Dear Editor,
I have a message for my believing friends and it’s something
that believers should really listen to and think about. As a
realist who doesn’t believe in God I am often challenged to open my
heart and let Jesus in. I am reluctant to do so without any
evidence that God exists.
I am told that when one becomes a believer that they have a
personal relationship with God and the God transforms you and you
become one with the Lord. So from my point of view I should be able
to see the difference in the behavior of those who believe as
compared to those who don’t believe. But I’m not seeing it.
Especially in the latest news coming out about the sexual abuse of
children in the Catholic Church.
The ‘fruit’ of the latest news of sexual abuse in Catholic Church
Dear Editor,
I have a message for my believing friends and it’s something that believers should really listen to and think about. As a realist who doesn’t believe in God I am often challenged to open my heart and let Jesus in. I am reluctant to do so without any evidence that God exists.
I am told that when one becomes a believer that they have a personal relationship with God and the God transforms you and you become one with the Lord. So from my point of view I should be able to see the difference in the behavior of those who believe as compared to those who don’t believe. But I’m not seeing it. Especially in the latest news coming out about the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church.
So let me be clear and direct about this so you Catholics listen up. If there is an omnipotent God and a person or a religious group has a personal relationship with God then you wouldn’t be raping children – period!
The Catholic Church would not be covering up for those priests who are raping children. Admittedly, this doesn’t prove that God doesn’t exist, but it does prove that the Catholic Church does not have a personal relationship with an omnipotent God, because if they did this sort of thing simply would not occur.
As a member of the reality based community I am dedicated to believing in anything that is real. If God is real then I will believe. But how am I to determine if God is actually and truly real and which of the thousands of religions it is true one? Turning to your Bible the standard is “You will know them by their fruits.” Clearly the Catholics have failed the “fruit test” because of the pervasive raping of children and the cover up by the Vatican.
As to the rest of religions and independent Christians, Muslims, or other believers, you aren’t going to convert Atheists unless you can show us that God actually has transformed your life in a way that is observable to the reality based world. Even if God can’t be observed directly, if you claim God has changed your life then those changes should be observable in your life and in your religious group as a whole. And if these changes aren’t observable, then we in the reality based community aren’t going to listen to what you have to say. If you are going to convert Atheists you are going to have to pass your “Fruit Test” to get our attention.
Marc Perkel, Gilroy
Parking lines around Luigi Aprea School would sure be a big help
Dear Editor,
Why are there no parking space markers on the school side of the streets surrounding Luigi Aprea Elementary School?
Many times, people thoughtlessly park in the middle of what could be two whole parking spaces, thereby making it impossible for cars to park either in front of or behind them. More cars could fit if the spaces were marked.
Michelle M. Warren, Gilroy
Of course farmers are saying ‘no protest’ – look at the water rates
Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill and is also in response to the Farm Bureau’s recommendation in the Dispatch that well owners not protest the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s proposed ground water chargers for 2010.
As manager of Eagle Ridge Golf Course and Country Club, I disagree with their recommendation. All well owners, including farmers, should file a protest with the Santa Clara Valley Water District before April 27.
Besides the Proposition 218 violation that now requires majority agreement with any water charge, Judge Murphy, in the recent Great Oaks decision, also ruled “The plaintiff was overcharged because of subsidies made for treated water and discounts given to agricultural users.”
SCVWD’s attempt to notify well owners of the right to protest is legally flawed by continuing the multiple rate system. The rate for farmers is $16.50 an acre foot, and, for everybody else, including citizens of Gilroy and Morgan Hill, the rate is $275. All of this will be headed back to court.
Gilroy and Morgan Hill have a fiduciary duty to all of us to protest and, if necessary, file suit to recover the millions of dollars unlawfully collected by the district.
A serious problem that confronts all of us is that SCVWD has not been a model of good and efficient government. The court also ruled that SCVWD improperly used ground water extraction funds in violation of law.
Ground water recharge is very important to us. But, all money collected from farmers, cities and other well owners must be used solely for that purpose. In the future, we cannot afford an expensive and inefficient bureaucracy to perform this task. The cities, farmers and other well owners need to unify and explore other political and legal alternatives to improve ground water generation and do it efficiently. We all need to protest this year in order to begin the dialogue as to how we will solve this problem.
Many years ago, there was a separate water district serving South County. Maybe that is the solution.
Rick Smith, Vice President and General Manager Eagle Ridge Golf Course
