Q: Mr. Federal Way, I was walking through the Albertson’s parking lot on 312th Street on Monday afternoon, when a woman approached me and handed me a brochure entitled “Will suffering ever end?”

The brochure, a Jehovah’s Witness publication, went on to cite various Bible passages that relate what the Bible says about the matter and what that means for people, including that we should all gain “comfort from knowing that God feels for us when we suffer.”

However, the pamphlet also cites two Bible passages that show why God allows people to suffer, including 2 Peter 3:9, which states, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Do you gain comfort in knowing that God wants everyone to show sincere remorse for a sin that only one person committed?

A: Mr. Federal Way gains comfort from knowing that, for the most part, organized religion is a positive influence upon billions of people the world over.

And while many may retort with examples of this or that religion’s transgressions, either in history or more recently, Mr. Federal Way would point out that at least within a modern context, those who do bad in the name of religion are very much outliers.

As far as the meaning of any passages of scripture, Mr. Federal Way really can’t offer much, because Mr. Federal Way is not deeply versed in any religion, and so therefore, Mr. Federal Way is leery of providing his interpretation of the passages mentioned.

Q: Mr. Federal Way, Federal Way is a participating agency in the “Tweet Smart” campaign that asks people not to tweet about the movements of responding police officers or post pictures during an emergency.

This campaign does not carry any force of law. It does, however, have a chilling effect on citizens exercising their rights under the First Amendment. I can easily see where officers could construe it as a policy or directive and try to enforce it as law.

This happens all over the country in cases of citizens photographing or video recording police doing their jobs in public. Why is the city of Federal Way on board with this campaign and what do you think about it?

A: Mr. Federal Way thinks the city and police department are trying to make a common sense appeal to people, although it seems unlikely that anyone engaged in criminal activity would be taking the time to check their Twitter or Facebook to see what the police might be doing in response.

That being said, Mr. Federal Way also thinks this would probably be a near-impossible thing to enforce, given the ubiquitous and pervasive nature of cell phones and social media these days.

Q: Mr. Federal Way, what do you think about the city spending money on a project to put a big flag on 320th Street, while at the same time saying their hands are tied when it comes to funding the soon-to-be closed Public Health Center?

A: Mr. Federal Way thinks it’s an unfortunate sign of our times. While Mr. Federal Way applauds the city for continuing to move forward on trying to improve Federal Way, there’s no doubt that it creates some bad “optics” as they say, for the city to be seen freely spending money on something of a pet project while something as serious as the Public Health Center closure is taking place.

To be fair to the city, though, Mr. Federal Way does know that the project cost for the flag on 320th is anticipated to be approximately $35,000, while the annual cost of running the Public Health Center is approximately $1.1 million.

Mr. Federal Way also thinks the closure of the health center is just another example of the unfortunate reality of King County these days, one in which the areas where public services are most needed are seeing those services cut because there’s a lack of tax revenue in those areas.

If ever there was an example of a Catch-22, Mr. Federal Way thinks this current dynamic in the county certainly qualifies.

Q: Mr. Federal Way, what are you doing for Labor Day Weekend?

A: None of your business.