Future morality is not found in the religious realm, keep speaking out against eminent domain: Your letters
Your letters to the editor for June 25, 2023:
If conservatism is the way of God, then liberalism is the way of Christ
Some time back, I was jawing with an acquaintance while waiting for my friend to return from a tryout ride on the guys motorcycle.
We were talking about a local doc who was charged with fraud over selling cures that have no merit. Of course, the subject of morality was breached in the conversation as it should have been.
His statement was that morality is best taught by the clergy when the parents are not up to the task. Well, I was brought up Catholic and lost any faith I was supposed to have in church morality. Though never abused, I could see at an early age that these folks were as flawed (perhaps worse) as anyone I had dealt with in the secular.
I still kept an unhealthy "fear of God" for a long long time. Later in life, I tried a protestant church but found the same dilemma. It was like being among a group of people who like me were blind to spirituality yet talked about rules and hierarchy. I found that I could gain much more by listening to my conscience than they could ever tell me. All I had to do was be objective not subjective. In A.A., I honed that conscience into something quite useful. Anyway, I have to say that the best chance for passing morality to the next generation is found in the secular and not in our religious realm.
These days, thanks to the Evangelicals or so called "moral majority" our religions have pretty much lost standing as "apolitical," they are flat out conservative. "Old hair-do" has cemented their allegiance as well as their vote so, OK, they can hear all the propaganda (that they know to be lies) and I will listen to my conscience or "better judgment" (more chance of truth). It seems the abortion issue, like military "shock and awe" usage, is a judgment call for whoever is in charge.
There is no morality in either yet some of it is acceptable depending on the reasons. If conservatism is the way of God then liberalism is the way of Christ. These views are actually separate from spirituality and from morality itself. We generally know when being lied to but are more comfortable with fearful and judgemental reasoning so our response usually is to stay with what has reassured us in the past. We will never reach a "clearer" morality while keeping our past mistakes as our guide.
-- Dave Freytag, Rapid City
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Ethanol investors share concerns about CO2 project
Our family has been a long-standing investor of both Glacial Lakes and the Redfield Energy ethanol plants. We have also invested in many other projects promoting agricultural advancements. We are writing about concerns we have with Summit Carbon Solutions. We are absolutely against the use of eminent domain to construct a carbon dioxide pipeline.
When it comes right down to it, as an investor in ethanol, “WE ARE THE GROUP THAT IS USING EMINENT DOMAIN!” As an investor, we are not OK with this power! We do not feel like we have the rights to anyone else’s property for any reason.
Unfortunately, the ethanol industry is the only thing that can stop this use and abuse, and have refused to step up to protect the rights of all landowners.
The Bible teaches us in the Ten Commandments that “thou shall not steal,” and we personally believe this is a form of stealing. We could not look ourselves in the mirror knowing we had violated our core beliefs. There are many friendships that have been potentially destroyed forever because of the decisions the ethanol industry has made. We were taught many years ago by our parents to respect everyone, to be a good neighbor, and to help those that need help. All of these principles are in jeopardy because of the decisions the ethanol industry has made. The answer we keep hearing is we can’t step in between landowners and Summit Carbon Solutions because of the potential to be sued. Our question to you is: is the money that important to you that you will ignore the rights of landowners?
Please do the right thing and step up and speak out against the use of eminent domain. Minnesota routed their carbon pipeline without the use of eminent domain. South Dakota can too!
You may think that we are against economic growth in South Dakota. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Our family has been involved in many investment opportunities that we felt helped the state of South Dakota and would bring jobs to the state.
We believe there is lost opportunity for our communities in letting someone else profit by dumping CO2 down a hole. There are numerous products (concrete, fuel, fertilizer, etc) that would create “long-term” jobs in our community as well as economic benefits. We would gladly invest in some of these ideas, but to allow someone else to make “billions” of dollars annually on the back of our fellow constituents is asinine. Once this is allowed, what’s next? Allowing some multi-million-dollar company to claim our pastures and fields because they can now claim the profits of carbon sequestration and we don’t have the money to fight them? South Dakota is supposed to be a conservative state and yet many of our elected officials have turned a blind eye to this. Maybe the elected officials like the treasure trove that these carbon sequestration companies are shoving at them.
We have refused to sign granting an easement for this project. According to the carbon companies, many have signed “voluntarily” granting an easement, but we know for a fact there would be far fewer signed easements if landowners hadn’t been threatened and bullied with “eminent domain” language. Who has the money to fight a large corporation? We would like a poll performed knowing how many people have signed an easement that are dead set against the project? Jim Seurer, Glacial Lakes’ CEO’s states that “all” their investors are in support. Let’s actually find out.
-- Jay Poindexter and Jennifer Poindexter-Runge, Ree Heights
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How to submit a letter to the editor:
Letters need to be roughly 300 to 500 words, and will need to include first and last name, address, city and title. Addresses won’t be publicized, of course, but it’s a way for us to make sure those who submit a letter are who they say they are.
Letters will run on Sundays in print and online as we receive them. There may be moments, however, when we don't have any as we work to solicit interest and actively rebuild this part of our coverage for readers.
You can submit those to News Director Shelly Conlon by emailing sconlon@argusleader.com or submit them through our online form here, which also is sent directly to the news director.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Morality's future not in the religious realm, keep speaking out against eminent domain: Your letters
