On Aug. 19, the Clark County commissioners opened their weekly meeting with a moment of silence instead of the usual public display of affection invocation. I thought “Good. No church and state violation this week.”
Wrong. Things were about to get silly.
Commissioner Tom Mielke wanted to involve the taxpaying audience in triage-style praying for “a lot of people hurtin’,” specifically one person already “in recovery.” Commissioner David Madore, apparently seeing an opportunity for faith healing, interrupted Mielke to insert an additional name.
The James Randi Educational Foundation will grant a $1 million prize to Clark County if Commissioners Mielke and Madore can use faith healing to regrow a limb on one of our county’s wounded veterans. The test will be carried out under scientifically rigorous conditions, and observed by professional stage magicians and statisticians. Faith healing is a testable claim. Our veterans fought to protect our secular constitutional government. Let’s help one out and make some money for the county.
David Norris
BATTLE GROUND
