RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Casino and Atheist Issues May Share a Common Theme

Most of us here in the Tulsa area are aware of the controversial Red Clay Casino that is currently under construction in Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa. The project came as a surprise to Broken Arrow residents who were unaware that the casino was going to be built, igniting a firestorm of protests.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Obama Administration is Trying to Strong-Arm Catholics

Last week, Catholic Churches across America did something that was unthinkable until the present administration took power in the White House. A letter was read to congregants from the Bishop of Marquette stating a refusal to obey the law.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

‘Megacity’ Growth in China Points to an Alarming Trend

We see the growing trend toward density in American cities, but nowhere is the density of a “megacity” more exemplified than in the rapid growth in China.

In an article in the Delhi Guardian, authors Paul Webster and Jason Burke describe a project currently under construction in the southwest China city of Chengdu as a “behemoth.” The authors wrote, “When finished later this year, its developers proudly boast, it will be the world's largest stand-alone building. The New Century Global Centre is a leisure complex that will house two 1,000-room five-star hotels, an ice rink, a luxury Imax cinema, vast shopping malls and a 20,000-capacity indoor swimming pool with 400 meters of “coastline” and a fake beach the size of 10 football pitches(sic) complete with its own seaside village.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Is Teaching the Bible on the Decline in American Churches?

Last Sunday my pastor gave us some disturbing statistics about the growth of churches in America. The study he cited concluded that church growth is very small, only about 2 percent per year on average.

The question is why? Why would the church, which has been a central focus of American life since our founding, suddenly begin losing ground?

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Supreme Court Supports Churches in Employment Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week in favor of a church that had fired a ministerial employee, signaling a hopeful change of attitude toward the rights of churches to conduct their own affairs according to their own beliefs.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Churches Assist Their Communities in a Myriad of Ways

After hearing that the Share Christmas event at my church had provided Christmas presents to more than 260 children from low-income families, it struck me that so few people know just what an impact churches have on their communities.

It's a popular notion that all churches send missionaries to Africa, but it's just that – a popular notion. While some churches do in fact send missionaries to Africa, that is a very small part of the giving that churches do.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Religious and Property Rights Top the List in the New Year

This coming year is shaping up to be perhaps one of the most pivotal years in American history. I, like a lot of Americans, have a number of things that I would like to accomplish and to see accomplished in the next twelve months.

There are two extremely important issues – religious rights and property rights – on which everything that we as Americans depend upon in order to keep our freedoms.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Jesus Christ Brought Us the Most important Gift of Heaven

“In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make.”' (John 1:1–3 NLT)

The Word is who the apostle Paul spoke about in Romans 1:20 (NLT) when he said:
“From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Evidence Shows That Man–Made Global Warming is a Hoax

The Brits have figured it out – manmade global warming is a farce – and Climategate has been instrumental in revealing the fact that data has been twisted to say something other than the truth.

The recently released British Social Attitudes report surveyed U.K. consumers and found that they are no longer willing to pay the extra money to go “green” because of their skepticism of man-made climate change. Here are some of the findings of the survey.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Malicious Vandalism is Increasing Against U.S. Churches

It appears that churches are bearing the brunt of a rising tide of hate crimes as the number and severity of vandalism attacks against churches is increasing.

Thefts from churches are common, especially in the last year as copper prices have risen and the economy continues to decline. Audio and video equipment in churches have been the targets of thieves for many years, but in the last few months the crimes against churches have taken a sinister turn.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Discrimination Against Churches Happens in the Bible Belt

Since the City of Tulsa has hired the new director of planning and economic development, Dawn Warrick, I think it is a given that there will be a focus on developing Tulsa's new zoning code. In my last two articles I have voiced concern regarding how churches will be treated and regulated.

It was not that long ago that a city official told me that it was considered bad public relations for the city not to go the extra distance to help churches work through the zoning and permitting process. I have no reason to believe that anything has changed in that regard with certain officials, but the new code will be developed, for the most part, by outside consultants and with the new director, and it is not altogether clear how much INCOG will be involved with the effort.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Tulsa's Comprehensive Plan Will Say Little About Churches

Much emphasis is placed on the concept of community in modern planning. Planners believe that cities can and should be developed so that everyone lives in a kind of microcosm, within a region that is within walking distance of home and work and one that contains “third places” that give people a sense of belonging and camaraderie.

Since its beginning, churches have always been an important part of communities in America. They have been the traditional gathering place in cities and towns for centuries. They served as the “third place” long before the term was invented.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Director Will Start to Work on Comprehensive Plan

History was made in Tulsa on November 7 when Dawn Warrick was named Tulsa's first director of planning and economic development. Warrick comes to us after acting as the assistant director of planning in design in Louisville, Ky., and, prior to that, she was an assistant zoning and development director in Fayetteville, Ark.

Since PlaniTulsa was approved by the City Council last year, there has not been a great deal of activity on the implementation of Tulsa's new comprehensive plan into a new zoning code. One of Warrick's most immediate tasks will be to begin work doing just that.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Age of Flower Towers' is a New Age Plan That Won't Work

In all the architectural trade journals I receive, I rarely see architectural designs that I like, but for the most part I appreciate the diverse creativity that comes out of the architectural profession.

This is especially true of architecture that would not have been possible even two decades ago. The advances in CADD (Computer Aided Drafting and Design) has given us the ability to design geometrically complex structures, giving birth to curvilinear shapes and forms never seen before in architecture, and new computer programs have allowed engineers to design the complex structural and mechanical systems needed to make those designs possible.

So it is not often that I take the opportunity to poke fun at architecture, but sometimes architecture needs a good dose of reality.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Anti-Semitic Sentiment by Occupy Wall Street is Troubling

Nearly three quarters of a century ago, on November 7, 1938, an angry young man walked into the German embassy in Paris intent upon killing the German Ambassador. Not finding him, he instead shot and killed Germany's Third Secretary Ernst vom Rath.

Hershel Grynszpan was seeking revenge on the Germans, who during the prior week had evicted his Jewish parents from the city of Hanover, Germany. All of their possessions, including the store Grynszpan’s father had owned since 1911, had been confiscated by the German police, and the family had been forced into a refugee camp across the border in Poland.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

America Needs a New President to Bring Back Prosperity

There is a building boom coming - maybe.

Since the moment the public perceived that Obama might become our next president back in 2008, the economy began to slide downhill. It took a steep dive shortly after he took office, and so did the amount of construction.

It wasn’t just his presidency that caused the fall. For years, regulations and smart growth policies have placed a stranglehold on construction, making the conditions necessary for a crash possible. Obama’s presidency, along with the Obamacare bill and his czars and their regulations, was simply the catalyst.

It is the American culture as builders and entrepreneurs coupled with capitalism that makes it difficult for even a diehard Marxist to snuff out our way of life. It is for that reason that I believe there is a great building boom in our near future, and it is the optimism that the American public is sensing with some of the candidates that are running for president that makes me believe it is true that America could still be seeing its finest days ahead. For it to take place, however, there is a lot that needs to happen.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

‘Mixed-use’ May Not Always Have a Concrete Definition

While all of these thoughts have their merit, and I understand that the article was focusing in on one aspect of sustainability, the term “mixed-use” was not well defined. Mixed use is only one ingredient of the sustainability movement. To add to the confusion, sustainability holds different meanings among different groups. To the environmentalist, it means solving global warming. To preservationists, it means keeping a historical building intact when it needs to be torn down. To a city administrator, it means densification and smart growth, which means more tax revenue. To architects, sustainability has become a structured practice, as demonstrated by the trend toward getting LEED certification for building projects in a holistic way. To planners, it means getting rid of urban sprawl and designing communities around people instead of cars. To the federal government, it means more regulations, and to the United Nations it means regulating everyone on the planet. So who can blame anyone for getting a little confused?

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

The Impact of Churches on Urban Sprawl Sparks Debate

The conclusion that these places of worship, all apparently in presumably agricultural areas, had influenced the demographics of growth was indeed correct. All four examples, including the (Italian) Catholic Church, were examples of strong ethnic associations within the context of a place of worship. Three of the examples were not of mainstream religions found in the United States, and the fourth was apparently unique among Catholic churches. Yet Laidlaw's article will leave the reader believing that all churches must be expected to produce the same effects as Agrawal's examples, perhaps because he attended a conference where the professor spoke about churches and municipal planning.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Oregon Using Farm Rules to Stop Churches from Building

I can't say I have ever heard of Aloha 1A dirt, but given the amount of protection given to it in the ordinance, it must have been some really good dirt.

When the church sought approval for their new church project, the county planning director issued a directive claiming that churches were not allowed in the Exclusive Farm Zone because it was within three miles of an Urban Growth Boundary.

Urban Growth Boundaries are established to contain development within specified areas. To prevent development on the opposite side of the line, they usually are surrounded by another area in which little or no development is allowed. In a real sense, an Urban Growth Boundary is not a line, but a swath that can be many miles wide.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Professional Planners Know Don't Know Much About Churches

Several years ago, an article by Stuart Laidlaw appeared on TheStar.com website entitled Churches kickstart suburban sprawl, study shows. The opening paragraph stated, “Fast-growing churches, frustrated with the slow pace of municipal planning, often find themselves pushed into setting up shop in rural areas on the edge of town, where they end up contributing to suburban sprawl, a Ryerson University study has found.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

A Lack of Respect for God is Sweeping Across Our Nation

As we see the growth in government, we are also seeing a growth in corruption. At this moment, the Solyndra scandal is beginning to get the attention of the FBI and pundits are saying that the corruption may go all the way to the White House. But why should the growth in corruption surprise anyone? Many of our country's leaders no longer respect, fear or even believe in God, at least not the one in the Bible.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Confusion Over ‘Separation of Church and State’ Persists

The problem between “church and state” just seems to be getting worse, and from all indications it’s not going to get any better any time soon. The recent boondoggle created by Mayor Bloomberg’s decision to prohibit any clergy from participating in the 9/11 ceremonies underscores the lack of understanding of what the “separation of church and state” actually means.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Preservation of American Rights Seems ‘Up in the Air’

According to an article in the Desert Sun and linked to Aviation eBrief (an online newsletter produced by the AOPA Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association), a two-and-a-half-year-long lawsuit has finally been dropped against several people and companies who allegedly flew their hot-air balloons too low over a farm in California.

JCM Farming, Inc. filed the lawsuit, according to the article, “never once having to show proof to a judge that its initial, central complaint was true: that the balloonists had flown too low over its property and caused a nuisance.”

Tom Scott, the executive director of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, the attorney who defended the balloonists, said that “For $300, I can upend your life, whether there’s merit or no merit to my case.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

We Have a Duty to Resist Regulations That are Abusive

Back during our last gubernatorial election, a lobbyist (who happened to be a democrat) told me that no one wanted to support Senator Randy Brogdon because he was “against everything.” Of course, Brogdon was not against everything, he simply looked at regulations from a Constitutional perspective.

However, if that lobbyist had taken an objective look at Brogdon’s position, and could set political prejudices aside, he might have come to a different conclusion. Brogdon believed that government had grown too large and that it used laws and regulations to pick winners and losers, usually at taxpayer expense.

Most people who read my columns might conclude that I am anti-regulation, that I am “against everything” that the government does, because in most cases I see more government regulations as a negative. In fact, I believe that laws and regulations are necessary and can be beneficial to society, just as the Founders did.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Rural America Does Not Need this Kind of Federal ‘Help’

One day we were discussing the fact that Russia was buying grain from the United States because they were unable to produce enough for themselves. Knowing that Russia was a very large and fertile country, I thought it odd that they would have to resort to buying grain from an avowed enemy.

Stan said the reason was simple. He said, (I’m paraphrasing) “In the United States, farmers work until the job is done because they get to keep what they earn. In Russia, a farmer starts driving his tractor at eight in the morning, and quits at five in the afternoon. He doesn’t care if the job gets done or not because he won’t earn any more or less if he only works eight hours a day.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

United States is Headed Down the Path Toward Marxism

America has been gradually moving away from its Constitution and toward a form of socialism for many years, and while most of us realize that things are not as free as they used to be, we may not realize just how closely our policies come to meeting the definition of Marxism.

Of course, few would admit that we are Marxist because we can still vote, we still have (somewhat) free enterprise, and we can still travel without a soldier asking us for our “papers” at a check point. And we certainly don’t think of ourselves as the Communist that Karl Marx (1818-1883) was.

But before you think I’ve lost my senses, listen to what Karl Marx and his close friend Friedrich Engels believed government policies should be. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

American Churches are Facing More and More Obstacles

Last year, the National League of Cities said that municipal governments were likely to fall short of funding between $56 billion and $83 billion by the end of this year. Just recently, Reuters reported that the city of Central Falls, Rhode Island, (population 19,000) filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy with an outstanding debt of $21 million.

Cities across the country are facing similar economic problems, albeit not so severe. However, my concern has been for some time that the need for funding has been and will in the future affect how cities will treat the churches within their borders.

I’m not saying that all cities are becoming anti-church, though I have read some accounts that were unquestionably just that. It is beyond question, though, that attitudes toward churches over the last decade or so have taken a turn for the worse, and not just in city government.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Look for Refugees from California’s Environmental Laws

The old saying in business is that if you want your business to be successful, study a successful business and do what they do. But sometimes it is just as profitable to look at those who are failing and don’t do what they do.

The Washington Post recently printed the ten most expensive areas in the country, based on median home prices. It should come as no surprise that nearly all of them were in states where land is heavily regulated.

The highest was Honolulu, which I understand has a lot of regulations, with a median home price of $579,300. But come on, it’s an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Of course, it’s going to be an expensive place.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Repeal Obamacare, Cut Regulations and Reform the Tax Code

The next thing that needs to be done is to repeal Obamacare completely. Kill it and bury it, and even enact legislation that will prohibit anything like it to pass again. Obamacare is a political and economic nightmare. It alone has the ability to destroy our economy as well as our freedoms. We also must go back to the traditional values of the Constitution and abandon the idea that it is a “living” document. In so doing, we must reverse the flawed Supreme Court decision Kelo vs. New London, so that never again will one individual have his or her property stolen from them and given to another using eminent domain under the guise of economic benefit. In addition, we must oppose Sharia law from being implemented anywhere in the United States.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Easing of Credit Created a Crash in the Housing Market

After reviewing data for the years spanning 2000 to 2007 from a number of sources including the Federal Reserve, Demographia, the Census Bureau and Harvard University, Cox observed a wide difference in home price escalation, concluding that the housing bubble affected some areas disproportionately more than others:

“In the 10 markets with the greatest rise in prices compared to income, the cost of a house rose by an average of $275,000, relative to incomes. Among the second 10 markets with the greatest price escalation, house prices rose $135,000. By contrast, in the major markets with the least rise in prices, houses increased only $5,000.”

Cox observed that the areas that were more greatly affected were areas whose markets were “prescriptively” regulated instead of “responsively” regulated.

A prescriptively regulated market is one that promotes “smart growth” policies designed to prevent urban sprawl and use of the car and that promote those such as urban growth boundaries, growth management, home construction moratoria, excessive development fees, and planning.

A responsively regulated market is one with few restrictions or planning, so that the market can respond to market conditions quickly, undeterred by government red tape.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Cities Putting the Heat on Churches Under Smart Growth

A few weeks ago, I received a rather urgent e-mail from a gentleman in Maryland who was asking for advice regarding a letter from his municipality stating that his church building could no longer be used as a church.

The letter stated, in part, that the”… Development Code that was adopted 9-18-06 no longer allows churches in the B-2 Central Commercial District as a principal use. The Development Code states that no building, structure, or premise shall hereafter be used or occupied with a use that is not permitted in the zoning district. Churches that were in operation prior to 9-18-06 are considered non-conforming uses and may continue to operate in the B-2 zoning district. As you are aware, the B-2 zoning district is a desirable zoning for commercial uses for example: banks, business services, day care centers, funeral homes, gourmet food establishments, retail stores, medical services, and office uses to name a few are principally permitted.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

It’s Time to Change the Course of America in November

Back in 2005, I wrote an article about how the government was systematically cleansing certain rural areas through imposition of regulations and judicial orders. In fact, rural areas of America and other countries have been in decline for some time.

Loss of manufacturing to Mexico, China and India has played a large part in the decline. Once a large source of low-cost labor (and few regulations), small towns in rural areas provided the bulk of the manufacturing base, but when the factories pulled up stakes and left for even cheaper labor and fewer regulations overseas, small towns began to suffer severely. Businesses began to close, forcing families to leave in search of jobs. Then more businesses closed, and more people left, until eventually the grocery stores, the banks and even some schools closed. When that happens, a town is essentially finished, leaving mostly elderly populations to deal with aging and crumbling infrastructure.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Construction is Critically Important to the U.S. Economy

Construction is incredibly important to local economies and to the aggregate economy of the nation. As an example, according to an article in the Denver Post, out of the 130,000 jobs that the state of Colorado has lost over the past three years, 60,000 of them were construction jobs. Prior to 2007, one out of every five jobs was construction related.

We have a long way to go to rebuild the construction industry to what it was before the crash. Job losses and business closures have been massive and across the board, including mortgage brokers, architects, engineers, contractors and subcontractors. In Colorado alone, 466 homebuilders closed their doors between 2007 and 2009.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Muslims Destroy Churches or Convert Them to Mosques

During the Ottoman conquest in 1453, Mehmet the Conquerer converted it to a mosque. It was at that time that four large minaret towers were added to the structure, giving its now famous appearance. It continued to serve as a mosque until 1934, when it was converted to a museum.

When Constantinople (Istanbul) was conquered in 1453, a 16th century historian said that “churches which were within the city were emptied of their vile idols and cleansed from the filthy and idolatrous impurities and by the defacement of their images and the erection of Islamic prayer niches and pulpits…many monasteries and chapels became the envy of the gardens of paradise.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

American Christians Should Recognize the Dangers of Islam

Apparently Curtis has never studied what is happening in Iraq where Christians are being driven out by Muslims, or in Egypt where churches are being burned by Muslims, or in England where over a thousand churches have been converted to mosques and Sharia law is effect in many areas, or in the many places in Europe where police won’t go to “no-go” Islamic enclaves because of the danger, or even at the growth of Islam in Dearborn, Michigan.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Christian Churches Facing Persecution all Over the World

In Iraq last October, 52 Christians were massacred by al Qaeda guerillas in response to burnings of the Quran in the United States. Since then, up to 95,000 Christians have fled the country. Around 500,000 had already left due to persecution that has included beheadings, rapes and extortion. It is expected that in just a few years, virtually all of the Christians will have left Iraq.

This is particularly disappointing, since it was a Christian nation that was primarily responsible for freeing the Iraqi people. Obviously, there will be no church construction in Iraq and what few churches that might have been there will likely be converted to mosques, much as has been the fate of many of the churches in Europe.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

The Densification of Cities May Actually Facilitate Obesity

Newgeography.com recently published an excellent article by Phil McDermott entitled Where Do the Children Play, in which he challenged the current thinking that densely developed cities are good for our health. He contested the conclusions of a study by the New Zealand Public Health Advisory that “cited four principles for healthy urban planning based on the density of development: urban regeneration, compact growth, focused decentralization and linear concentration. The aim is less time in cars and more use of active transport.”

McDermott points out poor health in densely developed environments can be a result of “traffic volumes, strangers on the street and lack of outdoor play space” and that in those environments there are disadvantages that include, “insufficient space, internal noise, lack of natural light, lack of privacy, inadequate parking, inadequate indoor play space and the potentially hazardous nature of balconies.” All of those disadvantages, by the way, are for the most part solved by less densely developed urban areas, the suburbs that are being blamed for unhealthy lifestyles.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Architects with Integrity Should Challenge Sustainability

Each year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) holds its annual convention at a different major city each year and this year it was in New Orleans. Over the past several years, the convention has focused on sustainability issues and this year was no different. The keynote speaker was Thomas Friedman, (who is not an architect) who sounded the warning that architects and others must fundamentally change to prevent an environmental calamity.

Friedman said that a green revolution is in the interest of national security, and appealing to the patriotic said, “Green is the new red, white and blue – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” and “ultimately, we need to make the word ‘green’ disappear. There should be no such thing as a ‘green’ car – it’s just a car, and you can’t buy it otherwise.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

A Relationship with Jesus is the Real Source of Joy in Life

Having inadvertently become a student of urban planning, each day I go to several websites to read articles and to see what planners think about trends and what demographers have discovered with statistics.

Each website has their own agenda, naturally quite opposite from each other, and it is interesting to see how some of the contributing authors have deep-seated views, while others are only interested in proving their points by ridiculing those who oppose their own.

The common theme that runs through all of them is this: if you believe as I believe, and do as I think you should do, the world will be a better place.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Urbanism Advocate Doesn’t Understand Core Issues

I find it amusing when I discover there are people out there that are writing about New Urbanism that know so little about it. Such is the case with New Urban Mom, who took me to task about an article I wrote in January of last year concerning a paper written by an Urban Planner Ruth Durack.

First of all, I don’t know who New Urban Mom is; she apparently does not share her name with her readers, so for brevity I’ll simply call her NUM, with no disrespect intended.
NUM posted an article on her website on May 2 entitled, “New Urbanism and the Inflexibility Myth,” and in so doing completely misinterpreted the article I had written and in fact misstated my position on New Urbanism.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Hope Christian Academy Prepares to Open in Skiatook

I have long advocated the idea that churches should be doing more for their communities, especially in the area of education. The future of our country depends upon the current generation of children learning not only the right things, but also learning the right moral and work ethic. There is nowhere better for a child to be educated than under a Godly and Christian system.

So I was very happy to learn that there will be a new Christian school opening in August of this year in Skiatook. The school’s founder, Sabrina Miller, an associate with Immanuel Baptist Church, has felt the calling to open the new school, Hope Christian Academy.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

April 28, 2011

In The

Pointless Regulation Adding to America’s Failing Economy

Architects are beginning to realize that prescribing energy-saving technologies and techniques is creating unexpected professional liabilities. In the 1980s, architects were convincing clients that incorporating solar energy equipment and design techniques into their buildings would reduce their energy costs. Lawsuits followed when the savings never materialized. Now architects and engineers are being sued as their “green” designs are not performing as expected.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

April 21, 2010

In The News

Florida Passion Play Shows the Important Story of Jesus

I have just returned from Wauchula, Florida, after my annual trip to see the Story of Jesus Passion Play. This is the fourth year that I have attended, and even after seeing the play a total of eight times, it is just as fresh and enriching as it was the first time I saw it.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

April 14, 2011

In The

America is Rapidly Moving from Capitalism to Communism

America has been gradually moving away from its Constitution and toward a form of socialism for many years, and while most of us realize that things are not as free as they used to be, we may not realize just how closely our policies come to meeting the definition of Marxism.

Of course, few would admit that we are Marxist because we can still vote, we still have (somewhat) free enterprise, and we can still travel without a soldier asking us for our “papers” at a check point. And we certainly don’t think of ourselves as the Communist that Karl Marx (1818-1883) was.

But before you think I’ve lost my senses, listen to what Karl Marx and his close friend Friedrich Engels believed government policies should be.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

In a Danger-Filled World, America Must Support Israel

Israel, from the time of its rebirth in 1948, has been surrounded by enemies who have been intent upon destroying it. But now it is facing far more than it ever has.

If you pay close attention to the news and to current events, it is evident that political, economic, religious and military forces against Israel are growing.

Israel is becoming a richer nation and is likely to become much richer due to the relatively recent discoveries of oil and natural gas both in Israel and just off its shores. But Russia desperately needs to sell its gas and oil resources at prices that will allow it to be profitable for them, and it also needs to sell arms from its military industrial complex. When Israel places its oil and gas on the market, prices could dip to a point low enough to decimate the Russian economy. Since one of the goals of Vladimir Putin is to rebuild Russia’s military, it cannot allow Israel’s oil to reach the market.  

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Good News and Bad News for Church/City Relationships

There is both good news and bad news on the issue of discrimination against churches by cities.
The bad news first.

It appears that the number of discrimination cases is escalating and cities are coming up with new and creative ways to prohibit churches from building or to even cause them to close their doors. It is as though there is an unwritten playbook being passed from city to city that shows how to evict a church.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Unfulfilled Promises by Rural Developers Caused Problems 

We’ve all seen carpetbaggers in spaghetti westerns selling worthless snake oil products from a covered wagon, who quickly left town before it was discovered that that little bottle of elixir really couldn’t cure the gout with just one dose.

In the 1960s and 70s, and even into the 80s, the carpetbaggers of the time were land speculators who bought large tracts of inexpensive rural land, subdivided it, then sold it off using high pressure sales tactics that usually involved offering a small gift for listening to their sales pitch.

It was a time when Americans were becoming more prosperous, and many were looking for a quiet country setting for a second home or to build a retirement home.  

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

March 11 Earthquake in Japan Similar to 1923 Disaster 

We are all watching the news in astonishment at the power and destruction of the 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan on March 11.

This is the second earthquake in less than a century that has brought mass destruction to the Japanese islands.

The first one, the Great Kanto Earthquake, struck during the lunch hour on September 1, 1923, when a 7.9 (or possibly an 8.3) magnitude earthquake struck and shook the area for up to ten minutes. There were 57 recorded aftershocks. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Census Figures Conflict with the ‘Wisdom’ of City Planners 

I hope Tulsa’s city planners are taking a hard look at data recently released from the 2010 Census because it paints a much different picture of where growth is occurring than the urban planner crowd has been telling us.

Urban planners have been telling us for years that population growth will necessarily be in urban areas, primarily because of changing demographics and the development of light rail. But the Census is showing that their predictions of urban growth in favor of suburban growth were simply incorrect.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

March 3, 2011

In The

Cities and States Race to Cancel High-Speed Rail Fiascos

Despite Obama’s proposal to spend $53 billion on high-speed rail, the fact that our nation’s debt just exceeded its GDP and states like Wisconsin are fighting unions and an AWOL Congress, we are seeing glimpses of sanity here and there.

One of those is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently cancelled the $8.7 billion Hudson River tunnel project because it was over budget. His advisors estimated that the cost of constructing the tunnel could have cost over $14 billion. Christie cited Boston’s “Big Dig” that cost nearly ten times its original estimated cost of $2.8 billion as an example of what he wanted to prevent.

We can see another glimpse of sanity in the state of Florida, where newly elected Gov. Rick Scott has recently cancelled a high speed rail line that was to have linked Tampa with Orlando.
Scott rejected $2.4 billion in federal funds to build the rail line because it posed a substantial risk to Florida taxpayers who would have been forced to pay for cost overruns that are typical for this type of project.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

February 23, 2011

In The

PlaniTulsa Needs to Have a Respect for Property Rights

Those who watched or participated in the PlaniTulsa comprehensive planning process are aware that there were a number of workshops held to solicit public opinion about what was being planned.

It is a process I believe to be flawed, because it is prone to favoring one idea over another and as such, can produce outcomes that were planned in advance.

Apparently Andres Duany agrees, but not for the same reason. He popularized the concept of the charette, or workshop in our case, but now is promoting a new concept that he calls subsidiarity.
In an article in Architect (The Magazine of the American Institute of Architects), the author’s byline was “Andres Duany is souring on what he sees as excessive, obstructionist community engagement in urban planning.”

In that article, entitled “Control the Masses,” Duany was quoted saying that subsidiarity is “the design of decisions: what issue, by which people, and when… The smallest group at the latest point in time that can competently make a decision …thus we’re evolving participatory planning towards a more intelligent democracy.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Tulsa ‘Planning Director’ Will be a Powerful Person

My Google Alerts picked up an interesting, but lengthy, article by Mike Easterling that effectively demonstrates that we are likely to see a big shakeup in how planning is done downtown. At issue is the role that INCOG will play in providing zoning code conformance analysis of proposed projects.

Some speculate that INCOG will be phased out in favor of creation of an in-house staff that would take over INCOG’s duties. I thought that was made clear when the draft of the Comprehensive Plan was published. The text of the document suggested a diminished role for INCOG, not outright dismissal, but my interpretation of the text seemed to indicate that INCOG would become less important or involved in planning issues. Instead, I believe that INCOG will eventually only be used as a source for maps and other records, and even that role will eventually disappear.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Let’s Not Fall for the Bad Science Around Global Warming

Our recent record setting snowstorm is the latest excuse for Al Gore to claim that global warming was a real man-made problem.

But hold on, Al, it just ain’t so.

When I was in college, one of the books we were required to read was “How to Lie with Statistics”. The essence of the book was that you could take truthful statistics and twist them to prove anything you want, even if it was false. I believe that is exactly what has happened with the movement to prevent man-made global warming. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

The Constitutional Rights of Churches are Still be Denied

On the heels of a great victory for the Religious Land Use Act (RLUIPA) in the case involving Rocky Mountain Christian Church, it didn’t take long for another church to be denied a permit to build.

This time it is a small congregation, All Souls Church of God in Christ, near Atlanta, Georgia, who wanted to build an 8,400-square-foot building on a 5-acre tract of land. After renting storefront space for the past ten years, the congregation has purchased land and saved sufficient funds to build. Prior to purchasing the land, the church verified that a church could be built according to local zoning codes.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Court Decision Favors Rocky Mountain Christian Church

Last November, I wrote about the case of Rocky Mountain Christian Church (RMCC) in Boulder Colorado, and also did a one-hour show on OK-SAFE’s American in the Balance Internet radio explaining how important this case was to the freedom of churches all across America, and how critical it was that the Supreme Court not hear this case.

The good news is that the Supreme Court has declined to hear the case.

The reason that I did not want RMCC’s case heard is simple. Since the addition of two liberal judges, I felt that there was a more than likely chance that the RLUIPA (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act) would be declared unconstitutional, leaving hundreds of churches unprotected from being unfairly treated with onerous zoning codes. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Maybe Churches Should Brag About Helping Communities 

There is one thing that I can think of that churches are really lousy at doing and that’s bragging. Remember that old saying, “it ain’t braggin’ if it’s the truth?”

In last week’s article, I wrote about the growing trend to demonize churches as being a burden on society. It doesn’t take much of a Google search to turn up complaints against churches and more than a strong suggestion that churches aren’t paying their fair share of their burden on society because they don’t pay property or income taxes. And that is leading to some real discrimination against churches. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Tax Exempt Status is Making Churches a Target for Cities

If it weren’t bad enough that many cities in America are plowing ahead with new zoning codes that promote - or even enforce - high density development that are very unfriendly to churches, now churches are being attacked because they are tax-exempt.

Cities have been in financial trouble for several years due to the current recession. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, Congress created laws that allowed municipalities to declare bankruptcy, which eventually evolved into the current Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Since the time that the laws were first enacted, about 500 municipalities have declared bankruptcy.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Tulsa Beacon Adventure Passion Play are 2011 Goals

At the close of 2010, I am in my tenth year of writing for the Tulsa Beacon, and I hope that Charley Biggs, who is a good friend and a great editor, will continue printing it for many years to come.

Most of my readers know very little about me because, to be frank, I intend it to be that way. I don’t share much about my family because we want our privacy. But I thought I might at least share a few things with my readers, and perhaps that may help them understand why I continue to write for the Beacon.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Understanding the Love of the Father Son and Holy Spirit

“In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.” (John 1:1-3 NLT)

The Word is who the apostle Paul spoke about in Romans 1:20 (NLT) when he said:
“From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.”

Could Paul have possibly understood how utterly profound his statement was, when the sky contains an estimated 100 billion galaxies, each with billions of stars? Or that our bodies are composed of highly complex DNA, genes and chromosomes, the blueprint of our humanness? Or that scientists consistently discover more and more things in the universe that exhibit a perfect mathematical precision?

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

December 16, 2010

In The

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December 9, 2010

In The

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December 2, 2010

In The

What urban planners have not even considered, however, is the kind of population growth that is occurring, and what the demographics may actually be in twenty to thirty years. It is astounding that they have yet to realize how the existing cultural evolution to Islam will dramatically change their demographic models.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

November 24, 2010

In The

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November 18, 2010

In The

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

To my knowledge, since its passage in 2000, it has been challenged and largely upheld by a number of lower courts, and it has been extremely valuable to churches that have been discriminated against in zoning cases.

However, I believe that if it reaches the Supreme Court, it will likely be declared unconstitutional. There is precedent to that suspicion. Most people don’t realize that the RLUIPA was a result of the voiding of a similar law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA).

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

November 4, 2010

In The

Rocky Mountain Christian Church Wills Zoning Conflict

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

October 28, 2010

In The

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

October 21, 2010

In The

Our Future Growth May in Suburbs, Not in Central Cities

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

October 14, 2010

In The

Urban Planners Have a Problem Thinking Outside the Box

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

October 7, 2010

In The

GOPs’ Pledge to America Ignores the Property Rights’ Issue

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

September 30, 2010

In The

Immanuel Baptist in Skiatook Celebrates its New Sanctuary

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

September 23, 2010

In The

If Everything is About ‘Me’, our Republic is in Jeopardy

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

September 15, 2010

In The

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September 9, 2010

In The

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September 2, 2010

In The

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As such, a church building is a powerful expression of freedom of religion and because most people are familiar with the symbol of the cross, they get the message that Jesus died for us, even if they don’t totally understand why. We are free, at least for now, to place crosses on our churches.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

What Happens Now That PlaniTulsa Has Been Passed?

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

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Ground Zero Mosque Sends the Wrong Message to USA 

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Last week on Fox News, a commentator was interviewing a man from the Freedom From Religion Foundation who said that it was not true that America was founded as a Christian nation. He was either lying or completely ignorant of the facts.

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Not that things aren’t insane enough as it is, and in the world of zoning and land regulation, things don’t get much nuttier than on the east coast.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

It’s Time to Take Back the Christian Heritage of America

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

But in 1996, Boulder County adopted a new zoning code, the Boulder County Land Use Code that was the eventual result of the adoption of the Boulder County Comprehensive Plan in 1978.

In the Introduction to the Comprehensive Plan it states, “Since its initial adoption in 1978, the overall philosophy of the Plan has changed very little… growth should be channeled to municipalities, agricultural lands should be protected, and preservation of our environmental and natural resources should be a high priority in making land decisions.”

Later in the Plan, it discusses how development will be done around CSA’s, Community Service Areas, which it defines as a “boundary line drawn around a municipality within which a city expects to accommodate future urban growth.” It also says, “land outside CSA’s and their transition areas will remain rural; urban services will not be extended there and zoning will prohibit urban development and densities…”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

According to an article last fall by Joel Kotkin in Forbes.com, California is paying its bills with IOUs, its credit rating is shot and instead of it producing the seventh largest GDP in the world as it has in the past, it’s more like Argentina.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Urbanism was one of those movements that saw its greatest growth during the years that global warming was accepted as a fact. As a point of fact, one of the key ingredients of New Urbanism is to reduce (or to some of the more radical, eliminate) the use of the car, because the movement said that cars were causing global warming. Of course, even though they will eventually give up global warming (very quietly I think), they will find other justifications for their beliefs.

So my point is, just because the myth of global warming goes away, the Green movement, New Urbanism, LEED, and a whole host of industries that have reinvented themselves won’t. There’s simply too much money and pride invested in it.

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One Problem with New Urbanism is Its Lack of Flexibility

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Architectural Slowdown is a Barometer of a Downturn

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The Divine Plan Was for Jesus to Overcome Death

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

E-mails Respond to Column About Global Warming Fuss

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She writes, “The geography for New Ruralism can be generally defined as rural lands within urban influence; the larger the metropolis, the larger the field of influence. The geographical structure of metropolitan regions extends out from the urban-rural interface and the rural-urban fringe to exurbia and beyond, to urban-influenced farmland.”

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Now is Not the Time to Restrict Residential Growth in Tulsa

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PlaniTulsa Releases Its Plan That is Pure New Urbanism

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Budget Troubles Led Miami (Fla.) to Reject New Urbanism Tinkering with a Zoning Code Could Provoke Lawsuits

 

On August 6, the Miami City Commission voted to kill Miami 21, what would have been their new Comprehensive Plan, when two commissioners voted no to its final approval.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Maryland Church Faces Regulations and Much Higher Costs

As the City of Tulsa approaches the point that it will re-write or revise its zoning ordinances, it would be good for city staff and residents to consider not only what the impact of high-density development can be, but the position it places churches when they want to maintain a presence in a city that gives them no room to grow.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Maryland Church Prohibited from Developing its Own Land 

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Churches Will Face Challenges With Zoning Restructuring

 

His e-mail was lengthy, but to be brief, here were the three points that he made.

First, separation of church and state has led to laws that protect churches from limitation by regulation. Second, form-based codes don’t regulate churches. Third, form based codes are about giving people choices in regards to location, etc..

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

A King Should Not Rule Over America Leaders Need To Rediscover What Freedom Mean

 

Well, Samuel was quite upset with his people, because they had never had a king. They had always relied on God. But as was his custom, before he would do anything, he decided to talk it over with God.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Cap And Trade Would Be Nothing More Than A Job Killer

 

The stated purpose of this bill (which was 1,500 pages long and was rushed through the House without anyone reading it) is to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere and to reduce the effects of global warming. This would be done over a 40-year period, starting with a 3 percent reduction below 2005 levels of CO2 by the year 2012, then 17 percent by 2020, 42 percent by 2030, and 83 percent by the year 2050.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

PlaniTulsa Conclusion May Not Be The Best Choice For Tulsa

 

Were there any surprises? Not really. The interpretation of the votes, in addition to the information from the Detailed Mapping Workshops and the phone interviews that were done earlier, was that Tulsans wanted development to be focused on downtown and to bring light rail to Tulsa.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Churches Need To Obey Existing Laws Concerning Zoning

 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Churches Need to Be Protected from Tulsa’s Newest Comprehensive Plan

 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

The Jury is Out On the Negative Impact of Comprehensive Plan

 

It seems inappropriate to be announcing specific plans before the votes on the four scenarios have even been announced, but I don’t think it is inappropriate to begin asking how the new comprehensive plan or the new zoning code will treat churches.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

The next step in the process of Tulsa’s transformation after the completion of the Comprehensive Plan will be to re-write our zoning codes.

As we write the new zoning code, we have a unique opportunity to set ourselves apart from other cities, and if we are going to set as a goal to grow as a city, we should adopt policies that gives people the desire to invest and live here.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

City Planning Must Protect Constitutional Property Rights

 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Urbanism Has Been Around For Quite A Long Time

 

The writers eluded to the eminent domain issue, eerily prophetic of Kelo vs. New London, when they wrote, “The interpretation of the “takings clause” (which has sometimes been construed to prohibit governmental restrictions on the use of privately owned land)…is therefore a crucial matter for future land-use planning and regulatory programs…It is time that the U.S. Supreme Court re-examine its precedents that seem to require a balancing of public benefit against land value loss in every case and declare that, when the protection of natural, cultural, or aesthetic resources or the assurance of orderly development are involved, a mere loss in land value is no justification for invalidating the regulation of land use.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Dallas Light Rail Has Its Own Problems

 

Assuming my friend’s estimate of 80,000 riders per day is correct, and assuming that the total is a conservative 2 million, where does that place the percentage of the population that uses light rail? Around 4 percent.... 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Is Light Rail Beneficial to Our Cities?

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Light Rail is Not the Answer for Tulsa

 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

May 23, 2009

In The News

New Urbanists Don’t Like My View 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Tulsa Can’t Afford Light Rail

 

Since it looks like the new Tulsa Comprehensive Plan will include light rail mass transit, I thought it would be interesting to present the highlights of a report by author Randal O’Toole entitled, “Rail Disasters 2005,” to describe the outcome that we can expect.  This is especially important in view of the budget cuts that Mayor Taylor recently submitted to the City Council.

 If Tulsa is having trouble keeping the lights on, so to speak, why would we consider an expensive system like light rail.

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Light Rail Transportation Has Failed to Meet Expectations

“You are going to be hearing and seeing more in the coming months and years about light rail in Tulsa, since there are those who see it as a necessary component of the new comprehensive plan that will follow a New Urbanism model.  John Fregonese, our planning consultant is an advocate of light rail, and he will undoubtedly vision it in Tulsa’s future….

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Churches Need to Recognize What is Happening in Cities

 

According to the report, “Only 21 percent of employees in the top 98 metro areas work within three miles of downtown, while over twice that share (45 percent) work more than ten miles away from the city center.  The larger the metro area, the more likely people are to work more than ten miles from downtown;  almost 50 percent of jobs in larger metros like Detroit, Chicago and Dallas locate more than ten miles away on average compared to just 27 percent of jobs in smaller metros like Lexington-Fayette, Boise, and Syracuse.”

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

New Urbanism and Churches

 

After watching PlaniTulsa, I don’t think that there is any doubt that that is exactly where this city is headed.  In my opinion, the decision to lead Tulsa in that direction had already been made far in advance of that seminar or the hiring of the comprehensive planning consultant. 

RANDY BRIGHT            COMMENTARY

Story of Jesus is a Must See