Letters on Brownback’s executive order, separate zoning appeals boards, Ablah highway

Governor put state on slippery slope

As a gay man, I have to agree with Gov. Sam Brownback that no member of the clergy nor any church should be forced to marry a same-gender couple, nor be punished for this refusal. However, his executive order is unnecessary because the clergy and churches have always had this right.

What I find most hypocritical is his audacity to issue this order in the light of his contention that former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius overstepped her authority when she issued an executive order to add anti-discrimination protection to all state workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. He stated that was up to the Legislature, not the Governor’s Office, so he rescinded the order. What did she do that was any different from what he has done?

The rest of his executive order opens the door to legislative discrimination. Do we really want a state in which the Ku Klux Klan can open a storefront and refuse service to people of a certain skin color based on the group’s “deeply held religious convictions,” and be protected in doing so? Would we protect the business owner who refused service based on the belief that an outward, flashy show of Christian symbols, such as wearing the cross in plain sight, is wrong? Can medical personnel refuse to provide services? Will teachers be able to refuse to teach LGBT students?

Kansas, this is a very, very slippery slope our governor has placed us on.

Show same respect

As someone who has been in a mixed-race marriage for 38 years and whose gay uncle shared homes with his partner in the late ’60s and ’70s, I could be expected to be against Gov. Sam Brownback’s executive order protecting the rights of religious institutions that are against gay marriage. But I’m not.

First, let’s stop equating gays’ rights with the black civil rights movement. Being black is obvious; being gay is not. That said, gays do face some challenges, but not being able to find a bakery that will make your wedding cake is not one of them. Nor is it difficult to find a church that is willing to ignore the Bible’s admonishment against homosexual behavior.

People will say that Brownback’s executive order was not needed, as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage still guarantees that religious organizations are exempt from recognizing gay marriage. But that can change just as quickly as the opinion that legalized gay marriage.

No state employees in their job capacity should be allowed to not serve a gay person, but a private business or church should not be forced to provide a service when providing it is tantamount to tacit approval of something they feel strongly against.

If gays want respect for themselves, they should grant the same respect for those who disagree with them.

Pitiful excuses

I started paying into Social Security in 1963. Before that I had paper routes. I only recently retired.

Not once in my entire career of working could I have said “I have a religious objection to that” as an excuse for not doing my job. Had I ever done that, I would have received, and expected, a swift kick in my rear toward the door.

When you work, you are paid to produce something, create something, design something. I have never heard of anyone saying, “Oh, it’s against my religion.”

If the task you are assigned to do offends your religion to the point you can’t do the job, find another one.

The reaction to the gay right to get married is leaving a foul taste in my mouth, and I am gagging on these pitiful excuses. When you work, you do what you’re paid to do, like it or not – or find the front door.

Separate boards

Why shouldn’t there be two separate zoning appeals boards for Sedgwick County and the city of Wichita (July 8 Now Consider This)? I live in the unincorporated part of the county and have no vote in Wichita elections, but my property should be subject to Wichita edicts?

The common misconception is that Wichita residents are subsidizing county residents, but that is not true. I pay a township tax (that city residents don’t) to maintain the roads, and I pay an additional tax for the fire district (that Wichita city residents don’t) for county fire services.

Why not let the county regulate the county and the city of Wichita regulate itself?

Focus on Ablah

I was very disappointed by the article about the dedication of the George Ablah Memorial Expressway (“Section of K-96 to be renamed – for sixth time,” July 2 Eagle).

Instead of honoring Ablah by focusing on his vision for Wichita and the important contributions he made to Wichita’s development, the article highlighted political squabbles over the highway’s name over the past 25 years. While this history is worth telling, it should not have been the lead focus of the article.

As a real estate and finance professor who has studied Wichita real estate markets for more than 15 years, I’m saddened that The Eagle missed this opportunity to appropriately honor the memory of a man who did so much to shape our city.

This story was originally published July 9, 2015 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Letters on Brownback’s executive order, separate zoning appeals boards, Ablah highway."