A degraded quality of life

Palantir leaving Colorado should be a serious wake-up call to Colorado. Will our elected law-makers listen?

Sadly, perceptions are the reality. Too many liberal Colorado Democrats are financially and economically illiterate. Their typical hate-Trump/tax-the-rich/anti-business rhetoric and voting bias will eventually lead to a degraded quality of life.

Colorado deserves better. Losing Palantir is a shame.

Al Blair

Centennial

A society enslaved to pleasure

Colorado’s race to the diabolical took a grotesque new turn last week with the introduction of Senate Bill SB26-079, decriminalizing prostitution in Colorado. If abortion until the point of birth and euthanizing our old, poor, and weak doesn’t turn your stomach, this ought to.

Colorado, once again, is “leading” the nation with innovative ways to shed any semblance of morality, with its only aim being the first to leverage every societal vice to destroy the family. Paradoxically, these inept legislators confuse freedom with enslavement. In the pursuit of the freedom to gamble online, smoke marijuana, and experiment with psychedelics, they have created a society enslaved to pleasure.

The downward spiral continues apace with SB79, which not only legalizes prostitution but permits the establishment of businesses that offer this service. That’s correct. Businesses will be permitted to advertise and promote the renting of human beings for disordered sexual proclivities. Colorado cities like ours would be banned from preventing all facets of this law.

Whose fault is it? Don’t blame the legislators. Blame us. By our own fault, we the electorate placed and kept these ghouls in the state legislature. We are to blame because we believed it uncouth to talk politics with friends, family, and co-workers. In an effort to remain civil, we are losing our civilization.

Our families and friends continue to be torn apart by addiction to gambling, drugs, and on-demand abortion and euthanasia. Unless we stop this train, prostitution and human trafficking will be stapled to the bottom of the list. What follows? Pederasty and bestiality?

It is up to us, then, to put an end to this long string of legislative atrocities. Vote sponsors and supporters of these bills out of office. Call out, embarrass, and hold responsible those who vote for and support them — they are materially participating in the destruction of the family. If we don’t act, there won’t be any semblance of polite society left.

Roy Recker

Colorado Springs

Eroding our communities

I am writing to express, in the strongest possible terms, my disgust and deep concern regarding any attempt to legalize prostitution in our state.

This proposal crosses a clear moral line. What may be framed as an effort to assist a small group of individuals is, in reality, an attack on families, community standards, and the basic decency that holds our society together. Legalizing prostitution does not elevate our communities — it erodes them.

Our neighborhoods are already struggling. We have witnessed increasing homelessness, urban camping, aggressive panhandling, and rising theft in everyday places like our local grocery stores. Many of us feel that our living standards are declining, not improving. Introducing legalized prostitution into this environment would only accelerate that decline and further damage the fabric of our communities.

Families should not have to explain to their children why the state has chosen to legitimize an industry that undermines human dignity and exploits vulnerable people. Our laws should protect families and uphold standards of decency — not weaken them.

I strongly urge lawmakers to remove this bill from further consideration. Please stand with the majority of citizens who believe in maintaining community standards, protecting families, and preserving the moral integrity of our state.

Gary D. Meggison

Lakewood

Responsibility of the state

Education is among the most fundamental responsibilities of a state—forming the habits of mind that sustain a functioning society. Colorado’s religious schools do this remarkably well. Yet the state is driving them out. This is wrong for three reasons.

First, it violates the Free Exercise Clause. In St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, Colorado’s universal preschool program included religious providers but imposed an equal opportunity mandate covering religious affiliation and gender identity. When Catholic preschools sought a religious accommodation, the Department refused, forcing them to choose between participation and their faith. The Tenth Circuit upheld the regulation, erroneously concluding Colorado had not acted on the explicit basis of religion. In BOCES v. Cordova, a State-authorized education entity and its tuition-free Christian contract school allege Colorado imposes a complete ban on public funding for religious education. The Department approved their funding, then immediately launched a pupil-count audit to claw it back.

Colorado either bars religious schools outright or invites them in and regulates them out of existence. This is a direct violation of Supreme Court precedent holding that states may not exclude organizations from public benefits solely because of their religious character.

Second, it weakens the school system. For example, The Archdiocese of Denver oversees 36 preschools serving 1,500 students annually. St. Bernadette’s reports that 85% of its families receive free or reduced-price meals. Excluding these providers harms Colorado’s most vulnerable students. Further, school choice consistently improves academic outcomes for participants and public schools alike.

Third, it subverts parental authority. Parents must carry primary responsibility for their children’s moral and intellectual formation. Indeed, parents know their children better than any bureaucrat ever will. When Colorado drives out religious schools, it displaces the family as the primary unit of formation and substitutes its own moral vision. Colorado must change course.

Jimmy Murphy

Notre Dame, IN