Perspective

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016

n CONTACT: SUZANNE CASSIDY, 291-8694, SCASSIDY@LNPNEWS.COM

ALSO INSIDE: GENERATION NEXT

A QUESTION OF OUR AGE

Religious freedom vs.
LGBT acceptance

RABBI CARL CHOPER

SPECIAL TO LNP

PETER W. TEAGUE
SPECIAL TO LNP

Students should
be allowed to be
their true selves

Biblical beliefs,
college mission
at stake

I find it sad that Lancaster

Bible College would feel the need
to apply for an exemption from
the federal nondiscrimination
law that would protect gay and
transgender students. I imagine
the colleges leaders find it sad
and confusing, too, maybe for
different reasons.
I am looking at this situation
as a rabbi and a former professor,
not a legal scholar. Lancaster Bible College is a religious school.
Its stated mission is to educate
Christian students to think and
live a biblical worldview and to
proclaim Christ by serving Him
in the Church and society. The
school offers studies on the Bible, theology, education, counseling, music, social work, pastoral
care and administration.
Those who lead the school
have an absolute right, in law and
as far as I am concerned in principle, to be the type of Christians
they feel called to be. My confusion and sadness is around what
type of religious witness they are
trying to promote, and specifically what type of Christian witness
they are trying to follow.
I am not a Christian. Here in
Pennsylvania, I serve as the president of the Interfaith Alliance
and as the executive director of
the Religion and Society Center.
Through that work, I have met
many leaders from Christian traditions and other faiths. While
we have many differences, we
find our commonality and our
resolve in practicing the unconditional love God has exemplified
for us.

Fullness of grace. Fullness of

truth. Encouraging to some.
Discouraging to others.
The reaction to last Sundays
front-page article regarding
Lancaster Bible Colleges move
to update our existing Title IX
exemption has been interesting.
We are reminded that we live in
a country where having differing views is both acceptable and
constitutionally protected a
gift we enjoy in the United States
of America.
On June 1, 2015, the college
applied for the update in accordance with our religious convictions. Now we await word on our
request from the U.S. Department of Education. Among our
ranks are at least 70 institutions
of higher education that have
sought exemption since 2009.
Exemption has been granted to
33, and counting.
We took this step to assure
we could continue to fulfill our
stated mission of educating
Christian students to think and
live with a biblical worldview
and to proclaim Christ by serving
him in the church and society.
Since our founding in 1933, we
have remained true to our clearly
stated mission.
In 1992, the U.S. Department of
Education granted us a Title IX
exemption, recognizing our religious freedom to make certain
gender distinctions in matters
of moral behavior, marriage,
residential living environments
and standards consistent with
our identity as a Bible college.
We are simply asking for this
exemption to be extended under
the same rationale.

Pictured here is Good Shepherd Chapel at Lancaster Bible College.

CHOPER, page E4

n Rabbi Carl Choper is president of

the Interfaith Alliance of Pennsylvania,

dedicated to strengthening the values
of justice and compassion in our multifaith society.

I have no problem
with a Christian
school being for
Christians. ... My
concern is for gay and
transgender students
who also may be
Christian.

LT. GOV. MIKE STACK

AND SEN. RYAN AUMENT
SPECIAL TO LNP

Biennial budgeting is bipartisan

solution to annual Pa. impasses
To the frustration of many
Pennsylvanians, the 2015-16
state budget took almost nine
months to complete.
While this was the longest budget impasse in our
commonwealths history, it
certainly was not the first time
Pennsylvania struggled to
enact a timely annual spending plan.
In fact, over the past 2 1/2
decades, four other state
government budget impasses
have lasted longer than 10
days: in 2009, 2007, 2003
and 1991. And over the last 10
years, Pennsylvania has seen
only three budgets enacted on
time.
What do all these late budgets have in common?
For one thing, they all occurred in years when state
government was split between
a governor of one political

party and at least one chamber of the General Assembly

controlled by the other party.
For another, they all occurred
in years that did not involve
elections for either the Legislature or governor.
Clearly, there is a pattern
that, if left unaddressed, will
likely continue to be repeated.
Budget impasses have a real
and lasting impact on people,
with those who provide or
receive social services being
harmed the most. School districts are also put in a terrible
position, with some having
to borrow money while their
funding remains bottled up in
the state Treasury.
In our opinion, the biggest
loss that occurs with a budget
impasse is loss of the trust
citizens have in their state
government and in the ability
of their leaders in Harrisburg

DAN MARSCHKA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

In seeking further
Title IX exemption,
Lancaster Bible College
is committed to do what
must be done legally to
protect our autonomy
in order to fulfill our
Christ-centered mission.

to amicably resolve differences.

As state leaders, it is our responsibility to offer solutions
to problems. While there may
be very real disagreements
about the size, scope and cost
of state government services
and programs, we should all
agree that the current budget
process is broken.
Simply put, we can and
should do better.
Several ideas have been
proposed to prevent budget
gridlock, including stopping
payments to lawmakers until
a budget passes, setting a firm
schedule to begin negotiations
earlier and enacting a default
budget in the event of a delay.
Some of these ideas may
work; others may not be very
effective.
One thing that we know for
sure is that the current annual
budget process is time-consuming, repetitive and inefficient. Repeating this fight
every year only contributes to
the complexity of the budget
process and encourages delay.
This is why we recently
joined with other Republican
and Democratic colleagues

to promote our idea to help

fix this problem: biennial
budgets that coincide with the
two-year legislative sessions.
The use of a two-year budget
process is hardly a radical or
even new idea. Twenty-six
states already have such a
cycle. Until 1959, Pennsylvania had one as well.
The reasons that this approach to budgeting is used
are simple and make sense.
A two-year budget provides
greater stability, consistency
and predictability to state
agencies and departments,
local governments, school
districts, nonprofits and other
entities that rely on public
funds. All can better plan their
spending with the removal of
annual budget uncertainty
and guesswork.
This would result in more
comprehensive planning with
a longer-term perspective.
Along with reducing both
time and resource costs, it also
allows for in-depth review and
evaluation of programs, thus
encouraging outcome-focused
budgeting.
Another benefit would be

TEAGUE, page E4

n Peter W. Teague has been president

of Lancaster Bible College since 1999.
Email: pteague@lbc.edu.

STACK/AUMENT, page E4

n Mike Stack, a Democrat, is Pennsylvanias lieutenant governor. Ryan

Aument, a Lancaster County Republican, represents the 36th District in the

Pennsylvania Senate.

A two-year
budget provides
greater stability,
consistency and
predictability
to state
agencies and
departments,
local
governments,
school districts,
nonprofits and
other entities
that rely on
public funds.

E2

LNP | LANCASTER, PA

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016

Opinion

LNP | Founded 1794

FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE INTELLIGENCER JOURNAL/LANCASTER NEW ERA/SUNDAY NEWS

Beverly R. Steinman

Barbara Hough Roda

Robert M. Krasne

Suzanne Cassidy

Chairman Emeritus

Chairman of the Board

Executive Editor

Editor of the Opinion Page

Publishers: 1866-1917 Andrew Steinman | 1921-1962 J. Hale Steinman |

1921-1962 John F. Steinman (Co-Publisher) | 1963-1980 John F. Steinman |
2013- Robert M. Krasne

FOR THE LATEST UPDATES, GO TO LANCASTERONLINE.COM

In our words

Proposed pipeline: 1
Preserved farmland: 0
THE ISSUE
LNP reported May 7 that federal authorities have given their preliminary stamp
of approval for the Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline. The Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission concluded in its draft environmental review that the
pipeline would pose a less-than-significant impact here. The 198-mile, $3 billion
pipeline would pass through some 36.5 miles of Lancaster County land, including
31 preserved farms. The review looked at such local issues as effects on farmland,
property values, Native American artifacts, pipeline safety and earthquakes. The
pipeline will be built by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., which is owned by
Oklahoma-based Williams Cos. A final ruling by FERC is expected in January.
FERCs preliminary decision on the Atlantic
Sunrise pipeline is infuriating and alarming,
though not surprising.
Sometimes, its simply the fact that you cant
fight City Hall or a federal regulatory commission that almost always sides with the industry its supposed to be regulating.
We laid out our opposition to the Atlantic
Sunrise project in an editorial last year:
Lancaster County has some of the richest,
non-irrigated soil in the nation. It should not
be sacrificed for the sake of a private companys
convenience and profits.
This county has a stellar record of preserving farmland. And tragically, preservation may
have rendered that farmland more vulnerable
to pipeline companies, which prefer open spaces
to developed ones. The tax dollars and charitable
donations put into preserving farmland should
not end up subsidizing a private companys construction project by making it easier and cheaper.
Natural gas is important in Pennsylvania,
but existing rights of way should be utilized
whenever possible when pipelines are built.
This option was dismissed by FERC in its environmental review.

Failure to lead
It did not help that the Lancaster County Commissioners were largely AWOL as a unit when it
came to providing leadership on the issue.
Republican Commissioner Dennis Stuckey
personally supported the pipeline but didnt
publicly take a stand. Former Republican Commissioner Scott Martin, now running for state
Senate, was an enthusiastic pipeline supporter. Democratic Commissioner Craig Lehman
strongly opposed it. (Josh Parsons only took
his seat on the commission in January.)
They wrote letters to FERC, but that was
about the extent of their involvement.
Most of our other elected officials also declined to get involved. And U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts,
who was in the best position to help he sits
on the committee that oversees FERC deferred to that regulatory commission.
Pitts dismissed the pipelines potential impact on the no-till farms in its path, and insisted he was most useful as a conduit between his
constituents and FERC.
We can see how that worked out for Lancaster County.

Federal issue
When pressed on the pipeline issue, most of
our elected officials told us that there was nothing they could do, because this was a federal issue.
Its true it is a federal issue. But the Lancaster County citizens trying to fight the twin
Goliaths of Williams and FERC could have
benefited from the involvement of their elect-

ed officials.
FERC may have taken notice if, say, a congressman warned of the negative impact of the
pipeline on preserved farmland, or if elected
officials had gone beyond meekly suggesting
that the pipeline avoid nature areas.
In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomos administration recently denied essential water
permits for the Constitution natural gas pipeline, which also is being developed by Williams.
According to Politico.com, that states energy
plan explicitly states that pipeline construction
causes direct disturbances to agricultural land,
wetlands, streams and other water bodies, protected State lands, and other terrestrial habitats.
Here, elected officials just throw up their
hands and basically say, What do you want us
to do about it?
Elected officials have louder microphones
and bigger stages than ordinary citizens. They
use their bully pulpits on issues over which
they dont have direct sway all the time.
The vacuum created by the lack of leadership
on this issue left citizens vulnerable to the divideand-conquer tactics of a powerful corporation. It
was every homeowner, every farmer, for himself.
And its left Lancaster County vulnerable to
further such onslaughts.

Target on county
Last year, Karen Martynick, executive director of Lancaster Farmland Trust, warned that
there was a big target right across preserved
farmland in Lancaster County.
That target may have gotten bigger now that
FERC has preliminarily approved the Atlantic
Sunrise pipeline.
Our community has spent over $250 million
preserving farmland and open space. The pipeline will cut through the heart of those protected farms and woodlands, Martynick said last
week. While Williams may have presented a
mitigation plan that is acceptable to FERC,
there is absolutely no mention of mitigating
the loss of conservation value on the hundreds
of acres of protected land.
She said the Trusts first look at FERCs environmental impact study shows at least 15
properties preserved by either the Trust or the
Ag Preserve Board are not listed among the
conservation easements that would be crossed
by the pipeline.
Clearly, neither Williams nor FERC believe
that our communitys commitment to protecting our valuable farmland merits consideration. Thats sad, Martynick said.
We agree.
And we ask this of our elected officials who wax
on about the beauty and agricultural richness
of Lancaster County, but havent done much to
defend it: What are you going to do to ensure the
county doesnt get taken advantage of again?

FIND MORE ONLINE

bit.ly/PipelineReviewLNP | bit.ly/PreservedFarmlandEditorial
LNP Editorial Board: Suzanne Cassidy; Barbara Hough Roda; Tom Murse, content editor;
Alex Geli, editorial writer; Mara Creswell McGrann and Stuart Wesbury, community members.

THOMAS SOWELL
COMMENTARY

In academia, the left replaces

education with groupthink
Jason Riley has now
joined the long and distinguished list of people
invited and then disinvited to give a talk on
a college campus, in this
case Virginia Tech.
Riley is a senior fellow
at the Manhattan Institute, a columnist for The
Wall Street Journal and,
perhaps most relevantly,
author of a very insightful
book titled Please Stop
Helping Us: How Liberals
Make It Harder for Blacks
to Succeed.
In short, Rileys views
on race are different from
the views that prevail on
most college campuses.
At one time, 50 years
ago or earlier, exposing
students to a different
viewpoint was considered
to be a valuable part of
their education. But that
was before academia
and the education system
in general became
virtually a monopoly of
the political left.
Today one can literally
go from kindergarten
to becoming a graduate
student seeking a Ph.D.
without ever hearing a
vision of the world that
conflicts with the vision
of the left.
Conservative critics
who object on grounds
that the views of the left
are wrong miss the point.
Regardless of whose
views become a monopoly, education suffers. John
Stuart Mill understood
this back in the middle of
the 19th century.
As a young Marxist in
college during the 1950s
heyday of the anti-Communist crusade led by
Sen. Joseph McCarthy,
I had more freedom to
express my views in class,
without fear of retaliation, than conservative
students have on many
campuses today.
After being invited by
conservative students
to give talks at various
colleges, Riley has been
surprised at how little
those conservative students have said during
the question-and-answer
periods after these talks.
But a Wellesley student
explained: You get to
leave when youre done.
We have to live with these
people until we graduate.
Even liberal professors
can be adversely affected
by the narrow groupthink
that prevails. Without an
opposition to keep them
on their toes, they can develop sloppy habits of dismissing or even demonizing differing viewpoints,
instead of practicing and
teaching their students
how to come to grips with
opposing beliefs.
A well-known Harvard
professor, for example,
recently referred to
Justice Clarence Thomas
by remarking: Hell say
he pulled himself up by
his own bootstraps. I say
I was in the right place at
the right time.
It so happens that I first

Regardless of
whose views
become a
monopoly,
education
suffers.

met Thomas back in 1978,

when he was a young
lawyer in Missouri. In all
these years, I have never
heard him say anything
even resembling what has
been blithely attributed
to him by this Harvard
professor.
On the contrary, Justice
Thomas has attributed
his good fortune to his
grandfather who raised
him, especially in his autobiography, My Grandfathers Son.
When he was sworn in
as a justice of the Supreme Court, he brought
the nuns who had taught
him in school, down in
Georgia, to the ceremony
in Washington at his
own expense to let
them know that what
they had done for him
was appreciated and had
not been in vain.
There is no reason why
our Harvard professor
has to agree with Thomas
judicial philosophy or
his social views. But as
the late Daniel Patrick
Moynihan once put it:
Youre entitled to your
own opinions, but youre
not entitled to your own
facts.
It was much the same
story when a faculty
member at the University of California at Santa
Barbara referred to economist Walter Williams as
someone committed to
the welfare of the top few.
It so happens that I
have known Williams
since 1969. In all those
years, I have never once
known him to express the
slightest concern for the
welfare of rich people.
But what I have seen repeatedly has been his expressing his concern for
people who are poor, both
in words and in deeds.
As an economist, professor Williams knows
that high tax rates on
investors chase investments and American
jobs overseas, where
American working people
cannot get those jobs.
But, whether the academic in Santa Barbara
agrees or disagrees with
that analysis, it is no good
for him or for his students
to dismiss opposing views
by misrepresenting them.
These are just a few
samples of the intellectual and moral dry rot
on the many campuses
across the country where
the groupthink of the left
substitutes for education.

n Thomas Sowell, syndicated columnist, is a senior fellow at the

Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Twitter: @ThomasSowell

n Charles Krauthammer is taking a one-week vacation.

His column is expected to return next Sunday.

OP-ED/LETTERS

LNP | LANCASTER, PA

MARTIN SCHRAM
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Heres how national news medias

agenda is set, and why it matters
West Virginias Democrats were trapped in a most
undemocratic predicament
in Tuesdays presidential
primary election: They had
to vote without being told of
a significant news development about the most exciting
Democrat in the race.
What we have here is not another tale about a dirty-tricks
campaign conspiracy. But it
is a case in which our media
watchdogs watched but
failed to bark. Even though at
least one famous watchdog
did chase its tale around in
circles for a couple of days.
Heres the news that most
of West Virginias Democrats,
among the nations most
centrist and even conservative, never got to know before
casting their ballots and
giving Sen. Bernie Sanders a
landslide victory over Hillary
Clinton.
Sanders national health
insurance proposal and his
various other domestic program reforms would add $18
trillion to the national debt
over a decade even after the

wealthiest Americans pay the

increased taxes the Vermont
populist has proposed to finance his programs, according
to new studies by two respected nonpartisan Washington
think tanks.
The analysis, jointly released Monday by the Urban Institute and the Tax
Policy Center (a project of the
Brookings Institution and Urban Institute), calculated that
Sanders programs would cost
$33 trillion over a decade. But
the tax increases Sanders has
proposed in order to finance
his programs would raise just
$15 trillion, thus adding $18
trillion to the national deficit,
the analysts said.
(Sanders policy director,
Warren Gunnels, issued a
rebutting statement, saying: This study significantly
underestimates the savings in
administration, paperwork,
and prescription drug prices
that every major country
on earth has successfully
achieved by adopting a universal health care program.)
News of the experts find-

Another native is
glad to return home
Chase Hafers Home Sweet Home
column in the May 8 Sunday LNP, After the bright lights, big bills of D.C.,
Lancaster drew me back, resonated
with me.
Born and raised in Lancaster, I had no
intention of coming back after college.
I moved to D.C. to pursue my dream
job. During my four years there, I experienced the terror of 9/11, the anthrax
scare in the postal system, and the D.C.
sniper. Yet, I did not want to leave.
I felt like a number, another face in
the crowd, cattle-prodded on the metro. I was living with four roommates
in a house, barely able to make ends
meet. As Hafer so eloquently stated,
I had no money to go out to enjoy the
city. I did anyway, building up a large
credit card debt. I was living the life, or
so I thought. I still had no intention of
moving home.
I met my husband in graduate school
at Penn State, and we spent four years
living in Pittsburgh. It wasnt until our
son was born that Lancaster started to
seem like a good idea. We moved back
in 2010.
I am so glad we live here. There is
nothing I love more than seeing people
I know in the grocery store, sharing a
smile with someone at the deli, stopping at a roadside produce stand and
taking my son to the school I attended. Downtown Lancaster is alive with
nightlife, bars, coffee shops and art studios. People are friendly and helpful. It
is a slower pace of life.
Sure, I am glad for the time I had in
the nations capital, but Lancaster is
home.
Kelly Poniatowski
West Lampeter Township

Note to pacifists:
Freedom is not free
Regarding the article about the three
pacifist Mennonite men who do not
want to pay taxes for the war effort
(Paying for peace, April 17 LNP):
For this article to appear, especially on
your front page, in unconscionable. It
is not worthy of print when compared
to all the veterans who gave their lives
or were horribly wounded in battle.
My uncle, Paul R. Strubel, of Strasburg, was killed in France in January
1945, just two months after his 19th
birthday. My late brother and I are also
veterans. Many members of my wifes
family served in World War II.
Conscientious objection leading to
I-W service is in no way commendable.
Pacifists prefer to believe that they
are living in a perfect world where war
does not exist. They continue to take
their freedoms for granted and feel
they are justified in doing so.
May the day come for these three
men and all like-minded pacifists to
finally realize that freedom is not free.
Alfred Groff
East Cocalico Township

ings hit Washington with a

decibel wallop that registered
little more than the sound of
silence. The news appeared
Wednesday on the pages of
The Washington Post, the day
after the West Virginia primary. And it got there only barely,
and in an exceedingly roundabout fashion, printed at the
bottom of Page A15 under this
newsy headline: Studies fault
Sanders on policy costs and
this subheadline: $18 trillion
gap looms even if the rich pay
more, researchers say.
Further digging showed
the identical story originally appeared online two
days earlier, in the Posts
Monday Wonkblog under
this bloggy, chatty headline: Sorry, Bernie fans.
His health care plan is short
$17,000,000,000,000. And in
fact, all this insider news biz
stuff becomes more wacky
than wonky for the Posts
newsprint pages actually did
cover the think-tank analysis
before West Virginias vote
but not in a news story.
On Tuesday, the Posts
editorial page gave its analysis
of the news the paper hadnt
yet printed, in an editorial
headlined: Too good to be
true followed by this subheadline: New reports show
the economic dangers of Mr.
Sanderss plans.
Time out! We need to reflect
here on the dirty little reality about how our national
news gets made and how the

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016

Had media
focused Monday
and Tuesday on
the news break
regarding Sanders
policies $18 trillion
deficit, West
Virginia voters
would have been far
more knowledgeable
when they cast their
ballots.
national news medias agenda
gets set. If a news development is displayed prominently on the front page of The
Washington Post or The New
York Times, the all-news cable
networks (CNN, Fox, MSNBC)
tend to discuss it among the
chattering-heads that morning, midday and night.

Letters to the editor

LETTER POLICY
n Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters must include an address and telephone

number for verification purposes. Letters should be limited to 300 words and on topics
that affect the public. Writers are limited to one published letter every 14 days. Letters
will be edited for grammar, clarity and length. Material that has appeared elsewhere
and form letters are discouraged, and any detected will not be published.
How to submit letters:
Email LancasterLetters@lnpnews.com
Fax 399-6507
Mail to Letters, c/o LNP, P.O. Box 1328,
Lancaster, PA 17608-1328

Welcoming back
Thomas Sowell
Its great to see Thomas Sowell, a reasoned, principled minority syndicated
columnist, once again in the LNP. Refreshing!
Thomas Morrow
Penn Township

Thanks for success

of Day of Prayer
I wish to warmly thank everyone who
helped make our sixth annual National
Day of Prayer Community Breakfast a
success.
It was a difficult year for us. Health
and other issues created a challenging
atmosphere. But, God is good! Through
his strength, we found the courage to
continue our duties.
Thank you to our loyal sponsors that
donated both food and money. Thank
you to our beneficiary, Welsh Mountain
Home, for providing us with brochures
and information about its ministry.
Thank you to our special guest, state
Rep. Keith Greiner, who encourages us
through his work in Harrisburg.
Thank you to Harvest Drive Family Inn for hosting our event. Special
thanks to Cheryl, who managed everything with expertise and finesse. Thank
you to Barb and family, from Fishers
Restaurant, who served a wonderfully
delicious breakfast.
Thank you to the National Day of
Prayer task force that works yearround to create prayerful events to
uplift our nation. Thank you to my
wonderful committee members who
diligently and tirelessly work to create
a meaningful event.
Thank you to the delightful attendees who gather with us for fellowship
and prayer. Thank you to those who
stepped up to pray for our nation, the
family, the church, the media, the military, business and commerce, the government and education.
Most of all, thank you, Father God, for
watching over our efforts to bring the
community together on an annual basis. You never cease to amaze us, Lord!
Gail Stoltzfoos
East Lampeter Township

Donald Trump is
not presidential
Recently, Donald Trump announced
he could be presidential. Apparently,
he thought he was being presidential
when he gave his serious foreign

policy speech. Unfortunately, it proved

to be another demonstration of his
cluelessness. Here are a few contradictions from the speech:
1. He vowed to provide more support to our allies, then said hed destroy
agreements and they would have to go
it alone if they didnt pay up.
2. He condemned President Barack
Obama for not starting World War III
in Syria, then condemned him for U.S.
interventions in Iraq and Libya.
3. He used America First to praise
Americas role in World War II; in fact,
the movement in the 1940s was opposed to Americas entering World
War II.
4. He stated that war and aggression
would not be his first instincts, then
praised dropping the atomic bomb on
Japan in 1945 and said he would consider using nuclear weapons in Europe!
Trump seems to believe that negotiation between nations is the same as
business negotiating, so hes got that
covered. We should not consider selecting a man who thinks he is qualified to run the U.S. because in his business he pushes people around and has
temper tantrums in order to get things
done.
He thinks that he has all the answers
so he doesnt need to listen to advisers.
He said he hopes to get a vice presidential candidate who knows how to govern so he can learn on the job.
This man is clueless when it comes
to government, world figures, world
events, history and more. He does not
have any idea how difficult the presidency is. He thinks he is the smartest
guy in every room he enters. He has no
idea how little he knows.
Susan G. Trofatter
Lancaster Township

Taking a stand
on mudslinging
Here we are, two weeks after the
Pennsylvania primary and six months
before the national election, and the
mudslinging has begun.
U.S. Senator Pat Toomeys ad was
the first one I saw, but I am sure many
more will follow from others hoping to
sway the public to their side by defaming their opponents. These degrading
ads are nothing more than so-called
adults returning to their middle and
high school bullying.
They cut and paste bits and pieces of

E3

Unfortunately, similar news

ripples dont usually result
if the same excellent story is
identically displayed on the
front page of the Chicago
Tribune, Los Angeles Times,
Miami Herald and so on.
Had Americas news agenda
focused on that $18 trillion
deficit news break Monday
and Tuesday, West Virginias
voters would have been far
more knowledgeable when
they cast their ballots. But,
since we are being honest
here, we need to add that all
that new knowledge probably wouldnt have made an
election-changing difference.
This doesnt seem to be a year
when facts and issues dominate citizen decision-making.
But at least we can end with
a helpful media-baiting tip for
all of you who are think-tank
experts and crave attention
for your wonky reports. Try
using this press agents template: An analysis of the policies of Bernie Sanders, who
was recently seen talking with
a much-photographed blonde,
shows his proposals could
add $18 trillion to Americas
deficit in the next decade.
A day later, you can simply
explain youd seen Sanders
debating his presidential opponent.

n Martin Schram, a columnist for

Tribune News Service, is a veteran

Washington journalist, author and
TV documentary executive. Email:
martin.schram@gmail.com

information that result in half-truths.

Do they think the electorate is stupid?
This makes me wonder if campaign
managers and their candidates ever
consider being positive. How nice it
would be to hear candidates tell us what
they want to do for their constituents
(even if they are lying) instead of telling
us how terrible their opponents are.
In these next six months, any negative
ads Democrat or Republican, male or
female that appear on my TV will be
muted. I refuse to listen to them. My
vote in November will be decided by
this factor. I hesitate to say that I will
not vote for any candidate who has negative ads, because I fear that will eliminate everyone. So, time and content
will be my guide.
I found this line in a book many years
ago, and it applies to politicians: Mud
thrown is ground lost.
Virginia Joline
West Lampeter Township

Time for Trump

has arrived

Its about time a megarich businessman has a chance to run this country.
Simply said, if that person has been
able to build a fortune/ company/empire, why not give him a chance to run
our country, making it grow and prosper?
Who better than Donald Trump? Our
great country is now desperate and
ready for a brash businessman to occupy the White House finally, a guy
off the street never involved in politics.
Being so rich, Trump wont be bought
by or sell out to big business. He doesnt
need the money.
The people have spoken, as current
polls indicate, though the media constantly trash Trump.
Its about time we tell the rest of the
world to fend for itself; no more U.S.
involvement, support or charity. We
neednt be the superpower and caretaker of the world.
We need to take care of our homeless, sick, elderly and unemployed in
our own country. Keep our U.S. dollars
here and fix whats broken the Congress-controlled ruins! Trump realizes
just how broken this country is, whats
damaged and in need of rebuilding and
repair.
Can one man change or fix everything
thats broken in one or two terms? That
simply isnt possible. However, its a
chance to get back on track and make
this country great again.
You cant blame President Barack
Obama for all the misfortune were
currently in. It will take a half-century
to remedy what the Bushes caused and
ignored during their terms as president. Times were good during the Clinton years, but the only reason was that
Bill Clinton and our country reaped the
benefits of Reaganomics.
Obviously, being a party affiliate
has no merit today. The people have
spoken. November will confirm this.
Count me in.
Brett Oakwood
Wrightsville

E4

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016

PERSPECTIVE

LNP | LANCASTER, PA

Choper: True selves

DONA FISHER
MATTERS OF FAITH

A grateful look back

at joyful, wondrous
Day of Prayer 2016
In the United States, the first Thursday
in May has been set aside as National Day
of Prayer. And on May 5, Lancaster County
joined more than 40,000 prayer groups
across our nation to observe 65 years of corporate prayer.
Although Day of Prayer week began with
a daily forecast of cold, rainy weather, we
remembered how God created the lilies to
grow effortlessly without anxiety or stress.
These flowers depend upon their creator to
meet their needs of both sun and rain. We,
too, are created by God, who nurtures us with
care and love. He meets all of our needs when
we trust in him. That was certainly the case
for Day of Prayer.
Because of the inclement weather for our
outdoor evening event, we needed to venture
inside for the first time since the local Day of
Prayer observance began here 21 years ago.
Where could we go after a last-minute change
in venue with thousands of people planning
to attend? We approached four other venues,
but only the downtown Lancaster County
Convention Center was available that Thursday evening the only evening that week it
was open.
God provided a miracle venue.
It was a lovely setting for our Concert of
Prayer. The site was quiet and peaceful and
safe from the cold and rain. A special thanks
to the National Day of Prayer Task Force who
scurried to make the sound, lighting, stage
and other logistical details come together in
less than 24 hours.
It became a holy hush of Gods presence
when a shofar a rams horn trumpet used
by the ancient Hebrews called us to worship at 6 p.m. Thousands had come together
to pray to God and praise him under the guidance of worship leader Michael W. Smith, an
acclaimed contemporary Christian songwriter and singer. The music of the 120-voice One
A-Chord Choir and the Matt Goss Band in
the background brought our spirits joyfully
together.
Our prayer leader, Dr. Beau Eckert, led us
to acknowledge the strong and mighty God,
the eternal one, and his endless attributes:
mercy, grace, slowness to anger, steadfast
love, faithfulness, forgiveness. Filled with
respect and honor, we prepared to worship
our sovereign God. Dr. Eckert pointed out
that when we realize we are powerless in
ourselves, its only surrendering to God that
begins, sustains and completes his work in
each of us.
This years theme for National Day of
Prayer was Wake Up America! Our nation
is in crisis. We need the mind of God as we
pray for the United States and become servants to one another. Philippians 2:1-8 does
not mention color, nationality or ethnicity;
we are to love, to serve and to pray for one
another.
Prayers are the breath and heart of our soul.
In Isaiah 65:24, God says, Before they call, I
will answer, and while they are yet speaking,
I will hear. He is waiting to hear us speak to
him. Its not the end of hope when prayers
arent answered; instead, hope ends when
prayers arent prayed and end up withering
in our souls and our hearts. Its in praying
Gods will that makes the difference because
life is in his timing and knowing.
The Concert of Prayer was a time to experience the common thread of the spirit of God
uniting us together corporately, and to heal
the tattered places of the heart. If we dont
live a praying life, we will have only the opinions of people on earth and not the mind of
God to direct us.
As millions humbly prayed across our land
on May 5, asking God to heal our crisis in
our country and turn us back to his ways, we
simply cant underestimate how God may
heal our land and once again bless America.
We prayed seeking Gods heart, to hear with
his ears, to see with his eyes, to depend on his
power to answer our prayers not only at
the convention center, but also around school
flag poles, in houses of worship, at breakfast
gatherings and as individuals spending solitary time with God.
Worship leader Smith ended the evening
with the song Healing Rain/Let It Rain:
Its coming to this old town, rich and poor,
the weak and strong/Its bringing mercy,
it wont be long ... tears of joy and tears of
shame are washed forever in Jesus name.
It was a gentle reminder that our spiritual
prayer life should not be temperamental like
the weather. God is quietly listening for our
prayers when we put our agenda aside and
watch and wait for him to take care of the
details of life.
May our bonded hearts be renewed in
America with our prayers to almighty God,
not just one day a year, but every day.
Thanks, Lancaster County, for praying
together as a community and bringing harmony to our region.

n Dona Fisher is chairwoman of Lancaster County

National Day of Prayer and vice president of Friendship Foundation Inc. She is also an LNP correspondent. Email her at dfisher@friendshipfoundation.org.

Continued from E1

It is largely because of
my family and community background that I
was drawn into the work
of interfaith dialogue
and bringing people
together across lines of
division. I know what it
is like to be defined as
other.
I have a lot of concerns, though, when any
religious group makes
large pronouncements
about who others are.
My concern grows out
of the experience of my
own family and community. My mother was
born in Vienna, Austria,
shortly before Hitler
marched in and took
over the country.
My family and my
community have been
the other for centuries. In the case involving Lancaster Bible College, the other seems
to be gay and transgen-

der students.
Christians are free
to practice and teach
their faith. As a nation,
we have found a way
to ensure that all of us
have the freedom to
practice our faith while
also ensuring all of our
students are treated
equally under the law.
We shouldnt tamper
with what works. In the
words of Pope Francis,
Who am I to judge?
Again, I am not a
Christian. I have no
problem with a Christian school being for
Christians. I defend
that right for Christians,
absolutely, as a I do the
right of Jews to have
a Jewish school. My
concern is for gay and
transgender students
who also may be Christian.
It can be difficult
enough to figure out who
you are when youre an

18-year-old going off

to school, without also
having to worry that the
school you are attending
may not let you be your
true self.
I worry about the
higher rates of depression and suicide among
gay and transgender
youth, and how compassion from their religious
community can be so
important.
As a Jew and a rabbi,
I would first teach
compassion. It is quite
ironic that this week in
synagogues around the
world, the section we
read in the Torah, from
chapter 19 of the Book of
Leviticus, includes not
only you shall love your
neighbor as yourself,
but you should love the
stranger, too.
Since both Judaism
and Christianity know
the power of stories, I
conclude with one from

the Talmud, the central

text of Judaism. Hillel,
a rabbi who lived 2,000
years ago, was asked if
he could teach the entire
Torah while standing on
one foot. He responded,
Do not do unto others what you would not
want done unto you. All
the rest is commentary.
Now go and study.
Many of us would
recognize the similarity between this and
the Golden Rule, which
is also a core teaching
of Christianity. Hillels
teaching, however, does
not end with how we
treat others. He continues by saying we should
go and learn.
We all have a lot yet to
learn. With all our similarities and differences,
we should strive to do
that together, listening to each other rather
than shutting each other
out.

Teague: Biblical beliefs

Continued from E1

Our mission is clear,

and we assure that it
remains so for anyone
considering attending
Lancaster Bible College. We reaffirm our
conviction of the Bibles
authority and clear
teaching that marriage
is a God-ordained union
between one man and
one woman. We do so
while reasserting our
claim upon the constitutional guarantees of
religious liberty affirmed
by Justice Anthony
Kennedy and in some
way addressed in every
majority opinion of
last Junes Obergefell v.
Hodges decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
We recognize that not
all will agree with our
position.
I so appreciated the
comments of Louie Marven, executive director
of The LGBT Center
of Central PA in Harrisburg, that though he
believes our position
is not a good idea, he

affirms our legal right to

seek a religious exemption.
The moral landscape
of this country has
changed dramatically,
has been changing for
decades. While our
opinions may vary, our
choice as to which path
we will take in life belongs to each of us. That
is not in question.
Lancaster Bible College is committed to
do what must be done
legally to protect our
autonomy in order to
fulfill our Christ-centered mission. We are
reminded that religious
liberty is a fundamental,
constitutionally protected right. How to balance
equal rights will likely
wind up back at the U.S.
Supreme Court.
At this juncture, we
have more questions
than answers a good
reason to be glad for the
transcendent truth and
grace of God given to us
in the Bible.
In all of this, I am

reminded that we are

to continue to love God.
As Christ-followers, we
are to love him with our
hearts, with our souls
and with our minds
(Matthew 22:34-40),
and at the same time we
are to love our neighbors
as ourselves. We must
think clearly and biblically as we engage in dialogue, reminded that our
speech is to be seasoned
with grace that it may
benefit all who hear.
As Christ-followers,
we must demonstrate
that we can disagree
without demeaning; we
can be biblical without
being cruel; and we can
love people where they
are without endorsing
their behavior.
Differences on such
issues are nothing new
and have existed for millennia. History and the
Scriptures teach us that
we will have differing
perspectives. We will
disagree. Yet the Bible
tells us that, as Christfollowers, we are to

disagree with others in

the fullness of grace and
truth.
Two weeks ago, I
toured the National
Civil Rights Museum in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Once again, I read the
words of the Rev. Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.:
The church must be reminded that it is not the
master or the servant of
the state, but rather the
conscience.
This truth is the very
byproduct of our college
mission, and we believe
our society is better for
it. As in all things, there
are varying perspectives.
Yet let us pursue this
Title IX conversation,
indeed all conversations,
with civility and grace,
recognizing the divine
dignity inherent in each
of us lovingly placed
here by our creator.
We love this community and stand firm in
our faith as we endeavor
to continue to be the
good neighbors you have
come to know.

Stack/Aument: Biennial budget

The battle over the 2015-16 budget fractured Pennsylvanias government. Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Stack and Republican state Sen. Ryan Aument hope a biennial budget would bring sanity to the budget process.
Continued from E1

that the General Assembly and governor would

have more time to exercise necessary oversight
of the executive departments, making sure that
monies spent are being
put to good use.
Instead of simply
arguing about how much
money the state should
be spending on an annual basis, it would be
beneficial to agree to a

two-year spending figure

and then manage the
implementation of that
spending so state leaders
can finally fix the underlying problems that
prevent us from achieving our common goals.
Finally, another
significant benefit of a
two-year budget would
be the reduction of
political grandstanding
that follows the annual
spending plan each year.

Our commonwealth has

many pressing issues,
not just the budget. This
would allow lawmakers
and the governor more
opportunity to tackle
other challenges.
We recognize there are
those who benefit from
the annual budget fight
each year and therefore
would oppose this idea.
To them, we say this:
The system is broken,
and our constituents

will have a much higher

regard for us in the long
term if we work to fix it.
As state leaders, we are
here to solve problems,
not create them. It is our
duty to work together to
make things better, not
worse.
Budget reform
through a biennial budget is a good opportunity
for us to do just that, to
the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.

OPINION

LNP | LANCASTER, PA

SUNDAY, MAY 15, 2016

E5

Sunday Conversation
JONAH GOLDBERG
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

Millennials embrace socialism,

but do they know what it is?

The coming campaign will be a battle of the

negatives. Which candidate will
voters dislike more?

DOYLE MCMANUS
LOS ANGELES TIMES

The battle between Crooked

Hillary and Loose Cannon
Donald Trump dispatched his
Republican rivals by branding them
with an insulting but memorable
nickname: Lyin Ted Cruz, Little
Marco Rubio. As the general election campaign nears, Trump has
settled on a label for the likely Democratic nominee: Crooked Hillary.
It works, he boasted to The New
York Times. It flows.
The problem for Hillary Clinton is
that he may be right.
All campaign long, pollsters have
found that many voters including
some Democrats dont think shes
principled. Maybe its her four decades in bare-knuckle politics, ancient
questions about investment deals in
Arkansas, her entanglement in her
husbands personal scandals, her decision to set up a private email server
when she was secretary of state, her
big-dollar fundraising and speech
fees or all of the above. Fairly or not,
Clinton cant shed her history.
In a Quinnipiac poll of swing states
released this week, 69 percent of
Ohio voters said they didnt think
Clinton was honest and trustworthy,
a daunting number. Trump was rated
poorly, too; 58 percent didnt view
him as honest. But hell take what he
can get, because he performs worse
than Clinton on almost every other
measure.
Thats not news to Clinton; shes seen
numbers like that since the moment
she announced her candidacy. People
should and do trust me, she protested
last year, but the plea fell flat.
So what can Clinton do?
Shell start by doing her best to ignore Trumps jibes. Hed like nothing
better than to lure her into a Nixonian response: I am not crooked.
Dont expect us to engage directly
on his attacks like Crooked Hillary,
a Clinton aide told me. He does best
when he gets others to engage in
insults.
Instead, Clinton says her first
response to Trump will be to change
the subject to her strengths her
long list of policy proposals.
Im answering him all the time,
she told reporters in Virginia on
Monday. Im answering him on what
I think voters care about issues
such as child care and the federal
minimum wage.
But thats only half the answer.
Clinton is doing her best to label
Trump, too. Her new tag for Trump,
unveiled last week: loose cannon.
I dont think we can take a risk on
a loose cannon like Donald Trump to
run our country, she said.
Hes going to have to be held to the
standard we hold anybody running
for president and commander in
chief, she said earlier.
Thats a lot more decorous than
Lyin Ted or Little Marco. Its an
above-the-belt jab, not a schoolyard
taunt.

But it serves the same purpose: It

spotlights Trumps biggest weakness
in most voters eyes his biggest
negative, to use the political strategists term. In Trumps case, it boils
down to: Do you trust this man with
the nuclear codes?
In that same Quinnipiac poll of
Ohio voters, 63 percent said they
did not think Trump had the temperament to handle an international
crisis. (A bare majority, 51 percent,
said they thought Clinton does.)
Voters may not trust Clinton, but if
theyre afraid of a Trump presidency,
it wont matter.
Still, theres one more thing Clinton
can and should do on the honesty
front.
Talk more about reforming the
campaign finance system. That
sounds counterintuitive, I know, because shes knee-deep in big-money
fundraising, from Wall Street donors
to super PACs.
Shes caught in a familiar trap
for Democratic candidates: Shes
denounced the campaign finance
system, but shes using it to bankroll
her election. When she launched her
presidential bid, Clinton said campaign finance reform would be one of
the four pillars of her platform. But
aside from a speech outlining reform
proposals last year, she hasnt talked
about the issue much.
Thats something she can fix, argues
Fred Wertheimer, the patriarch of
campaign reform advocates.
She could commit to making clear
that this is going to be a top priority.
She could commit to asking her vice
president to take this on, Wertheimer told me. It wont eliminate
the issue, but it will show that shes
interested in taking on the system.
One more thing, he added. She
lives in a rotten system just like everyone else. She should find a way to
acknowledge that.
On that count, Clinton could take a
page from one of her most ardent supporters, George Clooney. Last month,
after he hosted dinners at which
couples could contribute $353,400 for
a place at Clintons table, Clooney was
refreshingly blunt.
Its an obscene amount of money,
he said. Its ridiculous that we
should have this kind of money in
politics.
Clinton needs to say something
like that maybe even with Clooney
sitting next to her. His negatives are
lower than almost anyones.
Both candidates have already
shown their hands. The coming
campaign, in case anyone had any
doubt, will be a battle of the negatives. Which candidate will voters
dislike more?
As political analyst Amy Walter put
it, if the 2008 campaign was about
hope and change, 2016 is going to be
fear and loathing.

n Doyle McManus is the Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Twitter:
@DoyleMcManus

Socialism is having a moment.

Im not just referring to Bernie
Sanders surprisingly strong showing
in the Democratic primaries. Various polls show that millennials have
a more favorable view of socialism
than of capitalism. And millennials
generally are the only age group that
views socialism more favorably than
unfavorably.
Some conservatives arent surprised. Schools have been forcefeeding left-wing propaganda to kids
like it was feed for geese at a foie gras
factory.
On the other hand, what are we to
make of the fact that only a fraction
of the young people who say they like
socialism can explain what it is? If
left-wing indoctrination is so effective at getting kids to like socialism,
youd think it would have more success at getting kids to at least parrot
back a serviceable definition.
Regardless, this is a familiar tale.
Young people have a well-documented tendency of skipping facts
and arguments and going straight to
conclusions.
Writing in The Federalist, Emily
Ekins and Joy Pullmann note that
many of these young people think
socialism is federally mandated niceness. A 2014 Reason-Rupe survey
asked millennials to define socialism.
They had in mind a more generous
safety net, more kindness and, as one
put it, more being together.
But when asked if they agreed with
a more technically accurate definition of socialism government
control of the economy support
dropped considerably (though not
nearly enough). Given a choice between a government-managed economy and a free-market economy, millennials overwhelmingly chose the
latter. It seems young people realize
that putting bureaucrats in charge of
Uber wouldnt work too well.
Still, it boggles the mind that
anyone can see the folly of having the
government take over Amazon or
Facebook but be blind to the problems of having the government run
health care.
More intriguing to me is the fact
that kids who dont know what
textbook socialism is actually have a
better understanding of what drives
socialism in the first place.
Karl Marx was one of the worst
things to ever happen to socialism,
and not just because he set the world
on a path to the murder, oppression
and enslavement of millions upon
millions of people. It was Marx and
his confreres who convinced the

intellectual classes that socialism

was a strictly scientific doctrine.
For generations, economists real
and so-called worked on the assumption that the economy could be
run like a machine. Just as engineers
had mastered the steam engine and
the transistor, they could do likewise
with supply and demand.
For generations, intellectuals
real and so-called argued that
economics was best left to planners. Time and again, reality
specifically, the reality dictated by
human desires refused to be bent
to neatly arrayed columns of numbers and well-stacked slips of paper.
The philosopher-economist Friedrich Hayek long ago explained that
planners suffer from what he called
the knowledge problem. Even the
best bureaucrat couldnt know what
customers, suppliers and managers
on the ground wanted or needed.
And each time the planners insisted that if they just had a little bit
more power, a bit more data, a few
more resources, they could make
planning work. When all you have is
a hammer, youre inclined to believe
that theres no problem a few more
nails wont fix.
The Soviet Union and its various
cousins did much to discredit scientific socialism, what with all the killing and totalitarianism. The fact that
it didnt seem to make people richer
also undermined its appeal. Scientifically, people didnt want to be
bullied, oppressed or impoverished.
The unrealism of socialism spelled
its undoing for a time.
The dilemma is that there is a reality underneath the fraud of scientific
socialism. The first socialists were
not economists or technocrats; they
were romantics and nostalgists. They
loathed the relentless logic of the
market and its reward of merit and
efficiency as judged by the marketplace.
They wanted to return to the imagined Eden of the noble savage and
the state of nature. They wanted to
live in a world of tribal brotherhood
and mutual love. Long before the
math of scientific socialism there
were the emotions of socialism, both
light and dark: egalitarianism and
envy.
Young people understandably
are drawn by the promise of being
together. But they think the federal
government can make it happen. If
government planners cant even provide goods and services efficiently,
how will they ever provide togetherness?

n Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a senior editor of Na-

tional Review and a Tribune Content Agency syndicated columnist. Twitter: @JonahNRO

Given a choice between a government-managed

economy and a free-market economy, millennials
overwhelmingly chose the latter. They
realize putting bureaucrats in charge of Uber
wouldnt work too well.