Get news on the right side

Let us take Robert Lewis Dear Jr. at his word. He is guilty and doesn’t want a trial or lawyers. Fine, lock him up for life and get him out of the news. It can’t be doing his victims any good to keep rehashing this incident, and it darn sure doesn’t do the justice system any good. We should have done the same thing for James Holmes. This needs to be carried out further when reporting on IS killings; call them what they are, an abomination before God, killing innocent civilians. Letting the world know that another senseless killing has taken place that ensures those involved a ticket to Muslim damnation.

Don’t give them press that might impress those simple minded who might want to join. A fatwa posted outside every mosque reminding true Muslims that even joining or supporting any group responsible for senseless killing is a guaranteed trip to perdition not martyrdom. Get that in the news as well as reporting the numbers of their own that are being killed in violation of the rule of God’s law. Get the news on the side of right and help turn this world around.

Michael S. Welsh

Colorado Springs

Repetitive Christmas music

I can certainly vibe with the homeless folks who grew tired of the repetitive Christmas music downtown. Maybe some religious music could be included to make it more palatable.

There are positive aspects to the music issue, however. A number of years ago, I owned an apartment building near a 7-Eleven store in downtown Denver. The store’s parking lot was frequented by gang members, until the manager of the store began piping out classical music. Voila, no more gang members!

Each to his own!

David Lippincott

Colorado Springs

Litigation and retrofitting costly

RE: “Check ADA compliance in advance.” (Greeley Tribune op-ed; published Dec.12 in The Gazette)

Twenty-five years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, we are still constructing buildings that are not accessible. Congress chose to hold the building owners/developers and the architects responsible for creating access inside and outside of buildings. It is not surprising that the state, and local building officials, often don’t inspect for compliance; usually they throw their hands in the air, stating, “It’s not our job!” This results in a big liability as lawsuits are filed and owners are made to retrofit their buildings at a much greater cost than if they had built in the access to begin with. Local building officials inspect local buildings for compliance with electrical, heating, safety and a host of other codes, including, sometimes and reluctantly, the ADA. Rather than create some bureaucratic office at the state, as suggested by the Greeley Tribune in response to several schools just now failing access inspections years after construction, let’s get our Pikes Peak area codes up to speed and enforced, both inside and outside new public buildings now.

In the Pikes Peak region, our Regional Building officials will inspect for access inside the building but not beyond a 5-foot perimeter outside. Thus, we have many internally accessible buildings just waiting for a lawsuit to be filed and owners will be forced to remediate because Regional Building refuses to review the exterior accessible path of travel. I guess it isn’t important enough for people with disabilities and seniors with functional limitations to be able to actually get in.

To the builders of all the new venues in the planning stages – new apartment buildings, the Olympic Museum and South Nevada’s Urban Renewal project – we at the The Independence Center say get a good architect who knows the ADA and heed their advice on access or fix Regional Building so it does a complete job reviewing access compliance. This protects you, the building owners, and people with disabilities who are trying to get in. Litigation and retrofitting are so expensive. Let’s do it right the first time.

Patricia Yeager

Colorado Springs

Every day is Christmas now

I want to express my gratitude to our Rocky Mountain Cancer Center for the care I received from their doctors, nurses, technicians and schedulers. Truly, angels are at work there. When I felt my worst, they were encouraging and attentive. I’m feeling great now and enjoying another Christmas with my family because of RMCC. Thank you. Every day is Christmas!

Ben Fromuth

Colorado Springs

Atheism an absence of belief

Re: “Keep the playing field level” by Brian Cooper, Dec. 22.

The full definition of religion according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary is “(1) the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance.” You selectively chose the fourth definition, “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith”, and according to that, the KKK and Black Lives Matter are religions because they have a cause or principle.

When you stated “The self-proclaimed atheist boldly states, “I know there is no God.” you lump all atheists together. I don’t know any atheist that “boldly states, “I know there is no God.” The ones I know simply state that there is no scientific evidence of a god or gods. And, sorry, but the beautiful mountains, the moon, our marvelously intricate eyes and the Bible are not evidence of a god or an intelligent designer. I agree with Bill Maher when he said atheism “is not a world view, a philosophy, or a religion. It is simply the absence of belief.” Atheists are pretty good at tolerating all religions, including Christianity. However, there are extremists in both camps.

One additional thought: An atheist can no more prove your God doesn’t exist anymore than you can prove Zeus, Thor and Shiva don’t exist.

Larry Green

Colorado Springs