Heathen Alert: Land of Dobson fails to sponsor Easter Services

There have been no takers in the sponsorship of a long standing Easter Service traditionally held in Colorado Springs landmark Garden of the Gods each year:

No Colorado Springs church or group has booked public land on Easter Sunday morning for the service, said Paul Butcher, director of the city's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services.

OMG, and I friggin' mean it! No New Life Church, former home of Ted Haggard, whose very name implies the rebirth of Christ? No way: they have a highly profitable schedule of shows to put on.

From the 1920s till 2002, the Easter sunrise service was held in the Garden of the Gods. But parking problems and the cost of renting stages, shuttling in worshippers and supplying portable toilets became too expensive for sponsors.

Will the hurricanes, lighting bolts and floods of a wrathful God consume Colorado Springs for its lack of faith? Are we to believe all the self-righteous in Fort Dobson, who say they believe, yet can't be bothered?

Manitou Springs resident Heidi Haskins hopes the event will return next year with a new group of sponsors. "If we don't pull together as a community, what's going to happen?" she said.

Heidi seems a bit slow - she's got her answer already.  Religious leaders down here rarely waver in their commitment to politics. They rarely fail to tell us what to think or who to hate. Are they wavering in their commitment to God? Will they stand in the pulpit this Sunday and condemn Barack Obama's faith?

This failure of religious leaders in an area so full of them makes me think they may not have the commitment to follow their own pious words. Sometimes it really is just about the money, even in the biggest church on the block.