[Vision2020] Stop Insulting the Majority

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 17, 2005) Moscow-Pullman Daily News with a special
thanks to Joe Campbell -

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Stop insulting the majority

There are several errors in Ed Iverson's recent editorial ("Crossing the
line between liberty and tolerance" Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Aug. 13 & 14)
worth noting. 

First, Iverson is not the only one who thinks he has a hand on the absolute
truth. I think it is an absolute truth that: slavery is always wrong;
persecution even of gays and lesbians is always wrong; and it is always
wrong to appeal to God in an effort to try to condone one's immoral actions.


The problem is not that you, Iverson, adhere to an absolute truth and I do
not. Rather it is that your supposed absolute truths differ from mine. Not
all who disagree with the folks at Christ Church are relativists. 

Second, if those in Christ Church are at liberty to evangelize, given that
the Constitution acknowledges religious liberty (Iverson's claim, not mine),
then it is also true that others are allowed to criticize Christ Church. 

Third, there have been no frivolous zoning complaints, tax-code grievances
and other public harassments against Christ Church, as far as I know. 

Christ Church is in violation of zoning laws and tax codes. That is a fact.
What Christ Church wants is not freedom from persecution but the right to be
above and beyond the law. This is not guaranteed by either the Constitution
or the Bill of Rights. 

Maybe if the folks at Christ Church stop blaming others and took
responsibility for their own indiscretions, we might be able to get beyond
this mess. 

Maybe if they stopped insulting the majority of people in town and started
to acknowledge our concerns, the rest of us might be able to believe that
their indiscretions were mistakes and not merely an effort to gain power at
any cost. 

Joe Campbell, Moscow

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Thanks, Joe.

Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"I think one of the best ways to support education is to make successful
private schools like Logos prosper through tax exemption."

- Donovan Arnold (July 11, 2005)