The American Indians knew very well the intent of European expansion upon their sacred lands. With bows drawn, their

fields were plowed under by a people in their pursuit of life, liberty and happiness — as if a constitutional directive had been given to them by the Creator to plant their lands with the seeds of American virtues. Led by the marriage of politics and religion, America has divorced herself from the truth and given allegiance to God and country through the concept of Manifest Destiny: when our cause is just, then conquer we must — even if it’s against one another. Thane M. Schwartz, Cripple Creek

Re: July 21 Hefter letter

In responding to my letter, with slight-of-hand worthy of the Artful Dodger, Joel Hefter nimbly avoids dealing with my point. He asks what examples of religious, social and political intolerance I refer to? The sort of dominion theology that Andrew Wommack and his followers espouse, which is EXACTLY the kind of worldview that has led to countless examples of “my way or the highway” religious, social and political discrimination. How many do you want? How far back should we go? The Crusades, the “winning” of the American west, the Ku Klux Klan, post 9/11 sentiment toward Muslims, the Proud Boys, Donald Trump, the list goes on and on. You want to quote the First amendment? You forgot the part which guarantees freedom of religion, closely associated with the concept of separation of church and state. Again, the point in my last letter. If Wommack and such were in charge, how passionately would they fight to guarantee that Muslims could worship in their own way, Buddhists in their own way, Native Americans in their own way, or atheists not worship at all? How about LGBTQ rights? The answer? They wouldn’t. As to accreditation, it’s a means of assuring the public that an institution meets accepted standards of quality and integrity. Why wouldn’t Wommack seek that for his, um, college? Oh, and so we’re clear, calling Wommack and his folks “would be rulers” isn’t name-calling, it’s quoting their words. Speaking of names, what was the one you conveniently threw out? Oh yeah, “haters”… Greg Sauer, Woodland Park Letters to the editor are published on a space-available basis, first-come, first-served. Email letters to michelle.karas@pikespeaknewspapers.com. The Courier reserves the right to edit to reject any submission and to edit submissions longer than 250 words. Letters should have the author’s full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.