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A Christian lawmaker decided to redo the opening invocation at the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday, a day after Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez of Tempe led a secular "prayer." "When there's a time set aside to pray and to pledge, if you are a nonbeliever, don't ask for time to pray," said Republican Rep. Steve Smith, of Maricopa, according to AzCapitol Times. "If you don't love this nation and want to pledge to it, don't say I want to lead this body in the pledge, and stand up there and say, 'you know what, instead of pledging, I love...

Print Article         Close Window     Democrats in Deep Prayer By Published 8/3/2004 12:08:00 AM TAMPA -- If there's anything dopier than the idea of a Unitarian missionary, it's the idea of an atheist delivering an invocation. But that's what happened before the July 29 meeting of the Tampa City Council. The results resembled outtakes from a Marx Brothers movie. Nobody looked very good, least of all rookie Democratic councilman John Dingfelder, whose idea the whole thing was. Before council got down to the gray business of Tampa government, three council members had walked out, the atheist invoker had...