HomeMy WebLinkAboutNon-Discrimination Ordinance Public Comment from T. McKenna 5-12-14 Date : April 28,2014
To: City of Bozeman Mayor and Commissioners
From: T. McKenna, Gardiner, MT
Subject: Non-discrimination Ordinance
Please accept my comments related to the April 28, 2014 City Commission meeting that I observed.
I still remain very skeptical about this ordinance because it was obvious to this observer that something more
than just good intention lingers between the lines of rhetoric for the proposal. I did detect a commendable
sincere desire for justice and willingness to accommodate, however,there was also a hidden white-hot
undercurrent of radical secularism and self-rationalization.which advocates our emancipation from our Christian
heritage, better known as religious intolerance. Granted, our Founding Fathers did not envision a theocracy, but
radical secularism is a severe intellectual violation of our country's founding principles. This is because this
philosophy is prone to the creation of false realities, lacks a system of consistent guiding norms, and is thus
unable to resist dictatorial impulses. Throughout history this has proved to be detrimental to religious liberty
and other traditional institutions, such as the family, which is the foundation of a stable civilization. One must
only study the many historical authors, from Edmund Burk through Alexander Solzhenitsyn to appreciate the
profound fear and mistrust this generates in people who have historical knowledge of the religious persecution
perpetuated by militant revolutionary movements. If you have not realized, there is currently a global crisis of
Christian persecution and genocide being perpetrated by such movements. It will be against this backdrop that
the content of the proposed NDO will be sternly judged by history.
My opposition to the City's proposal is not an obstinate one,and I am surely not against the "golden rule" or the
"need to do the right thing". So, I will state the above in another way. I am against the proposal because the City
proposes to do something good by facilitating something unwise. In an effort to stock up on golden rules would
we check the local hardware store,or in an effort to determine the definition of"right" would we just look in the
dictionary? Lastly,while on a white-water river trip would we want to burn our paddles for fire wood? So why
would we neglect the bulk of historical evidence and abandon our heritage, and conclude that the traditional
norms of the Christian Ideal are at fault for discrimination?The truth is that the Christian Ideal has not been
widely tried and found to be defective, it has been declared too difficult and Ieft to sink in a sea of confusion
and intellectual error.
We moderns seem to leave the truths of our forefathers behind and are unwilling to look back to fix things.
Instead we jump headlong into our white-water rafts without our paddles, and call our actions progressive. So to
those who want to break away from what they view as a sinking ideal,they must realize that throughout history
the Christian Ideal has always been viewed as a sinking ship,but it refuses to sink, even when the rest of
civilization has collapsed. It may even be said that the Christian Ideal is a sinking ship loaded with a dying
crew,because they are called to die to their imperfect selves and for others in order to be free.
The City must do better to protect all its citizens and their diverse traditions, it is your heritage; a heritage that
you cannot deny because it is engraved on your soul as an American. At least proceed as if God exists, even if
you do not fully agree. Do not abandon ship,there is plenty of room for all, and there is always a paddle on
board.