Church To Bar Ratio: Out of Whack By: Mark W Adams

Tuesday: 2 US Soldiers, 46 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded
Monday: 30 Iraqis Killed, 4 Wounded
Sunday: 1 U.S. Soldier, 37 Iraqis Killed; 64 Iraqis Wounded
Saturday: 32 Iraqis Killed, 40 Wounded
Friday: 1 U.S. Soldier, 61 Iraqis Killed; 104 Iraqis Wounded

This just doesn't seem right.

In surveying the number of churches on my daily commute taking my girls to their schools (about a 15 mile round-trip twice a day) we first noticed that some buildings that looked like bars or ordinary houses were actually churches. Including the one mosque (which was one of the places of worship that could have been mistaken for a cocktail lounge), two Catholic schools with attached churches, a monastery, a Christ's Scientists reading room, a couple of cemetery chapels and as many cathedral-like Gothic buildings as there were corner fly-by-night revival halls, we counted 35 places of worship.

The in-betweeners included a sobriety social club, the City Mission and a half-way house.

Along the same route, there were only 17 bars.

I didn't include places where you could get carry-out beer or wine, just sit down bars or restaurants where you could order a beer for your table.

So what gives? How can there be twice as many places of redemption for so few places to sin? Clearly this town needs more establishments dedicated to the highway to Hell and not the road less traveled. If the churches keep this up, they'll bankrupt the jail and prison industry.

And why are there more parking spots near the bars than the churches?