Study each side, and decide

Since television ushered in the brave new world of marketing, our public role has morphed from citizen into consumer. Citizens have to pay attention to the common good, recognize needs, prioritize and fund them, identify problems and solve them, in a messy and effortful democratic collaborative process.

Consumers are lulled into believing their power consists only in choosing from solutions made and offered by others, whose motives are distorted or concealed. This role makes us lazy and fosters antagonism rather than collaboration. Worse, we’ve been manipulated into accepting an appalling amount of dishonesty in the seductive messages constantly assailing us.

---

---

Have you ever heard anyone assert that the property development industry is trustworthy, honest and truthful? No, we automatically assume they are practicing the arts of salesmanship, over-promising to maximize profits, cynically expecting to avoid penalties for under-delivering. We’re horrified, but not surprised, when shoddy work costs us vast sums to remedy.

And here we are again!

---

---

R2 announced, with great fanfare, their new website for the 480 Donegan project: the property in West Glenwood whose annexation by the city is being challenged after a successful referendum put it on the ballot May 3.

Everyone should visit their website: 480donegan.com

Then, take in Glenwood Springs Citizens for Sensible Development’s website: gscsd.org, the grassroots opposition to the annexation and development proposed by R2. Apply those mental muscles of sales resistance to evaluate the claims of both sides.

The local citizens group certainly doesn’t oppose all development. We simply insist that local knowledge, experience and the investment of our lives should determine what’s best for our city, its neighborhoods and residents, business community, and precious natural environment.

We applaud the Vision Glenwood project, the current efforts underway to update the Comprehensive Plan, and the opportunity to reexamine and affirm community priorities and values. We urge everyone to take up the challenge of solving our serious problems together, instead of deluding ourselves that some developer will do it for us.

We might even rediscover the joy and satisfaction of participation in public life as makers and doers rather than merely as consumers.

Laurie Raymond

Glenwood Springs

Missed teaching moment

Regarding Andrea Chacos’ column, “Jesus in my classroom” (Feb. 14 Post Independent), it was a shame that she missed the opportunity to teach her son a worthwhile lesson. It was hypocritical to use G-d when referring to God as a high degree of respect in Jewish tradition. Then she uses the name of Jesus Christ as a curse.

Her son on his way to Hebrew school asked, “If there’s a God, what’s there to fight about? Why do people hate Jews?’ She could have used this opportunity to tell him that Jews are God’s chosen people. God loves the Jews very much. She could have told him of God’s covenant with Abraham and all his descendants. She could have read him Isaiah 43:4 “…because you are precious to me. You are honored and I love you.”

When asked why God lets bad things happen, tell him we can know God but we can’t understand him: “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts and my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

There are more than 300 prophesies of the Messiah in the old testament fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Read the book “More than a Carpenter” by Josh McDowell.

Instead, Mrs. Chacos launches into a silly self-righteous diatribe about Birkenstocks, Belgian beer, trappist monks, pizza, Mario Andretti and Whoopi Goldberg. She exposed her own prejudice referring to “Tennessee, or some other state riddled with white supremacists.”

Jesus said regarding teaching children: “but if you cause one of these little ones to fall into sin, it would be better to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18-6)

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).

I guess Whoopi and I agree on that.

Pat McCann

New Castle