Thor's Day: King City, Texas

For lack of a second

By Stone Arnold

It was a hot dusty summer day in West Texas. I had crossed the border at El Paso on my way to Houston with no A/C. For those who have never been, West Texas is were Hell got it's name and no place to have a broken A/C unit.
    I pulled off the highway at a sign that read King City one mile. Large towns in that part of the country are few and far between, but with any luck I'd find a clean restroom and a cold drink.
    The town was covered in dust, or at least the five buildings that made up the town were covered in dust. In the center of town was a general store and gas station, and from the number of pick-up trucks out front it looked like it was the only watering hole for miles.

I could hear the loud voices before I opened the door. At the far wall was a table with three men facing a group of maybe 25 other men. They all looked like farmers, and not rich ones.
    I ordered a coke from the man behind the counter and asked to use the restroom. When I returned a gray-haired man had raised up his hand. His face looked like the land he came from. It was impossible to guess his age. The sun and wind had tanned his skin to leather, and hard work had beat his body down.
    I would have left at that point, if I hadn't been surprised by the voice and the words that came from the old man when he was recognized by the chairman. They were not those of a broken-down farmer but of a very well-educated man.

This was pretty much what I heard: "Thank you, Tom, for recognizing me and giving me this opportunity to raise a question. Most of you know I'm a Jew, the only one for hundreds of miles. I have been coming to these council meetings for fifty years and have never said anything about the prayers that are said before each meeting. I do find the practice curious, however, given that you are a government body and this establishment becomes a public building with the council meets here.
    "I don't understand why a prayer is required to run a meeting of the Town Council. I raise this because a friend visited me last week from the East and we had a discussion about separation of church and state. I realized I had a duty as a citizen to question this practice."

   I heard a number of remarks from the other men but one rose loudly above the others. It was directed at the old man: "Set down Jake, the prayer has not hurt you in 50 years. We've got more important things to discuss!"
    But Jake was in no mood to back down. "I believe there is no time limit on correcting a wrong, and this praying before a meeting is wrong. If you consider it a requirement, who made it a requirement?"
    The chairman asked Jake, "Is there some point here, Jake?"
    "Tom, you are a big fan of Ronald Reagan. Here are his words on the subject: 'We establish no religion in this country. We command no worship. We mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are and must remain separate.' But the Town Council seems to require us to stand and bow our heads while you say a prayer – which I don't think you even mean. It is just part of your job – like banging your gavel."

    Jake then turned and faced the farmer that had told him to sit down. "Hank, I know you think of yourself as a good Christian and a strong supporter of the Democratic party, but even John F. Kennedy said, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute."

    Tom banged the gavel a couple of times and pointed it at Jake. "If you wish to place a motion on the floor to do away with the invocation, then do so. And if you get a second we will vote on it. Otherwise, set the hell down!"
    Jake straightened his shoulders as best he could, "I move that the invocation at the beginning of these meetings be discontinued."
    He sat down as the chairman called for a second.
    I placed my empty bottle on the counter and headed for the door. As I stepped out I heard the gavel once more, and in a loud voice Tom announced, "The motion has died because of the lack of a second."
    I blinkd as I started the car. I guess there is still hope as long as there is one person willing to stand against the odds for what is right.

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Copyright © 2014 by Stone Arnold

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