One thing I have loved about moving to Arizona is the fact that I feel the monkey of religion is off my back. Where I was from, religion was everywhere. There were more Baptist and Asses of God churches than you could shake a stick at. And religion seemed to consume so many people's lives... and odds were that they wanted it to consume your life as well. They all assume that everyone needs church.... typically their church. Maybe their preachers pressure them to bring in new members and new money. Perhaps they feel insecure and they need to use organized religion as a crutch and they don't like the reminder that there are people out there who don't.

Perhaps they didn't like to see other people happy...

Around here, tho, organized religion is hardly noticable. There are few churches, and the ones that are here don't feel the need to be all in everyone's face. They dont build large "look at us" buildings. They don't advertise. I have not had one person come to my door soliciting their church.

And at the state level, there is no talk about banning porno shop billboards or gambling billboards because they are "immoral". There is no witchhunt against abortion. Heck, I haven't even heard the governor or any legislators make statements about their faith... which is a prerequisite for the politics of my old state.

Its so nice to be... free.

I would love to take a nap and enjoy that freedom. However my son has beat me to the couch. Of course, when he naps on the couch, he almost always rolls off into the floor. Thus I have to clear the floor in front of the couch just in case... then I sit back and watch the fun.