Editorial

Some time ago a column entitled “Religion challenges left and right” by E. J. Dionne, Jr. appeared in the Press Democrat. “Whenever I write sympathetically about religion,” he noted, “I get bombarded with tweets and notes from readers who normally agree with me but cannot abide by the idea that religious belief should be seen as intellectually serious.” Having made that caveat he goes on to treat religion seriously in a summary of a study produced by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution. Dionne himself took part in the research for the study. The study divides citizens into four groups: 28 percent religious conservatives, 38 percent religious moderates, 19 percent religious progressives, and 15 percent nonreligious. These groups are correlated to political attitudes and party affiliations.  Not surprisingly, most religious conservatives are politically conservative and gravitate to the Republican Party, and most religious progressives and nonreligious are politically liberal and gravitate to the Democratic party.  Also not surprisingly, religious moderates are in between and just as they are religiously moderate they tend to be moderate Republicans or moderate Democrats in fairly equal numbers. 

I lived in Santa Rosa for 51 years. Since 1986 my wife and I have lived in Healdsburg. I feel  the long experience in these two “cities” gives me some perspective to make judgments about our current squabble about what is best for Healdsburg.

Editor: We just drove home from a hearing at the county planning

Potholes

Foundation thanks

Friends of the Blue Whale

First off, Happy New Year. I hope you were able to enjoy some well-deserved time with loved ones over the holidays.