Iowa city council debates proper time in meeting agenda to "undo the curse that was just put on our city."

An Iowa man has kicked off controversy over religious freedom in the small town of Ottumwa, Iowa by opening a city council meeting with a prayer to Satan, which then kicked off a debate about the proper time in the meeting agenda to undo the “curse.”

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[–] 132 points 1 day ago (13 children)

At the Tuesday night council meeting, the audience stood up to recite the Pledge of Allegiance the moment Dalbey finished.

The dubiousness of unquestioning nationalism aside, the pledge of allegiance containing 'under god' also makes it a religious phrase.

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  • [–] 59 points 1 day ago* (2 children)

    It's honestly so weird. The whole ritual needs to be done away with

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  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    They should do as Alcoholics Anonymous did. Change god for "higher power". Because, you know, people need a higher power nanny.

    BTW: Alcoholics Anonymous has a direct surrender to God in 4 of it's 12 steps, and indirect mention in 2 more. And god is obviously a "Him"

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  • [–] 22 points 1 day ago

    AA was started by a pair of Christian revivalist Oxford Group (now known as Initiatives of Change) members. They believe that fear and selfishness are the root of all problems, and that the solution to living without fear and selfishness is to "surrender one's life over to God's plan".

    Basically, they don't think people, in general, can govern themselves and require a sky daddy to keep them on track.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)
  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago* (1 child)

    Even if they removed 'under god' from the pledge of allegiance today (Republicans would probably filibuster any such attempt in the Senate), indoctrinating students at public schools with its daily recital has contributed to an unhealthy level of nationalism that leads to not only a view of American exceptionalism, but also the belief that any overt or covert attempt to replace the governance of foreign countries with institutions closer to that of the United States must inherently be good.

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