove his Burger King crown and ask these questions of himself: Why are we $13 trillion to $14 trillion in debt? Please tell us why you apologize for our great country and whisper election deals to our adversaries, the Russians?

We are in an economy right now the worst since the Great Depression of the late 1930s. Obama points a lot of fingers of blame, but never at himself. New meaning for OMG! Obama must go!

Jock Swanstrom

Spokane Valley

Battle racism, hatred

I am deeply grieved by the news that Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi mother of five living in California, was beaten to death with a tire iron.

Found on her body was a note: “Go back to your own country. You’re a terrorist.” This incident shows what the political rhetoric and rancor of the past 10 years has done to the American psyche. A spark of anger and hatred spurred by our popular culture and political leaders has turned into a fire within the fringe of our country; Trayvon Martin was gunned down for wearing a hoodie while black. This deep-seated resentment of other races, of people unlike us, lies in the hearts of many. This isn’t a problem isolated to one community, but ingrained within the very fabric of our society.

It would be easy to give up hope of a better tomorrow, a tomorrow without hatred and reckless violence, but we cannot. We are the answer. We must be active architects of a better country and a better world. We must challenge every instance of inequality, no matter how small it is. While overcoming our history’s dark side is not pleasant, it is something we must actively do every day.

Derrick Skaug

Colbert

Slice Turner’s column

I’ve been perusing The Spokesman-Review for a number of years now, and I have a question: Is Paul Turner related to someone in the Cowles family? Because I can’t think of another reason why a column as vacant and witless as The Slice even makes it into a legitimate newspaper.

I read the column from time to time, wondering if there will ever be something of substance in it, and there never is. To quote an old saying, “There’s no there there.” Each Slice question is as insipid as the next, and there is rarely anything in the column worth remembering 10 seconds after you’ve read it.

The recent “Fun with Phlegm” piece, for example, was memorable only because it was so appalling and dopey and not even decent middle-school writing. Really, you don’t have anything better to do with the space?

Joseph P. O’Shaughnessy

Spokane

Spruce up Spokane

My husband and I love Spokane. The older homes, the surrounding mountains, the trees, the amazing yards and the parks are a treat. The downtown is rich with history and has a lot of potential.

1. We should install artistic street and bridge signs (made in Spokane).

2. We need strings of lights, ivy and trees, accenting the historical buildings and churches, not huge banners at bars/restaurants (2 for 1 beer specials).

3. We have a spray paint problem. More paid crew and volunteers are needed, perhaps a reward system (catching/reporting). The covering rarely matches the original paint.

4. There are about three old buildings for lease, empty, ugly, not historical (1970s). Please tear down and make two or three downtown small parks or squares.

5. We need good, safe entry points to the Centennial Trail. Open it up; some parts are scary and smell like urine. We would love to walk along the falls, under Monroe Bridge and beyond.

Let’s put a measure together that lets our citizens make an informed decision about the future of our city and ask if they would support these ideas. It is good for our property values and an improved downtown would bring in more tourists.

Antonia and Timothy Sharkey

Spokane

I read with interest the reasons Stephen Schwalbe used in opposing the Spokane Tribe’s STEP project. Although it appears he had a distinguished career with the military and deserves praise, as do my grandsons, for serving our country, he certainly has not done his homework before commenting on STEP.

First of all, although the project is near Fairchild Air Force Base, it is not “adjacent” to the site as he would like readers to believe. Secondly, neither the tribe nor the environmental impact statement has stated the hotel tower will be 14 stories. The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the project for 145 feet. I have heard it will most likely be around eight stories.

Which leads me to wonder if he has visited the site, like I have. It is clear to me that he hasn’t even read the EIS, which is easily available. Please join with me in supporting not only the real facts, but also 5,000 much-needed jobs for our region.

Annie Ashley

Spokane

Restrictions hurt West Plains

So Spokane County wants to keep Fairchild Air Force Base by freezing development on the West Plains. When we voice our concerns that these zoning changes may affect our home values, we are told that we are mistaken.

So, let’s imagine I put my home on the market and find an interested buyer. Then I tell them that any additional construction will have to meet noise attenuation standards, and they will be subjected to dark sky ordinances, bird mitigation ordinances and electronic activity limitations. Would they still be interested?

But wait, there’s more. I wonder how interested they will be after hearing they may have problems getting a VA, FHA or HUD loan. I am sure they won’t have a problem when they discover no day-care centers, schools, police stations or fire stations nearby.

Will I get my house sold? Sure, as long as I drop my price.

The reality is that these zoning decisions will have a significant financial impact, and the county is ignoring that the Joint Land Use Study Committee recommended programs to offset individual homeowners’ loss of property value. Clearly, the commissioners are ignoring this aspect of the report, and trying to get something for nothing.

Patricia Apregan

Medical Lake