We are supposed to turn the other cheek and not resort to violence, so is it too violent to assume, if any Bible believer owns a dartboard, that Steven Engel’s picture could possibly be the center target?

I don’t think that’s a violent assumption especially if the intent is to release 50 years worth of aggression.

It has been a little better than 50 years since Steven Engel was instrumental with seeing to it that his wish was granted. Any law-related literature will cite Engel v. Vitale as the landmark case that was instrumental in getting prayer ousted from public schools. However, did prayer really ever leave? The answer is no because no amount of legislation can place restraints on neither the heart nor the soul.

As a child I would hear, “This is why these kids are acting up in schools today because they took prayer out.” I began hearing that in the 1980s, and it was repeated in a recent Sunday School class. I disagree that prayer has been totally eliminated, but I do agree that its prevalence is less conspicuous. The people I knew chose to defy the legislation by exemplifying the belief that prayer can never be ripped from one’s heart or soul. I, along with several of my peers and teachers, would line up to say grace before we entered the cafeteria to get out paper tickets punched in the lunch ticket machine. Many of us would forget the paper ticket was in our pockets, and we would send up fervent prayers in hopes that God Almighty would still let the lunch ticket be of use even after a spin in the washing machine and a few blows on the clothesline to dry. We prayed both in unison and individually, which speaks to the fact that there are exceptions to the rule even if it is “not allowable by law.”

Where I was from, it was no separation of church and state because believers will find a way. The way may not be as organized as a grace before breakfast and lunch or devotion during a 20-minute homeroom, which I distinctly and fondly remember occurring in my sixth grade class, but true believers didn’t care what Engel and his constituents were instrumental in legislating. We continued then and still continue to pray without ceasing.

A little better than 50 years after Engel v. Vitale, any believer that may have had Engel as the center of the family’s dartboard may soon have their chance to rip apart any photos bearing his countenance - that is if NC school districts have their way.

Last week the Laurinburg Exchange reported, “A bill filed in the state Senate last week could allow Bible study courses to be taught in public high schools.

Sen. Stan Bingham who is a Davidson Republican proposed the bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Gene McLaurin, who represents Scotland, Richmond, Anson, Stanly, and Rowan counties.

“This is clearly being proposed as an elective and something that would be beneficial to students in terms of learning about values,” said McLaurin, a Democrat. “There are so many positive messages in the Bible about living by the Golden Rule, the Ten Commandments, the list goes on and on. I don’t see how this can be anything but beneficial to children and their families to be more exposed to the teachings of the Bible.”

What an eloquent summation and a superbly enduring way to reach across the aisle to offer a scholastic pathway to the ethical and moral well being of children!

I’d leap at the chance to sign up my kids, so can I get an Amen on the passage of this proposal?