Now don’t get us wrong. We have a modicum of respect for Albert Brewer, especially since that dirty, racist 1970 George Wallace campaign against his run for governor was recently named Number One on the Most Negative Campaigns of All Time.

But Mr. Brewer’s recent decision to recruit and hire Andrew Westmoreland away from Ouachita Baptist University in Little Rock, Arkansas - even after he admitted lying about praying about taking the job - raises all kinds of questions about religion, ethics, politics and education.

Baptist Samford U. Hires President Who Admits Lying About Praying

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Speaking of connecting with nature, after a couple of springs of trying we now have blue birds breeding in the backyard. I managed to get a decent shot of one a couple of days ago after returning from the trek to New Orleans.

Meanwhile, the breaking news this morning that the wife of a charismatic Church of Christ minister slain in Tennessee was arrested and charged with the murder when she turned up in Orange Beach, Alabama, raises even more questions about what’s going on in the so-called “faith-based community.”

Slain Tennessee Minister’s Wife to Be Charged with Murder

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Can we please stop the religious crusades and jihads and get on with the business of saving the world and savoring life?

If you find yourself saying, “The world has gone crazy,” then think about this. You don’t hear a lot these days about pot smoking, beer drinking, nature loving hippies causing the world a lot of trouble.

What the world needs more of are canoes on top of vans and a reconnection with nature. Alabama native and Harvard scholar E.O. Wilson called it biophilia, and it may be more important to our mental health than any words that could ever be uttered from a pulpit.

So forget the preachers and the religious educators who lie about prayer. It’s beginning to look like a beautiful spring around here, even if it is still a bit cool. Get out of the house and try to enjoy the outdoors.

And if you really feel like you must, say a “thank you” to whichever god you worship. We tend to find more value in the Gia theory, and believe when the founding fathers of our country talked about “natural rights,” they were thinking more about the laws of nature than the laws of Judge Roy Moore’s Old Testament Ten Commandments.

Think about it…

The older I get, the more I am interested in art as well as science. Perhaps that is a function of being forced to choose between art classes and music in the public high schools of Alabama. Since I played drums in the high school band, I was not allowed to take art classes.

After seeing the ad for the Nova show on Einstein’s Big Idea, I am strongly considering taking an art history class and using my photography on the Web as a seperate thing from journalism.

I’m watching an interesting show about art on public television right now. Check it out when you get a chance. I’m sure they will rerun it.

Episode 303: Structures

Each one-hour program is loosely organized around a broad category or them - Power, Memory, Structures, and Play - that can help audiences analyze, compare, contrast, and juxtapose the artists profiled. The themes are intended to inspire interpretive possibilities and are introduced by the celebrity hosts David Alan Grier, Grant Hill, Isabella Rosellini, and Sam Waterston, who are well known in their respective fields as well as passionate and knowledgeable about contemporary art.

If it was up to the Republican Party, there would be no public radio or television. Everything would be capitalized and privatized. Maybe there would be no art - just religion. That’s only one of the reasons why here at The Locust Fork, even though we are not strictly liberals but liberaltarians, we tend to vote for Democrats.

For more samples of my work, hit the Feature Photos links down the left. Perhaps I should consider a different title not so driven by my own journalism background, but for now, the most recent photos are archived under Feature Photos 2.

We would certainly welcome your thoughts on this issue.

If you get a chance to see this show on public television, check it out.

It’s another example of a scientist who also mastered art.

The show blurb:

Did Leonardo da Vinci create the blueprints that could have given the world the supergun of its day and the gift of flight, or were his designs merely fanciful? In this two-part programme, today’s experts attempt to bring to life two of his most ambitious designs, an 80ft crossbow and a glider based on a recurring wing shape in his drawings.