Arizona Papers

 Moment of Silence

I told the story a couple of times about the Army sergeant who was having some new recruits fill out their paperwork and asked them if anyone had Arizona papers... anyone?... anyone?
It turned out he was from the South and was actually looking for "errors" on the papers. It is a true and cute story.

However, Arizona is often not so cute.

Think Progress
Arizona State House Says All Invocations Must Mention A ‘Higher Power’
by Jack Jenkins Feb 9, 2016 1:56 pm
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/02/09/3747743/atheist-lawmaker-banned-invocations/

... “Prayer, as commonly understood and in the long-honored tradition of the Arizona House of Representatives, is a solemn request for guidance and help from God,” Arizona House Majority Leader Steve Montenegro wrote in a memo about the new unofficial rule, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. The lawmaker also said that anything that doesn’t invoke a higher power would not qualify — including moments of silence...

"Higher power"?

God is higher than I, and He is a power. That is quite the doxology.
I think the Arizona House likes crap like this because it reminds them of Alcoholics Anonymous, which famously invokes a "higher power".

That which addicts do to find help out of their addiction is not necessarily the way one should pray. For pity sake! As if invoking a "higher power" ever made a politician heed the Sermon on the Mount.

... Towns in Alaska and Alabama already grant people who do not believe in God the right to open town hall sessions with secular orisons, but those changes only came after significant pressure from nonbeliever organizations. In fact, activist groups have forced lawmakers in at least one town to eliminate the practice altogether: Phoenix, Arizona officially ended prayer before governmental gatherings on February 4 after members of the Satanic Temple, an atheist advocacy group, signed up to deliver a “Satanic” prayer before a city council meeting. The city replaced it with a moment of silence.

Now that is a step in the right direction. Cherish all those moments when politicians are silent and motionless, for else they would be compelling us to their schemes and defrauding us to pay for it!
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