Church and State

Today's Washington Post addresses the history of church and state in America, as one of their "Five Myths" series. Today it was "Five Myths about Church and State."

It is worth reading.

When I was in grade school in rural Oklahoma, we routinely recited the Lord's Prayer. This never raised any opposition, because so far as I know, all of the students came from white, anglo-saxon protestant families.

I never noticed that reciting the prayer had any beneficial effect on student conduct, but neither did it seem to do any harm in that setting.

I learned one thing from the exercise - Methodists prayed for forgiveness of their trespasses, and Presbyterians prayed for forgiveness of debts. Maybe that's why, at least in our community, the Presbyterians seemed more prosperous.