Council too big?
A photo in the Dominion Post the other day of the Wellington Mayor plus his 14 councillors. Population of Wellington: 405,000 and growing.
Wanganui - one Mayor plus 13 councillors. Population 40,000. Nil growth job-wise.
Don't you think we are a bit overloaded in councillors?
MARGARET HADDON
Castlecliff
God and nature
I write in reply to Cameron Tauri (letters, October 10), who picks up on the Christian view that one is promised entry to heaven on the basis of an acceptance of Jesus as a saviour who died for our sins.
He says a person could have a lovely time killing and hurting others for a lifetime and still make it into heaven if he times his acceptance of Jesus just before his death.
Perhaps one might do that, but religion is usually about a lifestyle that is worthwhile and fosters positive and rewarding relationships, not just about what might or might not be beyond the grave.
Moses, on the top of Mt Sinai c1200BC, came up with the Ten Commandments. I wonder if Cameron or anyone thinking like him can come up with a better list of "do's and don'ts" for everyday living.
If you don't like the idea of God, that's not too big a problem. The Hebrew name of God is very like the Hebrew word, to be. So God's name is He-who-is. You can call him Nature if you like, and you can't very well object to respecting Nature.
Science is all about understanding Nature and working with him. Defy him as you set out on your daily chores and you will come unstuck very quickly. And I notice on the AM Show this morning [October 9] that mental health is fostered when we take an interest in Nature.
TOM PITTAMS
Whanganui
Thank you
I would like to thank the wonderful people who came to my aid on Tuesday about 10.15am when I had a car accident on the corner of Liverpool St and Victoria Ave.
The police officers who attended, you were great; the St John Ambulance lady, you were so caring; the person or people who called the emergency services; the off-duty policeman from New Plymouth, you were awesome; the off-duty nurse, you were so kind; and all the members of the public who came to my assistance, thank you one and all from the bottom of my heart.
Fortunately I was not injured, but badly shaken, but I cannot say the same for my lovely little red BMW which, to my disbelief and amazement, has been written off.
To the gentleman in the other car, I hope you are okay.
P ROSS-WATTS
Brunswick
Jandals gone
I recently returned from Asia, where I visited numerous shrines.
It is customary to leave footwear at the entrance as a sign of respect. After the visit, footwear was where I left it.
On Sunday afternoon I left my jandals at the start of a beach walk in Castlecliff. Upon my return they had been stolen. The Asian countries I visited are Third World and yet respect is shown for possessions - apparently in Whanganui, not so.
It may be consoling for the conscience of the person who took my jandals to put them back where they found them.
N MACKINTOSH
Castlecliff
Atheist morality
Cameron Tauri misread my letter. I never said atheists have no morals, simply that atheistic reasoning provides no basis for morality.
The very fact that most people are moral implies there is something innate about the knowledge of right and wrong. Atheistic evolutionary thinking cannot explain this, since random chance combined with "survival of the fittest" naturally leads to self-interest and anarchy.
Morality has its basis in spiritual rather than natural causes. When people throw away their knowledge of God and rely on natural causes for everything, there is no longer a logical basis for responsibility, kindness, consideration and other virtues.
Science is man's way of discovering and understanding the created world, conscience is God's way of holding us back from destruction.
MANDY DONNE-LEE
Aramoho
Pine trees
Hi, Ian Moore. I will let my drinking buddies Nobby Bullock and Ian Harrex fill me in as to where I have got it wrong [about pine trees].
One of the reasons for all the trees was because Rogernomics and world prices gutted grassland farming and trees seemed a good way out.
In hindsight, if farmers could have held on to their grassland, Whanganui and the surrounding farming areas would have been producing more than trees off that land. And it would have been daily activity without depopulating the rural areas.
Hindsight is a marvellous thing but does not help with the decisions made in an attempt to survive.
G R SCOWN
Whanganui
Mandy Brooke says she has "got so much out of" her 10 years as manager.