And Texas is a place I'd dearly love to be...

Congratulations to Amy Tuegel for correctly naming yesterday's song of the day. Last night in my righteous anger at the House ethics rules, I failed to mention several things that I had intended to write about, chief among them Michael Roberts and his winning of Monday's lyric game. Michael, my sincere apologies and well deserved congratulations. Michael and Amy are turning into the United States and the Soviet Union of the lyric game, only without the evil implications. Also, Marty, I did get your parcel that you sent up here. For my full feelings, please direct your attention to yesterday's comments section.

Tonight's topic is a heavy one. (Yesterday I wrote "one" instead of "won." Contrary to what you may be thinking, I am not in fact an idiot. I just get to typing so fast that my fingers cannot keep up with my brain. That and I never proofread my blog until after I have posted it, and by then, I do not want to make corrections. That is they way it is so deal with it.) I have heard it said that if you do not want to offend people, stay away from discussing religion or politics. I am about to do both, and I am fairly certain that by the end of this blog, I will have probably incensed all my readers, which could spell doom for this column. Having given fair warning, here we go.

I am a firm believer in the separation of church and state. I think it is consitutional and logical. Prayer in school is a bad idea. One, if a prayer is going to be led, you have to let all faiths represented have a say no matter how small the minority. Those who are rabid to overturn Engle v. Vitale, the case that declared mandated school prayer unconstitutional, would no doubt lose their zeal if it meant that a Muslim prayer or a Hindu prayer was offered. It seems odd to me that conservative Christians often clamor for the reinstatement of school prayer but rarely pray themselves. Studies have shown that average evangelical Christian spends less than an hour in prayer every week. I would find it easier to swallow in Christian's rights were actually infringed because their time at school was the only time during the week that they could not publicily pray. When that happens, let me know, and I will be the first up the Supreme Court steps. (This principle applies to prayer before football games as well.) This country has become "less Christian" not because we cannot have public school prayer, but because the Christian community has turned a blind eye to evangelism and Christlike outreach. Jesus never said much about public prayer, but I do remember a few words about when you pray, go into your closet, for your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Is my Bible the only one that reads that way? I am not sure when the last time someone got saved from a prayer before a class, but I am sure many more people have gotten saved by Christians legitimately acting like Christ in the interim. As Christians, we should stop waiting for the "government to get it right" and start doing God's work (i.e. loving people) like He called us to do.

As much as I believe in the separation of church and state, I also sincerely believe it is impossible to divide religion and politics. The Religious Right has a lot to say about church and state, but very little about religion and politics. We as Christians should elect politicians who promote programs that promote Christianity, and that does not mean "school prayer." Christ taught a lot about caring for the underpriviledged, looking after the widows and orphans, being good stewards of what God has given us, and promoting life. Now there are ideas coming from both sides of the aisle on how to best do this, but the important thing is to actually do something about it. Religion's intersection with politics should be more than just on the issues of abortion and homosexuality. (At some point, I am planning a blog on my feelings on marriage amendments. Also, in the office we get all kinds of cards and letters about how the liberals have taken "In God We Trust" off the new presidential dollar coins. For the record, the "In God We Trust" should appear on the coins, but some minting errors were made, making the coins without the phrase collectors items. It is not a part of the vast liberal conspiracy. I just saved you some time now that you do not have to write about your representative about it)

Tonight when I was running, I ran by some reception outside of the Hart Senate Office Building where a country band was playing. I am by no means a country aficionado, but the strains of the fiddle did remind me of home. I wore my navy suit again today with a green, navy, and blue striped shirt. I wore my favorite blue tie in a Windsor knot. I try to work this tie in to my wardrobe every week and have been very successful so far. I am going home in 2 days to see the fabulous ballet "Sleeping Beauty" staring my favorite seventeen year old sister. If you have not bought your tickets yet, I have a connection with the lady in charge of sales. If you mention my name with your purchase, I am sure she will find you some great seats. Also, on Monday I submitted a letter to the editor of the Optimist, ACU's student newspaper. As the Optimist comes out tomorrow after chapel, I am anxious to see if my letter was published. Do not fear you non-ACUers; the letter will appear on this space tomorrow evening. As always, I am proud to present part three of Grace's Post Racial Discrimination Day. A photo essay by Amy Tuegel.Still smiling. As always, both the picture and the caption immediately following were from the creative mind of Amy. That's all for tonight...