What have the baptists done for you lately?

1. They feed me.
2. They clothe me.
3. They shelter me.
4. They educate my child.
5. And on occasion they completely freak me out.

Mercer is Baptist affiliated institution. It has a strong Baptist identity, and I would hazard a guess that many of the students that attend are also Baptist. Hence numbers one through three: the Baptists write Craig's paycheck afer all.

As for number four, Grace attends Vineville Baptist Church Preschool. The fact that we're Unitarian doesn't come into play at all. She is giving Craig and me an education however (on the bible), and I'm quite sure that she's raised an eyebrow our two among her teachers with her version of prayer. Overall, we're thrilled with her school. She's writing letters like a champ, and sounding out words. This isn't something that Craig and I work on with her; it's all from school.

And now number 5. I went to get my hair cut the other day, and I listened as other customers and stylists talked about their churches (most of which were baptist with a few non-denominational fundamentalist chuches thrown in). Then the conversation turned to politics. I knew I would be completely outnumbered, so I decided to keep quiet. That is until the discussion turned to Barack Obama, the MUSLIM.

Me: "He's not muslim, though. He attends a Christian Church."
Stylist 1: "They say it's a Christian Church, but it isn't."
Me: "No, really, it's a Christian Church."
Customer 1: "That minister there, he's not Christian, he's a muslim."
Me: "I know there's been some controversy over the minister, but Obama attends a Christian Church."
Stylist 2: "No, he's definitely a muslim. I saw it on the news."
Customer 2: "The only one worth voting for is Huckabee."
Chorus: "Amen."

Really, my response should have been "Why does it matter?" But then I would have been run out of the shop, and only half my hair had been cut. I'm not proud; I'm just a little scared.