Shortly after Constitution Day, in the midst of a little Constitutional research conducted by yours truly, a Wisconsin group that pushes the principle of separation of church and state filed a complaint against Rockvale football coach Rick Rice after he conducted a prayer with his players prior to a game.

This incident sparked some community debates regarding religious liberty and prayer in school, and extracted all sorts of perspectives from various viewpoints.

A lot of Americans point out that in a land that guarantees freedom of religion, taxpayer-funded organizations and employees must show care to not give the impression that they favor or promote one particular religion.

Others note that the Constitution does not say “separation of church and state.” It does however clearly state that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” If Congress allocates money that winds up in the Rutherford County School System, and school principals or administrators communicate to their employees that “Any prayers or religious activities must be student-initiated and student-led. Employees are not to lead the activities or participate,” as RC Schools official James Evans said, they are getting quite close to prohibiting the free exercise of one’s religion.

Maybe those who support separation of church and state are attempting to make the case to do away with public schools altogether if they are going to be oppressive institutions restricting the religion of their employees.

If a coach told a player that they wouldn’t play in the game or make the team unless they said the prayer with him, okay, that’s an abuse of power and an infringement of liberty. But many of the Rockvale players seemed to support the coach publicly and agree with the notion of saying a brief prayer before they got to take the field before a game. The students decided to lead a prayer of their own prior to their next game.

This group that filed the complaint appears to be more set on restricting freedom of religion rather than promoting its free exercise.

Here in Rutherford County, we understand that Rockvale, a new high school and a football program in its first year of existence, needs all the prayers it can get, thrown into a division with Oakland, Blackman and Riverdale.

Respecting your coach and displaying some team unity seem to be key ingredients to a winning football team, so maybe the Rockets are on a good trajectory in their first year of play.

The Tennessee Philharmonic, formerly known as the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra, presented a great program of symphonic hits in its September season-opening concert; highlights for me included “Ride of the Valkyries,” “Hall of the Mountain King” and Satie’s “Gymnopedies,” performed in the beautiful First United Methodist Church sanctuary.

The Mayos made the MTSU football home opener as well, on what felt like a fine fall evening at the Floyd. That contest against TSU marked the only win thus far in a very tough opening four games for MTSU. The Blue Raiders enter C-USA play in October.

Now is the time for haunted stuff and digging out the jackets, pumpkin carving and getting all costumed up.

Pumpkin soup season! When it finally cools off . . .

As usual, there are all sorts of great events and activities coming up in Murfreesboro. Find something interesting to join or observe; on Oct. 12, one can attend a posture repair session, the Milton Fall Market, a plein air painting event at Cannonsburgh, African drumming and the Cage Fighting Championships, for a very well-rounded Saturday.

Thanks to artist John Dixon for rockin’ out another Pulse rack for us. Check it out at Jr.’s Foodland—or view images on page 24.

Play an instrument, sit in the sun. Hold your wife for a moment.

Say yes sometimes; say no sometimes. Hear live music. Do something new—you may find it exciting and inspirational.

Stay focused on your plan. Over time, you’ll sit back and realize the progress and results. Take care of your body, mind and soul.

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