This quote from prayerbeacon, a blog that appears to list things Christians should pray for regarding the upcoming election. The site lists statistics and associated “prayer points” by state. This is a short statistic about Arizona:
The state’s per capita income is $27,232, 39th in the U.S. Arizona had a median household income of $46,693 making it 27th in the country and just shy of the US national median. Early in its history, Arizona’s economy relied on the “Five C’s”: copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). At one point Arizona was the largest producer of cotton in the country. Copper is still extensively mined from many expansive open-pit and underground mines, accounting for two-thirds of the nation’s output. The state government is Arizona’s largest employer, while Wal-Mart is the state’s largest private employer, with 17,343 employees (2008).
There are no employment figures for either mining or beer distribution in Arizona. But it is an interesting statistic that Arizona produces two-thirds of the nations copper. How much is imported one wonders.
I find it disconcerting that state government and Wal-Mart are the largest employers in the State. Makes you wonder about consuming without producing as a sustainable life-style. And makes you wonder if the Prayer Point “Declare prosperity comes to the state of Arizona” has a chance of being heard or implemented even by an economically-inclined deity.
Another Prayer Point I found interesting is that “Declare heaven’s strategies come to the leaders of Arizona.” As a child I was taught in Sunday School about the difficulty the rich would have in getting into heaven. We were constantly warned of the impediment to eternal glory associated with alcohol. So again I am not sure this prayer point has much hope of being answered.
I am of that old school church attended by hard-core miners that believes you have to earn your way by judicious use of the earth’s resources to benefit mankind—that is one of the reasons I became a Civil Engineer–for civil engineering is defined in the British Empire as the control of the forces of nature for the benefit of mankind.
I have never reconciled with a religion that puts Tommy Bahama silk shirts (see the average male in the audience of the Saddleback Church in Orange County, CA) and beer distributorships (see McCain’s many houses and his defence of lower taxes on the rich) ahead of mining and construction of good works.
So perhaps we should add to the Prayer Points the following for Arizona:
*Declare that mining is good for the economy of the state.
*Declare that the leaders of Arizona develop the mining resources of the state wisely and responsibly.
*Declare that less government, fewer Wal-Marts, and more mines and similar may help God help the economy of the state of Arizona.
Great entry Jack!