Arizona Senators: church attendance should be compulsory

[Irbis]

You thought it was a joke? Ha ha. No, this is (redneck) USA. Also, she said it during debate on allowing concealed guns into public buildings. You literally can't make this up

[wautd]

With absurd news like this it's hard to find April Fool jokes these

[Elheru Aran]

It's just the one Senator IIRC, a state Senator at that (not a member of the actual Congress, in other words), and Arizona is... well. Let's just say that it's one of the worse states outside of the Bible Belt.

[Borgholio]

I was gonna post this a few days back but decided against it when I read a bit further into it. She apparently wasn't being serious but it was hyperbole, saying that rather than allow people to carry concealed weapons, that they should go to church instead and actually learn to be nicer to each other and thus would not NEED to carry weapons.

But in actuality if it ever DID become mandatory, she did say a church of my choosing. So I can create my own church...the church of the Pirate God. Temple will be my living room, altar will be the television, and communion will be beer and pizza. So it wouldn't be so bad.

[Broomstick]

Well, I had thought about starting up a new coven....

[Simon_Jester]

I was gonna post this a few days back but decided against it when I read a bit further into it. She apparently wasn't being serious but it was hyperbole, saying that rather than allow people to carry concealed weapons, that they should go to church instead and actually learn to be nicer to each other and thus would not NEED to carry weapons.

But in actuality if it ever DID become mandatory, she did say a church of my choosing...

Context, it is a wonderful thing.

Thank you for sharing the context of this remark. It makes her seem a much more interesting/reasonable person even if she is all turbo-pious.

[General Zod]

I was gonna post this a few days back but decided against it when I read a bit further into it. She apparently wasn't being serious but it was hyperbole, saying that rather than allow people to carry concealed weapons, that they should go to church instead and actually learn to be nicer to each other and thus would not NEED to carry weapons.

But in actuality if it ever DID become mandatory, she did say a church of my choosing...

Context, it is a wonderful thing.

Thank you for sharing the context of this remark. It makes her seem a much more interesting/reasonable person even if she is all turbo-pious.

On the other hand, when reporters asked her to clarify the remark she ran away to an elevator and said she didn't understand why they were making a fuss about it. Not really the sort of actions consistent of someone who wasn't being serious.

[Irbis]

I was gonna post this a few days back but decided against it when I read a bit further into it. She apparently wasn't being serious but it was hyperbole, saying that rather than allow people to carry concealed weapons, that they should go to church instead and actually learn to be nicer to each other and thus would not NEED to carry weapons.

You know, if so, I wonder why every single news source treated it seriously, from left wing ones ("should we remind her of constitution?") to right wing ("of course damn libruls hate dem great idea, durr"). She also added "sadly, that would never be allowed" which somehow doesn't sound hyperbolic. See here, for example.

And you have it a bit wrong - she didn't say church attendance would make gun possession needless, she said as it's not mandatory faithful need concealed guns everywhere they want (presumably to defend from dem evul black Moslem non-US born traitors). This is taking most insane NRA stance and adding truckload of religious fanaticism on top.

Moreover, she clarified she meant moral renewal like we had in 50s. You know, when churches were really compulsory, no blacks were allowed and male WASPs were masters of the family without that modern abuse and family rights bullshit. Can you link where she said she wasn't serious? Was it some sort of damage control, perhaps?

But in actuality if it ever DID become mandatory, she did say a church of my choosing.

When right winger says that, I'd expect it to mean 'real' church (ME/Asian religions need not apply, Jews excepted).

[Thanas]

Arizona has now researched the idea of Church attendance duty.
Arizona will enjoy a 33% stability modifier.

[Borgholio]

Personally I think you should just annex Arizona and spread the Glory of Rome to the Southwest.

[Channel72]

Why the hell is it that my anecdotal experiences with Arizona are totally contradictory to all this crazy shit I keep reading about in the news?

Arizona to me, or the Phoenix/Scotsdale area at least, comes off as sort of like an offshoot of L.A. - filled with college kids, shopping malls, spas and gyms, and a P.F. Chang's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and overly-theatrical Sushi joint around every corner, plus lots of ex-Californian hippies who think that vortexes in Sedona channel mystical energy or whatever. How the fuck does Arizona also keep making headlines as this right-wing nut-land ruled by Jan Brewer and her cabal of anti-immigration, anti-abortion, pro-Jesus lawmakers?

[Broomstick]

Um... because both types of people live in Arizona?

[Napoleon the Clown]

Why the hell is it that my anecdotal experiences with Arizona are totally contradictory to all this crazy shit I keep reading about in the news?

Arizona to me, or the Phoenix/Scotsdale area at least, comes off as sort of like an offshoot of L.A. - filled with college kids, shopping malls, spas and gyms, and a P.F. Chang's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and overly-theatrical Sushi joint around every corner, plus lots of ex-Californian hippies who think that vortexes in Sedona channel mystical energy or whatever. How the fuck does Arizona also keep making headlines as this right-wing nut-land ruled by Jan Brewer and her cabal of anti-immigration, anti-abortion, pro-Jesus lawmakers?

Generally speaking, big cities are going to be substantially more progressive than areas where the entire city's population is expressed in four digits or less. Hell, Salt Lake City is in a state that is about as red as you can get, yet the mayor has been a Democrat since 1976. It's relatively friendly toward the LGBT community, too.

Were you to go to the less densely populated parts of Arizona you'd find that things are quite different.

[Serafina]

That doesn't just apply to the USA by the way.
Bavaria is a pretty conservative state. So much that it is practically a one-party system on state-level elections with the only real question being "do we get enough for an absolute (66+%) majority or will it just be a normal majority (50+%)" for that party.
Munich by comparison is much more liberal. We had a socialists mayor for a long time, and LGBT-parties get elected on a municipal level.

[Soontir C'boath]

Why the hell is it that my anecdotal experiences with Arizona are totally contradictory to all this crazy shit I keep reading about in the news?

Arizona to me, or the Phoenix/Scotsdale area at least, comes off as sort of like an offshoot of L.A. - filled with college kids, shopping malls, spas and gyms, and a P.F. Chang's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and overly-theatrical Sushi joint around every corner, plus lots of ex-Californian hippies who think that vortexes in Sedona channel mystical energy or whatever. How the fuck does Arizona also keep making headlines as this right-wing nut-land ruled by Jan Brewer and her cabal of anti-immigration, anti-abortion, pro-Jesus lawmakers?

Think of it this way. NYC is not like Long Island or for that matter, upstate NY.

[General Zod]

Why the hell is it that my anecdotal experiences with Arizona are totally contradictory to all this crazy shit I keep reading about in the news?

Arizona to me, or the Phoenix/Scotsdale area at least, comes off as sort of like an offshoot of L.A. - filled with college kids, shopping malls, spas and gyms, and a P.F. Chang's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and overly-theatrical Sushi joint around every corner, plus lots of ex-Californian hippies who think that vortexes in Sedona channel mystical energy or whatever. How the fuck does Arizona also keep making headlines as this right-wing nut-land ruled by Jan Brewer and her cabal of anti-immigration, anti-abortion, pro-Jesus lawmakers?

Think of it this way. NYC is not like Long Island or for that matter, upstate NY.

Without NYC New York would really be more along the lines of Georgia or Alabama, considering how much of a shithole upstate is. Major metro centers can really skew your perceptions of a state.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Why the hell is it that my anecdotal experiences with Arizona are totally contradictory to all this crazy shit I keep reading about in the news?

Arizona to me, or the Phoenix/Scotsdale area at least, comes off as sort of like an offshoot of L.A. - filled with college kids, shopping malls, spas and gyms, and a P.F. Chang's, Starbucks, Jamba Juice and overly-theatrical Sushi joint around every corner, plus lots of ex-Californian hippies who think that vortexes in Sedona channel mystical energy or whatever. How the fuck does Arizona also keep making headlines as this right-wing nut-land ruled by Jan Brewer and her cabal of anti-immigration, anti-abortion, pro-Jesus lawmakers?

Because the state is insane. Here is how it works. Every major city (Phoenix metro, Tuscon, Flagstaff) has a permanent population that is pretty liberal, but with a local flavor.

In flagstaff, there are more libertarians and survival nuts than there are in Phoenix, but the the suburbs of phoenix have more mormons and conservative baby boomers in the upper-middle income range. Tuscon has more catholics. But on the whole, they are ALL major university towns. Flagstaff has an observatory, Phoenix and Tuscon both have major research universities and the local economies are heavily invested in the tech industries and biotech. The rural population is relatively small, and a mix of hippies and psycho conservatives. Left to its own devices, the worst we would be is a swing state with Blue Dog Democrats in our congressional delegation.

But that is the permanent population.

Come winter, old people from North Dakota and Idaho etc migrate here like geese, and they spend 8 months out of the year here. Or they come here to retire/die in the sun. That means they are here in November. And they vote here, turning the state into batshit land.

[Irbis]

Bavaria is a pretty conservative state. So much that it is practically a one-party system on state-level elections with the only real question being "do we get enough for an absolute (66+%) majority or will it just be a normal majority (50+%)" for that party.
Munich by comparison is much more liberal. We had a socialists mayor for a long time, and LGBT-parties get elected on a municipal level.

Doesn't that apply anywhere, really?

My home province's capital is left wing enough to elect one of three left wing big city presidents in all of Poland. Countryside, though, is insane enough to give 55+ % wins to nationalistic, religious, xenophobic party every election. I open local news - first thing I see is priest exorcising (as in, really doing medieval exorcism ritual) teenage kids (in school!) from Satan. Second news - another priest installing thumbprint reader in church to track attendance (despite collection of biometric data here being pretty illegal without express written consent). Third news - local church terrorizing woman for 'abortion' (read, miscarriage caused by cancer complications) and forcing her to bury two month old embryo as child, you know, baby grave with a name and all.

No, that is not a joke, these are all fucking actual late March news from fucking redneck countryside right in the middle of EU. Jesus, I fucking hate overpious backwardness

[Soontir C'boath]

It is interesting how I have generalized Europeans as a whole. I have always thought people in socialist countries look at the US as some religiously batshit insane grind house, but it seems there are people in Europe who may want it that way as well?
___
Anyway, if Matthew 6:5 was followed, we wouldn't have this non-sense.

[houser2112]

Without NYC New York would really be more along the lines of Georgia or Alabama, considering how much of a shithole upstate is. Major metro centers can really skew your perceptions of a state.

Shithole? My home this is!

If you broaden that to include all the major cities of the state, you're correct. Buffalo and Rochester (the two areas that I have personally lived in) are fairly liberal, with centrist/conservative suburbs. When you go more than a township or so away from the city, though, it's hardcore conservative. I'd guess that you could say the same thing across the country and not be too far off.

[Elheru Aran]

I'd guess that you could say the same thing across the country and not be too far off.

I believe there's a fancy term for it, but this is true across most of the world IIRC. The simplistic explanation is that rural areas have less diversity and less opportunities for people to share different opinions. Social groups are smaller and more closely knit, so expressing a contrary opinion can get you cast out, so there is less incentive to rock the boat. In urban areas, you tend to have a larger circle of friends/acquaintances, with a larger range of diverse opinions and experiences, which will flavour your own. Additionally, education is generally better in urban areas (not all, but some), while rural areas tend to have less formal education, which contributes. You can complicate the picture further with employment, racial diversity (Hicksville is less likely to have a Chinatown than Big City, to use a broad example), even religiosity (rural areas tend to have better church attendance than urban and less variety in actual religions).

All that said... I'd rather live in the country... just by myself

[General Zod]

Without NYC New York would really be more along the lines of Georgia or Alabama, considering how much of a shithole upstate is. Major metro centers can really skew your perceptions of a state.

Shithole? My home this is!

If you broaden that to include all the major cities of the state, you're correct. Buffalo and Rochester (the two areas that I have personally lived in) are fairly liberal, with centrist/conservative suburbs. When you go more than a township or so away from the city, though, it's hardcore conservative. I'd guess that you could say the same thing across the country and not be too far off.

Rochester is one of the most depressing cities I've ever visited, and by all accounts most of the other cities upstate are something of an economic wasteland.

[cmdrjones]

Arizona has now researched the idea of Church attendance duty.
Arizona will enjoy a 33% stability modifier.

I admit it, I LOLed. I find the whole thing humorous despite her missing that one of the major tenets of Christianity is that pesky free will thing...

[Tribble]

Arizona has now researched the idea of Church attendance duty.
Arizona will enjoy a 33% stability modifier.

I admit it, I LOLed. I find the whole thing humorous despite her missing that one of the major tenets of Christianity is that pesky free will thing...

Well yes, according to Christianity you do have free will... to either obey God or else spend eternity in damnation. Take your pick.

[cmdrjones]

Arizona has now researched the idea of Church attendance duty.
Arizona will enjoy a 33% stability modifier.

I admit it, I LOLed. I find the whole thing humorous despite her missing that one of the major tenets of Christianity is that pesky free will thing...

Well yes, according to Christianity you do have free will... to either obey God or else spend eternity in damnation. Take your pick.

hey man, God let's you follow whom you choose. Sounds fair to me, non?