Thankfully the inferno surrounding Colorado Springs seems to be diminishing. The extreme weather of this summer may finally cooperate and halt the devastation.
But, why Colorado Springs? For this brutish punishment?
There is something about Colorado Springs, Colorado, that invites religious extremism, that attracts a large influx of Evangelical Christians and Christian organizations. It is claimed that at one time Colorado Springs was host to the national headquarters for 81 different religious organizations.
It has been christened "the Evangelical Vatican", "The Christian Mecca". Groups like the Association of Christian Schools International, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Compassion International, Every Home for Christ, Focus on the Family, HCJB, the International Bible Society, The Navigators, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs, WAY-FM Media Group, Andrew Wommack Ministries, Young Life, etc., abound.
Oh holy of holys! Conservative of conservative heaven.
It must be also recalled that in America there is a strange coupling of religious conservatism with political conservatives who swoon at the mere mention of whorish atheist Ayn Rand.
Ahem. Rand was definitely not your typical atheist. There are probably just as many prudish atheists who look with disdain upon the casual sexual coupling that Ayn Rand engaged in as there are prudes in religious groups, probably with higher and more scrupulous ethics than the preachy people who yell and scream about abstinence and chastity and such stuff.
One wonders, was it the unholy presence of the unholy ghost of Ayn Rand and her equally unholy followers in the Evangelical Vatican in April of this year that brought down the fiery ruin upon Colorado Springs in June?
TOWN HALL: Conservatives converge on Springs
This city is all about freedom
April 24, 2012 5:05 PM
.... Conservatives and libertarians, welcome to Colorado Springs. This is your home away from home. The local culture is overwhelmingly pro-military, pro-gun, pro-religion, pro-family, pro-business and pro-life. We elected the most conservative mayor in the country. City and state laws prevent unrestrained government spending and force politicians to ask taxpayers for new taxes. Yes, it is nirvana.
.... “The Atlas Experience 2012” at The Broadmoor, arguably the world’s finest resort, plans to make “Galt’s Gulch” a reality for at least a few days. For those unfamiliar with Ayn Rand’s fictional “Atlas Shrugged,” Galt’s Gulch was the secluded Colorado village in which John Galt, Midas Mulligan and other “men of the mind” went on strike against “unearned rewards and unrewarded duty.”
.... Colorado Springs stands for freedom, perhaps more than any other American city. So it makes good sense that a collective meeting of men and women “of the mind” would gravitate to America the Beautiful City and the country’s finest resort....
Colorado Springs' religious fervor has even overflowed so much that it has corrupted the United States Air Force Academy also in Colorado Springs, and the scene of an
extremist religious scandal or
two.
Of course, there has been a goodly bit of austerity foreplay, beginning in 2010:
Colorado Springs cuts into services considered basic by many
January 31, 2010 - The Denver Post
.... COLORADO SPRINGS — This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled....
Though officials and citizens put public safety above all in the budget, police and firefighting still lost more than $5.5 million this year.... Fire squad 108 loses three firefighters. Putting the helicopters up for sale and eliminating the officers and a mechanic banked $877,000.
The foreplay continued in 2011, diddling to the extreme the public safety budgets of 2012:
Police, fire ponder possible 2012 budget cuts
October 16, 2011 6:20 PM
.... Public safety agencies in Colorado Springs face budget cuts in Mayor Steve Bach’s proposed 2012 budget, leaving staffing reductions, health care insurance increases and a continued pay freeze on the table, according to preliminary budget documents. ... the Fire Department would drop six-and-a-half positions, documents show.
Police and firefighters are being asked to shoulder more of their health-plan costs — a move that’s proven unpopular in the fourth year of frozen salaries. They would pay 20 percent of their health insurance premiums, up from 14 percent this year — a move that would save the city $539,000, according to budget documents.
.... When called to emergency scenes in downtown Colorado Springs, firefighters arrive within eight minutes 96.6 percent of the time. East of Powers Boulevard, that response benchmark drops to 74.4 percent.
Meanwhile, Colorado Springs burns. Wildly:
'It's as close to hell as I could imagine,' mayor says of devastated area
In a tinderbox like the brush-filled valleys and slopes of Colorado, it cannot possibly be wise to cut firefighting budgets. And isn't it kind of stinky to
stiff firefighters on healthcare? Ayn Rand, you old welfare-queen whore! I do not like you and your policies in the least!
Um, maybe it's time to start believing in global warming. Yo! Christian Extremists! Are you hep?