Letters to the editor, January 14, 2009Do you want to believe?The controversy over the existence or nonexistence of God has been around for a long time; probably since the Creation. If you do not wish to be held accountable to someone and do what you wish instead, it might be easier in the short view to fool yourself into thinking he does not exist or does not matter. Whether you believe what the Bible says or not, it might be important to know what it says about this. The nature of your eternal state might depend on your response to it. In Psalm 14, it says “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Romans 1:22 says people who neither glorify God nor acknowledge him have become fools. Then it goes on to describe a scenario that looks an awful lot like what we see in our culture and society today. Read it for yourself. Why do I believe in God? Put simply and briefly and to name just a few reasons, there is far more evidence in favor of his existence than for his nonexistence. I choose to believe that what I see in nature was put there by him, our Grand Designer. It is too vast, complicated and complex to attribute it to natural selection and chance. I choose to believe the Bible as a truthful, trustworthy book. It is the only place I know of where the predicament mankind is in is displayed and understood. It tells what for and why we are here, who is in charge and what the future holds. He created us with a desire to have fellowship with him. Without it, we have an emptiness in our hearts that only he can satisfy. I have long ago come to love him because he is totally trustworthy and true. If you really want to know him, he is not far away and is willing to reveal himself to you. Do you want to believe? Paul Hanson Sequim
Removal of the Elwha River dams is absolute stupidity! Here we are in an era of energy shortages, lack of domestic energy supplies and demands for clean renewable (green) energy sources. A time of public dismay regarding the lack of reliable flood controls over our waterways, and of astronomical government deficits and wasteful spending. And what are we going to do! Throw away at least $200 million to cause all of the above to get worse! Do we really want to destroy the upper dam lake’s ecosystems that have established themselves over the past 100 years and subject the Elwha Valley and adjacent lowlands to unfettered annual flooding? Do we really want to eliminate 12 megawatts of our own clean renewable energy? Must we accept the proposed Canadian power cable across the strait and buy fossil-fuel-generated electricity from Vancouver Island? Why is it these days that we do just the opposite of what is logical or of what we should? And in the long run is destructive of what we need and really want. What we should do is spend our tax dollars wisely and scientifically and for our future. Use the money to strengthen and refurbish the dams. Install state-of-art turbines and generators to double or triple our own clean energy output. Build the latest technology fish ladders/salmon bypasses at the same time to mitigate the original good intent of restoring some of the natural fish runs. Why should we have to submit to spending hundreds of millions of dollars for what is sure to be long on destruction and short on results, at best? Many Americans today seem to think in reverse of past generations. Today the thought processes dictate a multitude of reasons why we cannot achieve success. Americans used to be “can-do” thinkers! “If anyone can do it, we can!” Mark Marinaro Port Angeles
While I agree with the letter writer concerning the “lowlife sleazeball” that is taking gifts for our news carrier, I cannot get too excited. I left a small package in our paper chute, inside a plastic grocery bag. Sounds great, but come Wednesday, Dec. 24, when the Gazette was delivered, our carrier moved it to the side so he (she) could put the paper in — not even looking at what was blocking the paper, not even thinking it could be a gift. See ya next year! Ronald Ratzlaff Sequim |
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