Satanists like Tucson attorney Jeremy Zarzycki should be giving Lucifer thanks now that they succeeded in silencing prayer at Phoenix City Council meetings. The Satanist from the Tucson Satanic Temple won the battle against prayer in a 5-4 vote of the Phoenix City Council.
For years, the Phoenix City Council meetings began with a prayer. After a group of Tucson Satanist demanded that they be allowed to offer a prayer at the upcoming Feb. 17 meeting, four of the Council members moved to stop the group.
The four members, Sal DeCiccio, Jim Waring, Michael Nowakowski, and Bill Gates had hoped to avoid silencing free speech by offering a motion to change the current system of petitioning to pray to one in which the councilors could select who, from their district would deliver the invocation.
DeCiccio accused City attorney Brad Holm of rigging a legal decision he offered that found the change would have put the City in legal jeopardy. “You have a City Attorney whose presentation was rigged today,” said DeCiccio during the Council’s debate. “There are other things that could have been done.”
Councilman Nowakowski stated, “We are getting bad advice. What I am hearing here is that we should allow someone from Tucson to come here and create chaos.” He questioned why council members could not “pick people who serve our community, community leaders. How can we allow an individual to do a prayer over the city who believes in hate? It is not about allowing an outside group to push their agenda. We are allowed as elected officials to choise people from our city, who do good in our city to lead a prayer. A moment of silence will end prayer, and all I am asking of my collegueas is to not to do that. I support the First Amendemt and free speech of individuals, I believe that we allow people to address us at the beginning of the meetings. I also believe that we ask people be allowed to pray. And offer us guidance. A moment of silence won’t do that. I asked kids what a moment of silence is. They said it is time to calm down before schools starts. I am afraid they won’t understand what it really means any more.”
Arizona lawmakers reps. Anthony Kern, Kelly Townsend, and Mark Finchem joined about 45 people to speak in favor of the DeCiccio led plan.
Councilperson Thelda Williams offered the motion to have only a moment of silence.