Mark touches on something interesting. Many of the original bluegrass bands put down the fiddle and banjo whenever they did a sacred song -- they are considered the "devil's instruments". Thanks to this tradition, we get great guitar turnarounds from Earl Scruggs as well as some wonderful mandolin and guitar bridges from other groups. Are there any contemporary bands that keep up this tradition?

When I played regularly in a band, I always had a secret yearning to finish a sacred song and hear absolute silence, the way one would in church. A little odd perhaps, inasmuch as I am nearly areligious, and not Christian by heritage. I guess the closest I get to a religious feeling is something in the complete dedication to one's fellow humans in a song like "Wait a Little Longer, Please Jesus"...Such a far cry from the vindictive perversion that the religious Right has made of Christianity.