Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/39139
6A Daily News – Saturday, August 13, 2011 Opinion Disappointed D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Editor: I was so disappointed in the Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 coverage of the RBUHS gradu- ation. You mentioned every speaker, even reported some of their words, except for Austin Shilts, USB President. He gave a delightful closing comment for his classmates and as his grandma I was appalled that he was not even mentioned, let alone quoted, in your article. I’m sure you will not be much affected by the loss of a 20-year customer who is a grandma of someone you frequently report- ed as well as several others of my children and grandchildren, but I am very upset and have mentioned it to others. There were a great many people, including teachers and classmates, as well as relatives, who attended the graduation and noticed the omission in your report. Mary Ann Hagan, Red Bluff PATH Editor: In regards to Bill Moule’s July 19 letter concerning PATH. If our community keeps following Chamber and TEDC spokesperson Bill Moule, we will surely continue our well- paved path to destruction. Moule rebuked columnist Richard Mazzuchi, when he referred to Councilman Flynn’s vote against PATH’s Breckin- ridge site, as Flynn “giving the finger to the community.” For- rest has been giving us the fin- ger for as many years as he as served. He just does it with a splendid smile on his face, so people will think he’s a good guy. When in reality, he is one of Moule’s political puppets and has been involved in every negative thing at City Hall since he was voted in. Talk about a crybaby. Recall the three supervisors. They want to fire my personal plan- ning director. Fire City Manag- er Susan Price, she wants developers to pay their fair share. Give developers one year off from fees, because I need to sell more glass. Don’t let the homeless shelter be built by any of my friends’ homes, even if they don’t live here. The Board of Supervisors, City Council, Chamber of Commerce and Tehama Eco- nomic Development Corpora- tion have been Moule’s own personal, publicly funded pup- pets for as long as he’s been involved. Nothing good ever comes out of Moule’s total control of these organizations. Moule gets private audience with council- men and supervisors, while the rest of us peons get three minutes to express ourselves, only to be ignored, because it didn’t fit Moule’s personal goals. When Moule is told no, he “goes back to his committees and works harder to get them to compro- mise” or applies enough politi- cal pressure to sway them. If not, remember what happened to the three supervisors and City Manager Susan Price, when they didn’t do it Moule’s way. Moule doesn’t have a dog in this fight, except a close friend owns one of the arguably best Victorians in Red Bluff, who spent over a million dollars on his home and lives in Alamo. Moule’s friend doesn’t live in Red Bluff, like the 260 resi- Your Turn dents supporting the location. Breckinridge is pretty low rent for investing a million dollars into one of the best Victorians. Maybe his friend should rent his Victorian to PATH for a dollar a year, like the Sale family has gra- ciously done. Why is it OK to put a homeless shel- ter at the two resi- dential and business locations Moule suggested, but not on Breckinridge? His argu- ments are ridiculous. Maybe the homeless shelter should be built across from Moule’s Glass. Talk about unsightly and badly planned location for a sales and industrial business. Moule could at least abate his weeds as to not denigrate the neighborhood worse than he already has. Everyone should give the truly out-of-line, mean-spirit- ed, self-serving, cry-baby Moule a direct path out of town or quit blindly following him in his quest of being Dictator of Tehama County, without ever having been elected. Pat Massie Johnston, Red Bluff Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. The religious marketplace Commentary Fifty years ago direct mailing was a big business. Postage and printing were relatively cheap, and people appreciated receiving mail. Since then, postage has increased, the Internet has replaced much bulk mailing, and people do not seem to have the time to read any mail. In the .mid-1960s we were invited by mail to enter the Read- ers’ Digest contest that proclaimed potentially large cash prizes for those lucky ones who returned the entry forms mailed out across the United States. Several months later we received a check in the mail from the magazine for ten cents. We had won! Then, of course, along came Ed McMahon and the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. Most of us were introduced to the sweepstakes by a letter delivered by the USPS with a pseudo note from Ed himself proclaiming he would like to ring our doorbell in front of live cameras to deliver us a large check while we feigned surprise. Just the other day I received a reminder of those days gone by when something from an organi- zation called St. Matthew’s Churches in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was delivered by mail. I immedi- ately skimmed my New Testa- ment, particularly the Book of Acts and then a couple of church history books and could find no reference to any denomination or church started by Matthew. The sender must have known I was a senior citizen because the enve- lope was covered with very large print; on the front of the envelope in bold, underlined capital letters was YOUR HOME FIRST. The envelope had a large drawing of an eagle next to where the postage would normally be. A confused senior citizen might think this let- ter was delivered here before any- where else; except the bulk non- profit franking was a clue that per- haps thousands also received this in a tie for first place. Another clue might have been that the envelope was addressed to “resident”. In the email game this would look suspiciously like phishing. The back of the envelope implored Jesus to bless “someone in this home [and] the one whose hands open this letter.” I never knew you could bulk mail prayers. I always thought they traveled through the celestial ether, never via the USPS. My wife and I flipped a coin to see whose hands would open this envelope. Inside the envelope were five pieces of inexpensive, thin, and poorly bleached white paper with inferior quality four color printing. One looked suspiciously like the enclosures that come from Pub- lishers’ Clearinghouse, with testi- monials of healing and financial prizes, all apparently correlated to the use of a prayer rug printed on another piece of cheap paper. One page showed a woman with a big smile; there were statements from unnamed individuals that miracles had happened to them; the implica- tion was that those miracles were a result of St. Matthew’s Churches. I particularly liked the one that said, “The Lord has healed my throated” from a person with the initials ARF; one can only imagine what his voice sounded like before heal- ing. There were was no picture of Ed McMahon enclosed. The letter said we should use the enclosed paper prayer rug; the image on the prayer rug is alleged- ly of Jesus with his eyes closed; it resembled a cross between the image purported to be on the shroud of Turin and a recently deceased Islamic terrorist. His eyes are closed, but it is claimed that if you stare at his eyes while you are in prayer, you will see them open and look right at you. I usually close my eyes while praying so I can concentrate. I also know that God is watch- ing me all the time. I am instructed to use the prayer rug and then mail the prayer rug back to the St. Matthew’s churches with a list of my prayer needs on a simple check list provided, so someone there can pray for me. Those making requests can remain anonymous, and presumably God will know which anonymous people are being prayed for. You can check off if you want to include a dona- tion, giving to God what is Cae- sar’s, so to speak. All this has to be done within 24 hours; there is an implied “or else”, but nothing spe- cific. There are no directions on whether to place the rug facing east or west, or what to do if the cheap paper rips under pressure. I looked at the envelope again, and where the return address would be was printed “this very old church.” The epistle inside also points out that the church is old, all of 60 years old. In the almost 2,000 years of Christianity 60 years doesn’t count for much. I am not sure I trust a church younger than I am. The good news is that there is a postage paid return enve- lope just about the right size for a donation. The sociologists Roger Finke and Rodney Stark penned an Joe Harrop insightful history of religion in the United States, The Churching of America, 1776-2005. They use the metaphor of the marketplace to describe how denomi- nations rise and fall. The book is a good read, but a little dry. The rise and fall of denominations in the United States is a fasci- nating study, however. The original estab- lished denominations gradually matured and became somewhat staid, and they gave way to the more ener- getic circuit riding Methodists and Bap- tists. While the Bap- tists still persist, Methodist membership (along with other “mainline” churches) has plummeted. We have seen the rise of Pentecostals, Mormons, and others, and overall church attendance is far higher now than it ever was in colonial times. Some of our founding fathers (excuse the lower case, but they were merely human) foresaw this rise and fall as a necessary condi- tion for strong religious denomina- tions in our country. They believed the free market place for religion was healthy, and their experience with monopolistic religions was disappointing. I guess my prayer rug is an example of the religious market- place at work. Whether it will be successful in growing converts or followers is anybody’s guess. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.